Winter tire recommendations

[300havoc]

Hey all,

Just wondering what people are rocking for winters on their trucks/suvs. I have a Wrangler and the A/T tires that come with it are M+S rated but still hockey pucks on ice which doesn’t do any good so I’m looking for proper non-studded winter options.

Thank you !

[370Z]

Curious why no studded???

I'm on studded Hakka 8s. First time ever using studded and I don't think I'll ever go back. It's on my dedicated winter driving vehicle though, but I've driven on warmer, clear days and the noise doesn't bother me that much.... they are loud only if windows are down, which would be never since I have a warm day vehicle.

The traction is literally night and day compared with non studded winters.

[300havoc]

I've just never used studded tires. On my Mazda I just had regular winters and had no issues with them and I'm planning on moving to Vancouver in the next two years, where studded aren't really necessary, but regular winters are still helpful.

[Asian_defender]

Federal Himalayas WS2
Love them

[Ekliptix]

I have experience with 2 tires, both of which I love:

1) Cooper DISCOVERER M+S LT285/75R16 with studs. I put these on my 2000 GMC 2500. Great confidence in snow and ice. I also have these on my GF's toyota 4 runner, non studded. They're still pretty good, but on ice the studs make a massive difference in breaking, accelerating and cornering.
2) Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 with studs. I have these on my 2003 BMW X5IS. There are few tire options due to the 315/35/20R size, but I have had these in terrible road conditions and ice lake driving school, and they are amazing. More high tech then the Coopers.

[r3ccOs]

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Curious why no studded???

I'm on studded Hakka 8s. First time ever using studded and I don't think I'll ever go back. It's on my dedicated winter driving vehicle though, but I've driven on warmer, clear days and the noise doesn't bother me that much.... they are loud only if windows are down, which would be never since I have a warm day vehicle.

The traction is literally night and day compared with non studded winters.

Many many threads, but I think it all depends on what you want and your budget.

All Winter tires are better than none, and even the shitty Chinese Winters aren't half bad, especially in Calgary. The new All Weathers are really half decent these days, but nothing replaces a proper full fledged brand name Winter tire if you are planning on hitting Mountain destinations.

For trucks, I think that with pure 4x4 that I don't mind Winter rated All weathers, but slightly more siped than a BFG KO2. I run Cooper AT/W, but BAR NONE, the best Truck A/T for the Winter I've used is the Nokian Rotiiva... no idea why, but it works in ALL conditions perfect. From towing, putting the boat in and out of ramps, Icy conditions, and deepass snow, jesus those Rotiivas are amazing.

No way the Rotiiva can compete in offroading Dirt/Mud/Rock like a Duratrac BFG KO (which I've ran both before) but it is the best multipurpose tire I've used with amazing on-road mannerism... Only other would be Michelin LTX which is very good on the road, but they fill up in the deep stuff and are not at all made for anything off pavement.

For all AWD or FWD vehicles, I like running pure Winters.. have used many, but jesus they're all quite good with the best being again Nokian ... then with Michelin coming very close with their X-ice series. Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear BFG etc.. all offer really good tires, you just can't go wrong...

That said, one tire that I always thought was good was the Gislaveds... ran them on RWD volvos for years and then our first haldec XC70 and it was killer... so their Frost line is really nice and can be found at a good price point.

For budget .. my friend bought cheap General Tire Altimax studded and he loved them on his FIT... and I also see that Cooper has their special line for CT as well as their own True North which seems to have a decent pattern. I wouldn't shut them out for being a budget tire, and not being a shitty Chinese compound.

good luck

[300havoc]

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Many many threads, but I think it all depends on what you want and your budget.....

Huge amount of information here, thank you! CT does have a deal on the Cooper M+S so that is the cheaper side that I am looking at, and it can handle some off-road use. I have also heard good things about the Gislaveds, in fact a friend was talking to me about them just the other day. I looked at Hakka LT3s (I think) but they don't seem to fit the wheel size exactly, and they were a little pricy though I understand that they are one of the top quality brands. My funds are limited so it's weighing out buying a cheaper tire and then when funds are better get something better, or do I shell it out and get a better quality tire with the hopes that they last longer.

[killramos]

I’m going to try a season on Duratracs for the winter on my truck and see how it goes.

I have used dedicated winters, Goodyear Ultragrio Ice WRT and blizzaks of some kind, on my FJ cruiser. I don’t remember the traction being any better or worse than the dueler AT that came on my Wrangler.

End of the day anything studded is going to be a big win on ice, but have their own drawbacks. Ice aside, I haven’t had much issues with any AT or winter tire. The compounds in truck AT’s seem far more forgiving than regular car all seasons.

