Winter tire advice

[CCMDoc]

Hey Jimbo,
Yep the Duratracs are heads and shoulders above the stockers and I used them for a few years on the H3 without switching in winter.

Tried to upload a picture of mounted smaller tires to Photobucket to post here but "failed" upload each time. May not have enough bandwidth. Will try again later.

 

[SuperRaptor]

Ive had Duratracs on my Wranglers, H3 and H2 as well as BFG A/Ts we have on our Raptors. Also have used General Grabber AT II as well as the usual Off Road M/T tires usually put on off road vehicles.

In wet, heavy compacting snow all of these do just fine if I did my part and drove sensibly.

On powder especially if there is ice or if it rains and the temperature drops so that the surface freezes, Duratracs > General Grabber AT II >>>>>> BFG A/T.

But NOTHING compares to Blizzak tires in these latter conditions. Even other pure winter tires I've tried from Michelin and Dunlop weren't as good - but I tried those on cars not trucks so may not be a fair comparison. Haks might be as good but on the one car I put them on - BMW E28 - I wasn't impressed.

I put a set of Blizzak DM V1 in 285/70-16 on my '14 Raptor and yes they are "small" compared to the stockers.

But I'm whitetail hunting with my dad and the boys in NW PA and the roads are like polished glass. Again I try to drive sensibly but I was happy to hear and feel the ABS working when I mashed the brake pedal and grabbed a handful of steering wheel as the Silverado in front of me started to go sideways. I've had the same good experiences with all of the other trucks and cars I've put various Blizzak tires on.

Studs are better and Chains are better yet but I haven't gotten my chains yet and am still a bit concerned even these tires might be too big to use them safely.

I have nothing to do with any tire company or business that sells, buys, advertises, etc tires or cars or anything to do with them. Just my personal experience with tires and driving in the Northeastern US.

You got 16" wheels to fit on the Raptor? Or did you mean 17?

I just put a set of Duratracks (315) on my truck with studs and while they do pretty good on ice it's still not amazing. I could be expecting too much. Just put a set of Blizzaks on my dads Tahoe and they are a nice tire and weren't priced too bad either.

 

[CCMDoc]

17" - frozen fingers on iPhone coupled with eyes on the other side of 50.
Stock wheels - couldn't get steelies in time for the hunt.
I'd like to hear what you think of the Blizzaks on the Tahoe vs the Duratracs on your Raptor. Should be a fair comparison.

 

[Jimbo]

I have Dunlop Winter Sports on my wife's ML350 and could give a little insight as well. I'm sure the difference is pretty negligible, unless you are in areas with a lot of black ice.

 

[SuperRaptor]

17" - frozen fingers on iPhone coupled with eyes on the other side of 50.
Stock wheels - couldn't get steelies in time for the hunt.
I'd like to hear what you think of the Blizzaks on the Tahoe vs the Duratracs on your Raptor. Should be a fair comparison.

I do like the duratracs so far, they plow through deep snow with a lot of confidence. We don't get a lot of ice around here but we'll see when up skiing.

 

[CCMDoc]

Here's a picture from earlier in the week. There had been 8" of snow three days earlier. The temps rose and it melted then dropped again freezing everything making plenty of black ice. A flurry here and there and frozen rain made roads treacherous to walk on.

This is just to show tire size on the Raptor