Snow tires for winter? A/T for year round?

[RCB]

I live in a city (Denver); the vast majority of my driving is on paved roads. Here and there I head up to the mountains to hunt, fish, ski, etc. Up to now I have driven standard all-weather tires exclusively. I drive a 4WD 2006 1500 Ram.

One thing I’ve learned is that all-weather tires (the kind that virtually everyone on the road drives) plus chains does everything I need for hunting season. In fact, last year we got a dump of snow prior to 3rd season (I’m sure many of you remember), and with chains on 4 tires I had no trouble going miles on decently rough trails in all that snow. I feel pretty bullet proof when I throw on chains; no problem there.

BUT - the trouble is when I’m driving in mountain roads and it’s snowy enough to be dangerous, but not snowy enough to get me to put on chains. This year, driving to a ski trip, I lost traction while heading down-hill on a standard highway for a few seconds. Got control and nothing bad happened, but still it makes me rethink my tire situation. Of course I might have avoided it by just driving slower, but I already knew that, and got into the situation anyway. Snowy conditions come up often enough that I want to be proactive about this.

So two thoughts come into my mind:
1. Always drive in All-Terrain (A/T) tires, year round.
2. Get a set of winter tires (aka snow tires) that are particularly good in winter, and switch between those and the summer tires seasonally.

Seems to me that the advantage of the former is simplicity and probably a lower cost, with the downside of perhaps lower fuel efficiency for the vast majority of my driving on the highway. The advantage of the latter, I think, is greater performance all around (good summer tires for the city, and probably superior performance in the snow as compared to A/T), with the downside being the hassle and cost of having to change them out every six months as well as storing them in the meantime.

What do y’all do? How do you arrive at your decision? Am I thinking about any of this the wrong way?

 

[BBob]

1. Always drive in All-Terrain (A/T) tires, year round.
2. Get a set of winter tires (aka snow tires) that are particularly good in winter, and switch between those and the summer tires seasonally.

Huge difference between A/T tires and real snow tires. They are nowhere near the same, night and day difference between the two. If you want the best performance and safety on snow and ice buy the real deal snow tire and swap them out seasonally. There's a good reason why BC and Quebec mandate snow tires through the winter. They work.

 

[Brushcreekbill]

1. Is definitely the simplest. But I always had a set of dedicated snow tires when I lived in Michigan for awhile.
If you have an extra set of wheels it makes it pretty easy.

 

[BadDogPSD]

The 3 Peak rated all terrain tires are pretty good in snow, but don't do much on packed snow/ice.
Adding weight to the bed of your pickup (sand bags) will help improve traction some.
Buying a second set of wheels for snow tires is always a solid option.
I've always done okay with AT tires and slowing down.

 

[Kyden]

Id try to find some used rims you can throw snow tires on, then it’d be easy to swap wheels whenever you’re expecting to drive in the snow

 

[Muskykris]

I run a good AT tire year round

But both are good options

 

[prm]

What dedicated snow tires are significantly better than the good A/T tires available today, short of studded snows?
I worked for Discount Tire in Denver for a number of years, many moons ago…. Then studded snows were reasonably popular. Now though, many tires work surprisingly well.

 

[Customweld]

I use a set of Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT’s from about March to the last couple weeks of October and then switch over to a set of studded Goodyear Duratrecs. Studded tires make a world of difference on ice and snow packed roads. The deeper lugs of the duratrecs are nice in fresh snow.

 

[Scottf270]

I just spent a week in Alberta in some really snowy conditions. The F250 trucks had some kind of Goodyear studded snow tire and they were incredible. Virgin 8 to 10" of snow or packed roads made no difference. I was impressed.

 

[Poser]

I use Cooper Evolution M/Ts mid April through mid Nov.
Blizzack LTs for the winter months.

The piece of mind that winter tires offer is worth it, IMO. -way more relaxed in any conditions that involve snow, ice or mix thereof be it deep snow or packed snow. The stopping power of winter tires vs AT tires on snow or ice is enough to make them worth it on that feature alone.

 

[madcalfe]

Huge difference between A/T tires and real snow tires. They are nowhere near the same, night and day difference between the two. If you want the best performance and safety on snow and ice buy the real deal snow tire and swap them out seasonally. There's a good reason why BC and Quebec mandate snow tires through the winter. They work.

your wrong on that. BC and Quebec requite tires with 3 peak rating or M&S.
So literally a vast selection of AT tire or any mud terrain

 

[Steve300xcw]

Studded tires are badass.

That said I'm cheap so a set of MT's year round gets it done. Just plan on having to steer with the ass of the truck a few times a year. A/T's would work just fine as well. I feel MT's get away with a bit more in the rocks though..

 

[Tahoe1305]

The 3 Peak rated all terrain tires are pretty good in snow, but don't do much on packed snow/ice.
Adding weight to the bed of your pickup (sand bags) will help improve traction some.
Buying a second set of wheels for snow tires is always a solid option.
I've always done okay with AT tires and slowing down.

I’ve been running Toyo AT3 on both my suvs for last few years (just south of Denver). Spend a ton of time in mountains and the snow. I’ve been impressed and don’t plan to change yet. Hoping to get 50k out of them and still same performance. At 20k now on oldest set.

Getting a new rig with Goodyear Duratracs that are 3 peak too. Hoping they are as good.

 

[madcalfe]

i think the best AT tires I've used in winter would have to be studded Falken wildpeaks hands down.

 

[Ucsdryder]

How much longer do you expect a 2006 ram to last? With 2 sets of tires you’re looking at ~10 years of tires. If it was a brand new vehicle it might make more sense. Then mount and balance vs 2 sets of rims. Go with the AT. Oh and it doesn’t snow enough in Denver to justify snow tires anyway. My .02

 

[Steve300xcw]

10 years outta 2 sets of tires?

 

[rayporter]

dry rot would get them.

 

[Frozenlead]

Just personal experience and opinion here. The tire choices will depend on the vehicle substantially. I live in northern Alberta and drive a ton for work and personal. I average around 120,000km in my 3500 work truck with a substantial amount of weight in the back (service truck space kap)
Aw3/snow rated tires are extremely different between brands factory tires that suck can have the same rating. There is no equal to a studded winter tire. But some perform better on ice vs deep snow.

On a heavy truck, you can get away with aw3 tires. I’ve had good success and been pretty happy with the falken at3w’s
On my personal 3500 where it’s empty or hauling sleds. Nokian hakkapeliitta’s studded are awesome. Studded duratracs are better in deeper snow, but not as much in the ice department.

1500 type trucks and suvs I run Toyo G3’s, duratracs, or falken at3’s. Studded and dedicated winters are always better. The upfront cost may be more, but in the life of the vehicle it will balance out in tire wear costs.

 

[matthewmt]

I used to swap them out but for the last few yrs have been running AT with Sipes and have done well here in NW Montana.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Jethro]

In my 35 years of driving on AT tires, I can’t remember ever thinking I needed snow tires. Don’t know anyone out here that switches AT tires on their 4x4 for winter.

Have done the snow tire switch on fwd cars, sometimes studs too.