Driving to the conditions far more important.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Normally I’m a winter tire guy but I ran studded General Grabber A/TX on my truck last year and was really happy with the grip levels on ice and snow. It helps my truck is ~6800lbs however.

[Black Gts]

I ended up in northern Manitoba a few years ago on end of life at/aw. Ordered hankook I pikes and studded them last year. I was in Calgary until the end of Jan and then I left to sask and took my highway car and not my truck with studded winters, I switched rims on my truck in Apr, came for work in the lower mainland, drove home and put the studded winters back on my truck beginning of Oct.
I'm sure these tires will pay for themselves when I drive to Calgary over Christmas, but so far I've noticed no improvements studded vs non ����

[ExtraSlow]

Studded only helps on packed snow or ice. Does nothing to assist in any kind of snow condition where there's decent pavement underneath. So that's a small percentage of the time for most of us, but it's a really crucial time when most of the accidents happen.

[Black Gts]

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Studded only helps on packed snow or ice. Does nothing to assist in any kind of snow condition where there's decent pavement underneath. So that's a small percentage of the time for most of us, but it's a really crucial time when most of the accidents happen.

I'm happy I went this route, my long winded story is just trying to say I've been on bare pavement, mostly above the freezing point. I'll hopefully never have my personal vehicle in artic conditions again, but I'll be ready if that does happen haha.

[Kg810]

I'm using the brand new Continental Viking Contact 7. I've only had the chance to drive a few times in snow so far but I'm quite impressed by them. I'm actually looking forward to heavy snowfall to try them out.

Not driving a truck or a suv, but I figured a 4,600 lbs wagon is comparable.

There isn't much reviews on the Viking Contact 7 as this is the first year in NA. Feel free to check out this article from last year http://www.skstuds.ca/2019/02/14/201...ed-by-the-naf/

I purchased my set online from https://pmctire.com/en/ as I found they were the cheapest.

[revelations]

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Studded only helps on packed snow or ice. Does nothing to assist in any kind of snow condition where there's decent pavement underneath. So that's a small percentage of the time for most of us, but it's a really crucial time when most of the accidents happen.

This fall/winter I've counted 2 days already (morning or evening) where studs definitely were a plus. Usually it ends up 2-3 weeks a winter where the roads are skating rinks at certain spots (ie. intersections) and the studs are definitely of help.

[jwslam]

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Studded only helps on packed snow or ice. Does nothing to assist in any kind of snow condition where there's decent pavement underneath. So that's a small percentage of the time for most of us, but it's a really crucial time when most of the accidents happen.

I would argue that Calgary has more icy conditions than most other places due to our Chinooks coming and going

[Brent.ff]

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I’m going to try a season on Duratracs for the winter on my truck and see how it goes.

I found duratracs were "ok" the first year, then absolute garbage from then on. I'm running dedicated winters on the tacoma now, mostly for backcountry skiing purposes and being able to get to the mountains and back. Had a couple freaky drives on the 1 before having winters where you felt like you were floating, using duratracs. Dont need to add stress to my life! Duratracs are great on snow, but absolute garbage on blown-in ice, like headed E-W on the 1.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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I found duratracs were "ok" the first year, then absolute garbage from then on. I'm running dedicated winters on the tacoma now, mostly for backcountry skiing purposes and being able to get to the mountains and back. Had a couple freaky drives on the 1 before having winters where you felt like you were floating, using duratracs. Dont need to add stress to my life! Duratracs are great on snow, but absolute garbage on blown-in ice, like headed E-W on the 1.

Part of the reason they feel like they are floaty is likely down to your truck being fairly light. Duratracs tend to work better on heavier duty vehicles I find.

[killramos]

Well my truck isn’t light by any means but definitely not heavy duty either.

I’m game to run true winters if it actually makes sense. But it seems like there is definitely no perfect winter for everything, what’s good on ice won’t be good on deep snow etc etc.

Makes me feel like second set of studded DT might be best bet for winter.

[Brent.ff]

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Well my truck isn’t light by any means but definitely not heavy duty either.

I’m game to run true winters if it actually makes sense. But it seems like there is definitely no perfect winter for everything, what’s good on ice won’t be good on deep snow etc etc.

When was the last time you ever had to actually deal with deep snow in AB though? My dedicated winters (X-Ice3s) were plenty for any of the big dumps last year with 4x4 on, and it's relatively a rare event here in Calgary, even when im spending every weekend in K Country to Yoho

My taco also has a topper, and i was running 300lbs of sandbags. Was pretty much running 4x4 full time with duratracs when there was every any sense of slipping, as i could barely move with them.

[killramos]

Same reason I run duratracs in the summer lmao. Not a lot of mud in the city either hahah