What to do about tires?

[Can Can]

Yeah, I sit around 4500 feet and we get some awfully cold weather, too. Last year's low was equal to -42 Farenheit without the windchill.......

Anyhow, I'm not attacking your opinion. I'm speaking from personal experience. You obviously has good luck with MTs during the winter, while I did not. Neither of us is wrong. I just don't want my CK5 brother assuming that EVERYONE loves MTs for winter use.

Not everyone wants to air down in cold weather, brother........

 

[dogdaysunrise]

The way the weather has been here lately however I might not even have to worry about it. It was 7*c here today... We usually have about 3 feet of snow on the ground this time of year.

 

[Thunder]

Yeah I understand your concern. Big city roads get slick. Specially at stop signs. Ats would prolly be better in the city. Either that or air down your Mts and drive careful. Dont know what to tel ya. Peasonally I would drive on MTs cuz i am used to them. Driven 100 of miles on them thru raging blizzards( Its 300 miles to granneys house and she is the closest one, other granney is 500 miles LOL). But Canmore has his good points too. ATs are way more forgiving on the ice than MTs specially in the city..

 

[dogdaysunrise]

well its gonna be 90% hiway 10% city. Only city driving will be to go to the store to get food. Hmmm

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. Guess im gonna have to sit down to a whiskey or 4 and think about it.

 

[BIG*RED]

well here is a thought. throw the MTs on, see how they do, if ya don't like how they perform, then throw the ATs on

 

[diesel4me]

width VS height..

On my plow trucks,I've never had good experinces with big tires like 36's for winter driving and plowing,unless I had a ton of sand in the bed..those big gumballs that are 12+" wide made the truck float over the snow and slide sideways too easily when pushing snow--too much "flotation"..I find Dual rear wheels suck in snow for the same reason..without tons of weight in the bed,they make the ass end of the truck slide too easily..

I had best traction with fairly tall but skinny tires,that will dig down to the asphalt rather than float on top of drifts..I could push a full 8' blade pass of snow in a parking lot,while my friends Ford F-250 with 36" tires was sliding sideways and getting stuck with every pass..it would do doughnuts on black ice wicked easy compared to my truck with the 8.75x16.5's I had on it at the time..a real scary truck to ride in when it was icy with those big tires..

I like studded tires and chains when black ice or deep snow is around..tall tires help reduce the likelyhood of wheelspin,they raise the gear ratio and reduce power and tourque--don't need much of either in snow or ice..but if they are wide tires,you'll find they suck in snow,especially if your pushing any with a plow..

I've had chains on all 4 wheels on my 74 K20 during a few bad storms in 1996,and I was about the only one still moving during those storms.. ..but some bastard stole them out of my toolbox,so all I have now is 2 rusted junk ones..new chains cost 150 bucks a pair now,and they ARE a pain in the butt to take on and off when road conditions vary so widely in just a few miles here..but nothing can compare with them for traction..

I know one guy who's plowed with his 2wd C10 by using chains,and lots of weight in the bed(and he has a winch on it too!)..I've been tempted to throw the plow off my 74 K20 I scrapped onto my 79 C10, but I don't think its really worth the effort-if it were all I had,I'd do it.....

 

[jekbrown]

Well, I'm not trying to scare you, but I have a feeling that the majority of the guys who have voted so far have little or no idea of what kind of conditions you'll be experiencing during the winter months.......

yeah yeah, its not cold or snowy ANYWHERE but Canada...

j

 

[aldrichg9]

I have 33" MT's on my 96 2500.
I have had no problems in the ice or snow, just don't
mash with your right foot in the corners and you'll be fine.

 

[dogdaysunrise]

Well we are supposed to get about 20cm of snow here tonight so I put on the mt's just so I can get out of the driveway and go to work tomorrow. For the south of the Canuck border folk 20cm is roughly 8 inches.

 

[SUPER'BURB]

I ran the BFG MT's for years on a Cherokee and loved them (I did not live in Cali at the time).

I ran them both siped and un-siped. Air pressure helps alot but I recommend siping any tire that has that big of a tread block with no siping.

I also got better life out of the siped sets (something to do with heat disipation maybe ).