2018-2019 Winter tire discussion

[googe]

Those who run studs, aren’t they more or less dog shit when you’re not driving on packed snow and ice? I haven’t tried them, but it seems like most roads are exposed most of the time. Is it not that bad? Tradeoff is worth it?

I was thinking Xice 2 on my truck because I like that they don’t wear down to “all season” like most other snow tires, but have been tempted to give Hakka 8 or similar a try. Granted I live in Seattle where winter is just one long rain like Vancouver, but I do a lot of winter traveling through the passes.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I still need to get some winters for my car, haven’t given it much thought yet sadly.

[blownz]

I never put mine on before beginning of Oct. Typically if it does snow before that it doesn't stay on the road.

I had to buy new winters this year though so I have a set of Nokian Hakka 9's on hold at KalTire while I decide what type of wheels to get. Hoping to have that sorted in the next week or two.

[Doozer]

Am I the only one who keeps a spreadsheet of the dates for my swaps? I'll have to go back and check the average date, but it's probably late October or early November. A few years have stretched into early December, but since both vehicles have separate summer/winter sets, I can swap both in < a couple hours if it starts snowing one night and looks like it'll stick.

[Tik-Tok]

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Those who run studs, aren’t they more or less dog shit when you’re not driving on packed snow and ice? I haven’t tried them, but it seems like most roads are exposed most of the time. Is it not that bad? Tradeoff is worth it?

I was thinking Xice 2 on my truck because I like that they don’t wear down to “all season” like most other snow tires, but have been tempted to give Hakka 8 or similar a try. Granted I live in Seattle where winter is just one long rain like Vancouver, but I do a lot of winter traveling through the passes.

Asides from the road noise (if you don't have a well insulated vehicle), I feel no difference between studded and a non-studded winter tire on dry and wet pavement. However, I've never driven on them through a rain-storm, so they might not be great for a place like Seattle or Vancouver.

Trade-off is worth it for me personally as my neighborhood doesn't see dry pavement for pretty much the entire winter, and the usual daily melt/freeze cycle of Calgary leaves some sheer ice on a hill that's the entrance to my area. I've almost slid straight through the intersection at the bottom on more than occasion before I got studded.

[rage2]

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Those who run studs, aren’t they more or less dog shit when you’re not driving on packed snow and ice? I haven’t tried them, but it seems like most roads are exposed most of the time. Is it not that bad? Tradeoff is worth it?

I was thinking Xice 2 on my truck because I like that they don’t wear down to “all season” like most other snow tires, but have been tempted to give Hakka 8 or similar a try. Granted I live in Seattle where winter is just one long rain like Vancouver, but I do a lot of winter traveling through the passes.

Yea, but the limits are still good enough for highway driving. On BC highways I can feel the tires giving up around average corners at 130-140km/h when it's warm (18C). What's bizarre is on the same drive in -20C roads with a sheet of ice, the same type of corners would hold strong at 160km/h. Felt so backwards. If you're driving through the passes often, you'll never go back. I wouldn't make a winter drive through BC without studs again. It's not that you need them all the time, but there are some days where you really wish you had them.

Rain is an interesting question, I've never actually paid attention or drove hard enough in the rain to notice anything out of the ordinary.

[killramos]

Has anyone on here ever studded their duratracs?

Thinking it would be fun to turn the wrangler into an arctic beast. I would be running them all year long, road noise can’t possible get any worse in the Wrangler right? Lol.

[andyg16]

Since I have a set of summer wheels and tires for my truck, I'm thinking of going with some all weather ones for the winter on the stock wheels. Any recommendations? I'll likely be swapping over mid October as well.

[HiTempguy1]

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Has anyone on here ever studded their duratracs?

Thinking it would be fun to turn the wrangler into an arctic beast. I would be running them all year long, road noise can’t possible get any worse in the Wrangler right? Lol.

Studded duratracs are the goto for year round oilfield. Duratracs are soft enough that they actually work well in the winter.

However, I'm still a fan of proper all-terrains for summer, proper winters for winter. A cheap, studded winter (especially since you don't need a LT tire on the wrangler) will be superior to a duratrac and dirt cheap. But for the look, you can't go wrong with duratracs.

[ExtraSlow]

Duratracs are decent on very heavy vehicles like 1-ton oilfield trucks. they are "soft" in that context. On a wrangle that weighs 1/3 as much? I'd say they would be pretty hard.

Killer should just rock the mustang anyway.

[revelations]

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Those who run studs, aren’t they more or less dog shit when you’re not driving on packed snow and ice? I haven’t tried them, but it seems like most roads are exposed most of the time. Is it not that bad? Tradeoff is worth it?

I was thinking Xice 2 on my truck because I like that they don’t wear down to “all season” like most other snow tires, but have been tempted to give Hakka 8 or similar a try. Granted I live in Seattle where winter is just one long rain like Vancouver, but I do a lot of winter traveling through the passes.

Dont do studs if you drive on the west coast. My dad thought it would be a good idea to buy studded tires one summer and leave them on until they wore out. The winter rain driving was silly with studs.

On the West Coast, you are better off with some good All Weather tires in the winter - or winter tires that are more focused on slush specifically.

[vengie]

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Has anyone on here ever studded their duratracs?

Thinking it would be fun to turn the wrangler into an arctic beast. I would be running them all year long, road noise can’t possible get any worse in the Wrangler right? Lol.

Get General Grabber AT2's and stud them instead.

Like Extra said the Duratrac is great on a heavier vehicle, but I wouldn't put them on anything less than a 1/2ton

[NissanFanBoy]

If you listen to a couple of local weathermen, we're in an el Nino year, but according to farmers almanac it's supposed to a long harsh winter?!

[HiTempguy1]

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Duratracs are decent on very heavy vehicles like 1-ton oilfield trucks. they are "soft" in that context.

No, they are just physically soft compared to most other tires' compounds that are year round.

[ExtraSlow]

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No, they are just physically soft compared to most other tires' compounds that are year round.

Guess we'll have to disagree with you on that.

[tonytiger55]

Just bought some old OEM rims for my Zonda off Kijiji. I finally have a extra set for Winters!

[killramos]

Interesting, after a lot of Wrangler forum browsing that’s the first I have heard of duratracs being too heavy duty for a Wrangler. They are easily the most popular Wrangler tire on most forums aside from people who go with full on mud terrains.

I mean, they come in a wide variety of weight ratings, I’m not saying I need 10 ply tires...

End of the day the Stock tires will be fine, I was just thinking of something more winter beast mode and could also give me a touch more off road confidence for a couple trails I’d like to try next summer.

I think talking about tires is a top 10 favourite topic for me hahaha

[ExtraSlow]

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I think talking about tires is a top 10 favourite topic for me hahaha

It's a great way to get everyone angry too!

[NissanFanBoy]

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Just bought some old OEM rims for my Zonda off Kijiji. I finally have a extra set for Winters!

I still don't understand why you call it a Zonda? Is that a British thing?

[max_boost]

I debate this every few years, to stud or not to stud lol

I did like my Blizzak Ws80 a lot tho.