Snow tires- Lion hunting

[packer58]

Goodyear Duratrac's

 

[Josiah Bower]

I don't have a ton of experience in the snow as this is only my second winter in Montana, but Squamch has got you covered.

If you want tires you can use on plowed roads and highways, a good AT or MT tire with four chains is probably your best bet. I've had excellent experience with Cooper AT3's in snow, and they're pretty good on ice considering they're not a dedicated snow tire. I bet their ST3's are even better. Toyo M/T's are great in snow and decent on ice--not siped or a snow tire though. The Baja Bosses from Spoonman look pretty sick.

 

[black dawg]

Just to get back to the op question. In the types of snow that you will deal with, If you only plan to run in axle deep snow, any tire and chains will work good for you. If you are set up to air down, you will be able to run in much deeper snow and without the chains, unless the roads are icy down lower. Aired down, we are talking single digits and less the bigger the tire is. An MT tire will work better as long as you dont let yourself dig holes.

 

[IH8Cali]

I’ve had a ton of different tires. I had the Nitto ridge grapplers and they were good for the first 5k but after that they were poor at best. Toyo m/t, bfg, and a couple others I can’t think of were ok. I just put a set of M/T baja boss a/t on my gmc 1500 and so far they are amazing. Very good road handling when wet, quiet, we’re awesome in the snow, and great in mild off road. They are severe snow rated as well. Have 8500 miles on them so far and still loving them.

Any long(er) term updates on these? REALLY liking them, would've bought them already if they were in a 285/75, but willing to do 295/70. Mostly curious about winter conditions, I always carry chains.

 

[Spoonman]

Any long(er) term updates on these? REALLY liking them, would've bought them already if they were in a 285/75, but willing to do 295/70. Mostly curious about winter conditions, I always carry chains.

They are still doing awesome! I hunted Montana and Idaho last year and drove from south of Seattle and definitely encountered plenty of wintery conditions and they performed great. They have a pretty aggressive lug pattern but with the sipes they work. I also just recently moved from Washington to Pennsylvania so have probably put in another 8-9k miles for a total of 16-17k miles. They still have plenty of tread and handle really well. I’d buy them again for sure!

 

[Wrench]

I'd look for the tire with the best snow packed / ice performance....because you gotta get to the mountains and add chains to the plan. I have had most of the tires mentioned and slid sideways on off camber roads that had a spring or were packed with all of them.

Air down a tall and wide at if its just fluff, add chains and some air if its been driven on.

Always have chains and be ready to throw them....and buy chains with cams, thank me later for that tip.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Not Toyo Xtremes...the only time they let me down was during a snowstorm...struggled a lot on that trip.

 

[IH8Cali]

I appreciate the feedback. For me it's down to the Wildpeak AT3W in a 285/75-17, or the MT Baja ATs in the 295/70-17.

 

[TheHammer]

I was surprised nobody mentioned the falkens. Very good tire. Long lasting as well. Due to sizing and sidewall options, I run the nitto g2s on my 150, cooper at3 a on my dually and Armstrong desert dogs on my 350. They all do well in snow and ice. Basically any AT with adequate siping and offset shoulder lugs will do the job. If it were just deep snow w/studs, the maxis treps would be my choice.

 

[wytx]

Goodyear Duratracs here also. Make sure they are the snow rated ones not the Ford OEM tires, they are not the same.

 

[sportsmans challenge]

I appreciate the feedback. For me it's down to the Wildpeak AT3W in a 285/75-17, or the MT Baja ATs in the 295/70-17.

Have been happy with my wildpeaks, haven't taken them in real deal snow, but I may get another set before this winter and get them siped this time. F150 2014

 

[CCooper]

I'd look for the tire with the best snow packed / ice performance....because you gotta get to the mountains and add chains to the plan. I have had most of the tires mentioned and slid sideways on off camber roads that had a spring or were packed with all of them.

Air down a tall and wide at if its just fluff, add chains and some air if its been driven on.

Always have chains and be ready to throw them....and buy chains with cams, thank me later for that tip.

And make your own wrench for the cams with a longer handle so you can get them nice and tight. I am in the camp that prefers square link chains versus v-bar as well.

 

[IH8Cali]

So for even more fun discussion on "Things I overthink but rarely ever need"; are square link vs. v-bar a scenario based preference (ice/packed snow) or just personal? I've only ever had v-bar and only used them once. I didn't need them, but mostly just wanted to use them because I had them.