Winter tire advice

[WRCRaptor]

I am having fun driving on packed snow and some icy roads in northern MI this week and the duratracs are doig well even with 20,000 miles on them. The tires are still not as nice as a true snow, would be, the truck is more sideways then I like limiting the speeds a bit in 2wd but in 4hi it's better.

I am buying another set to dedicate for winter so the winter grip should be better. The set I have now have a few dirt and gravel rallies on them and they are about half tread so the new set will be better for snoball.

Keep,us posted on the programmer and the snow tires you come up with.

 

[FLYING BONES]

My opinion doesn't count because i've only had OEM tires on my raptor...whatever...
I've had OEM and winter tires and summer tires on my Subaru WRX, I know when a tire sticks halfway decent. The AT BFG'S were hooked up last week in the ice WAAAY better than my buddies BFG M/T's. Just sayin...but i'm picking out my 37's with high regard to ice handling, it's probably the most dangerous thing I do in my raptor.

 

[Wilson]

what opinion?

Anyone that says the om tire is good if they have only driven on the om tire.

---------- Post added at 01:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:50 AM ----------

I can only compare two om and duratracs. The om tires where good in some situations they are lighter and IMO stable at speed. The duratracs are good I'm most situations but less stable at speeds. I don't speed so not of concern to me. So in my needs the duratracs win out. I looked at the Micky Thompson but would have had to wait for them and I needed a better winter tire right away.

 

[bosssho]

FWIW...Live in NE MA and drive to Pittsburg NH (TOP) 80% of the weekends...and during the winter time they are the snowmobile capital of NE and tires make a HUGE difference b/c our road has 3 lovely hills on it. With that said....

I had Cooper Discover STT (MUD)(One Sipe per lug) tires on my 08 Titan Pro4x, and they sucked in the slippery dry snow on cold pavement and were HORRIBLE on ice. For this reason I started to NOT listen to most local tire dealers who pass off agressive LOOKING mud tires as winter tires and doing research.

When I got my AWD Sierra Denali I went with the Nokian Hakkapeliittas and used them for 4 straight winters and they were MINT. Blown away at how awesome they were. Nice ride and handled it all, but a mud tire or agressive looking for off road they are not.

When I got another Titan Pro4x I kept the Coooper Discover STTs for spring through fall for off roading, but went with Goodyear Duratracs for my Winter Tire, and I can't say enough good things about them...quieter than the Coopers, Snowflake b/c of the 2nd sipes per lug, and they are great in Winter...not the best on ice, but again, you need either studs or something like the Hakkapeliittas to bite into the ice...Big lugged tires just don't seem to do that.

When I traded in the Denali for the Raptor I was already leary about the BFGs b/c I had had those once in the past on a Z71 and they were OK one winter, and like many on here have said horrendous for the 2nd winter and were immediately ditched, but these tires have been ok...although on snow covered ice 3 weekends ago in Pittsburg, NH they were pretty bad off road....but I think those conditions were just plain unfair to a tire.

With that said I am torn on what to get for my 14' Raptor b/c I will take it off road all day long (as long as I am not in a Paint scratching situation) so I doubt I will go w/the Hakkapeliittas b/c I will want something more rugged for off road too....so probably gonna go w/the Duratracs again.

Thanks for the good reading here. This is what Forums are all about.

 

[6gun]

I've always liked the BFG's as a great all-around on-road/off-road tire, and just replaced my set (after 52,000 on/off road miles) on my 2011 before heading to Missouri on the 26th ... returned to Michigan on Sunday the 5th from Terre Haute, In.... in the white-out..... almost 400 miles, most of it un-plowed deep snow, packed snow and ice, all of it snowing like a ****, all of it in 4-HI. In a word...incredible performance by the TA KO's. Traction and handling instilled total confidence in truck handling, particularly passing outside the 2-track slow movers. Top speed achieved on open road (with 6"-8" snow and slush ruts) was ~60mph. Bed was loaded with probably 300 lbs of luggage and stuff. I usually sipe them, these 4 were not, but they were brand new with deep lugs. Totally impressed, once again....your mileage may vary. Have had lots of other off-road tires, but not on the Raptor, so my comparisons were from other vehicles. Will post some pics.

 

[bosssho]

I believe I read on here that our RAPTOR versions of the BFG ATs are a softer compound than the general public gets when ordering the same tire. If that holds true in the colder temps than these tires would perform even better in the winter on both snow and ice...and for the first season they are GREAT regardless...it's not till wear sets in that they really suffer.

How do you go about siping them...as that would truly turn them into winter beasts.

 

[6gun]

I believe I read on here that our RAPTOR versions of the BFG ATs are a softer compound than the general public gets when ordering the same tire. If that holds true in the colder temps than these tires would perform even better in the winter on both snow and ice...and for the first season they are GREAT regardless...it's not till wear sets in that they really suffer.

How do you go about siping them...as that would truly turn them into winter beasts.

Here in Michigan, Discount Tire will do them for around $7 per tire. I didn't do to my new shoes since I knew I was going to put 2000 miles on them and if any one of them was a dud, I might have problems with the tire warranty, which siping typically voids. But you are right, siping really makes em animals on snow and ice in particular. I'll take these in and have em siped when I get the chance now that they have proven themselves wet/dry/snow/ice. I don't know if there is a different compound, I just bought the same tire (same specs/numbers) as the OEM TA/KO's. I also sipe my BMW (Bridgestone Turanza's) tires for the same reasons. I've done probably 20 sets over the years and never had any problems with siping like tire fall apart or tread chunking. Again, it's a personal thing, but I'm sold on it.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tireSiping.dos

 

[BAJASVT]

I agree with 6gun.

Years ago, I had a set of the original BFG MT KM tires siped at Discout Tire and it made an enormous difference in winter traction. Generally speaking, in regard to wet/ice/snow traction, I feel that a siped MT tire (i.e. Toyo Open Country MT) will bring you to typical AT tire traction and a siped AT tire (i.e. BFG AT KO) tire will bring you to winter tire traction (i.e. Bridgestone Blizzak).

 

[WRCRaptor]

Sipping an AT or MT tire alone will not give the same cold weather or ice performance as a true winter tire with a softer winter rubber compound. It will improve performance for sure.

 

[PropDr]

I don't get it???
How can a tire that can get tread life of more then 50K miles be discussed as a (ice and snow) winter tire.
Once a tire is no longer performing as intended, it will be replaced! Never mind the tread remaining!
If you have a commuter that needs max live span and is not looked at for performance...OK, ... but my Raptor is not a commuter; if the tires fall off, there will be replaced!
My car has about 12K miles on it and I'm on the fourth set of tires; it is not tread life, it is performance!


At this point the DuraTruc's on my truck perform flawlessly; summer, winter, ice and snow at 11K miles.