Which tires for snow?

[4Rescue]

Yeah, I just drove a mate's 2nd Gen 4Runner last weekend on some 33x10.50 KM2's that were well siped (home done job with a groover - others here have done the same) and it was bloody brilliant. They went up over Hwy 26 over Mt. Hood and into the boonys and back so icy road, Hard-pack snow, deep snow abck to icy roads then onto mixed slush gravel'd and patchy ice... like I sadi they were brilliant.

point being I'd hardly say "you went with the completely wrong tire" mate...

Personaly I find my BFG AT's to be completely perfect ALL-year tires. not quite a Winter tire, but at 33" tall they conquer the ruts that cars have issues with and when IN the snow they pack up somewhat in our wet NW snow and grab like Boggers in the soup... plus come spring they grip wet roads like suction cups and then drive right on through the summer withoutght complaint.

That said I think I might just go with some KM2's and the Home-grooving technique once these wear out in what apears to be another 2-3 years...

Sounds like he got the right tires to me mate...

Cheers

Dave

 

[336wheeler]

I got these tires at 113,700, now at 132,000 thats 18,300 miles. Still work great in deep snow - we've been getting very consistent storms this winter. I've probably put 250 snow miles on the vehicle this winter so far. I expect I will run these through the rest of this winter, spring, and summer and change them with around 25,000 on them. I had an opportunity to do a little trading, and ended up with a 285/75 Nitto Terra Grappler as my next tire... gonna see how they stack up against the 255.

 

[Box Rocket]

This came up in my build thread because I just got a set of 33x10.50 KM2s today. I felt like the large treadblocks definitely needed siping if they were going to be respectable in the snow. I got them at Discount Tire and had them siped there at the shop. Only one day of testing far but they are clearly better than my old warn hard rubber BFG ATs that I took off. I have nwere BFG ATs on my Land Cruiser and they are great in the snow, so I'm not discounting the ATs as a winter tire. I actually like them a lot, but the ones that came off my Tacoma were just worn out and dry and hard. Not a good recipe on hardpack.

Anyway, it's nice to hear some ggod feedback on the KM2s. I'll hopefull be able to contribute some feedback of my own soon.

You can see pics in my Tacoma link in my sig.

 

[Applejack]

I got these tires at 113,700, now at 132,000 thats 18,300 miles. Still work great in deep snow - we've been getting very consistent storms this winter. I've probably put 250 snow miles on the vehicle this winter so far. I expect I will run these through the rest of this winter, spring, and summer and change them with around 25,000 on them. I had an opportunity to do a little trading, and ended up with a 285/75 Nitto Terra Grappler as my next tire... gonna see how they stack up against the 255.

I think you may actually prefer the KM2's..............maybe. I'm not sure what your snow is like but here in the PNW it's heavy and WET, and then it freezes. In the mountains you have frozen ruts like 15 inch deep train tracks and you need a tire with some lugs to rip the ruts apart. I had KM2's (265/75) on my DC Tacoma and they did just that. I didn't do a ton of ice driving but had ZERO issues with them when I did but I did have traction control and skid control which I'm sure did help. But now with by 4runner I'm running Nitto TG's and I am not impressed at all with them. Very average packed snow and ice traction hardly better than my KM2's and much worse than BFG AT's. Should you find yourself in frozen ruts..........you either find our where they go or you will be stretching your neck muscles really well.

In fact I nearly got stuck yesterday when I broke through a big frozen puddle. It wasn't very deep but these darn tires just could not seem to break up the ice chunks. Thank God for my e-locker or I'd still be in there!

 

[Cackalak Han]

... I'm running Nitto TG's and I am not impressed at all with them. Very average packed snow and ice traction hardly better than my KM2's and much worse than BFG AT's...

That's my experience with Nitto TG's as well. I head up the canyons frequently during the winter, which means a lot of snow driving. TG's felt very unstable to me. BFG AT's were much much better. Even REVO's were better in packed snow than TG's.

 

[336wheeler]

We'll see how it turns out. We've been getting hammered with snow recently, and the KM2s haven't let me down yet. I'm really liking them, I just wanted to compare an AT to an MT the next tire around, and hopefully regain some road manners. 255s are a little wobbly at 70+ mph.

 

[336wheeler]

**Bumping old thread**

So with 30k on the set of KM2s, I just swapped them out for some 285/75 Nitto Terra Grapplers, Load E. I'm enjoying them so far - we'll see how the upcoming winter proves! I really enjoyed the KM2s. They are a light tire for their size. The 285s I'm running are a bit heavier, albeit quite a bit smoother at highway speed. Hopefully they will work as well in the deep snow.

BTW, I just looked at the long range winter 2011-2012 forecast, and we're supposed to get higher than average snow amount for the Appalachians.

 

[john101477]

IDk about the Nitto tires but i do know that the duratrac is supposed to be one of the best tires for snow... Hope what you bought does the job. I am a toyo guy myself but with the new pricing they did, I doubt I will be able to afford them when this set finally wears out

 

[Applejack]

I did the Nitto thing on my '99 4Runner and hated every minute of snow driving (off pavement). On plowed roads they were fine but I never felt too confident with them because of how terrible they were in snow deeper than 4 inches or so. I was VERY disappointed with them, especially because they came so highly recommended. At first I thought "What the hell?? Do these people ever drive in snow deeper than an inch?!? But then I realized that there is so much more to a tire's performance than just the tire. It's a balancing act. Your vehicles weight has a lot to do with it, what type of mud (for mud tires), the composition of the snow, what kind of rock surface ( slick rock, lava etc.) all this comes into play and needs to be carefully considered before putting too much stock in any ones recommendations.
Here in the Northwest they are not what I would call a "good" off road snow tire.
They do okay in the freshy fresh but if it gets the least bit crusty your day is over unless you chain up. I got rid of them with only 12k miles on them and tried a set of the Duratracs which I have absolutely fallen in love with, except for their ugliness ;-).
Hopefully your snow is drier than ours over here, I think the Nitto TG's all alright to pretty good in drier snow.
Now please excuse me from my soap box:elkgrin:

 

[DigB]

Had Goodyear Duratracs on my 03 Tacoma.....I LOVED them, great on ice and in deep snow. They were also great off road in anything I put them in, which wasn't a ton but thats because I sold the truck in the summer after getting the tires the previous November so I didn't have much time with them in mud/sand and dirt.

 

[McFly2003]

I've got goodyear duratracs in 265/75 and the have yet to let me down. had them in up to 3 feet of wet and dry snow from VA to our property in CO and they just keep going. another plus is that they are pinned to accept studs

 

[JCMatthews]

Did I mention that I like them in all conditions?


BFG ATs 33X10.5 15 on the Jeep

I now have 265X70 17 BFGs on an '05 Tundra . They've done great on the rocks in Moab and Colorado this summer.

EDIT: Sorry, I thought that I had a good snow picture, but when I got home I could not find it. I loved them in the deep stuff too.

 

[Rattler]

I had my first winter on my Treadwright wannabe BFG ATs this year and they performed excellent. I am in Michigan and we had a few pretty good snowstorms. One dropped quite a bit of snow and left all the country roads out where I am drifted and I had no problems getting through those '2-'4 drifts with my 2004 Tacoma running the Treadwrights in 285/75/16. I even got to bust drifts for my neighbor so he could get out with his newer Chevy.