What tires do you recommend for the winter
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Huntington Beach, Ca
i have taken my zeons in the snow twice so far, and they were great, i have a 4x4, but wasnt using it, i had bridgestone dueler revos on my old trucks and they were awesome, my brother had them on his jeep, and we had no problems driving through utah snow storms
Professional
Joined: May 2008
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Studded tires ARE NOT illegal in Jersey. There are just certain dates that they must be removed off your vehicle. here in NY it's by April 1st.
Studded tires are terrible on dry pavement. They just slide like crazy. I would never get studded snows unless I lived in Canada. A NON-STUDDED snow tire is what you want living in Jersey.
These are AT's not winter tires althought they perform well in the winter because AT's have large tread blocks. They still have no comparison against Winter tires when on ice and snow.
Chains ARE illegal in Jersey. they put lots of wear on the road. Also, the weather is not incliment enough to even justify chains. We get much more snow here in NY and i wouldn't even think of putting chains on.
The sandbags are definately something to use. I put 300lbs of bags in the back of my truck and left them there all winter long. Huge improvement.
If your really serious about running winter tires in winter months, then get some Studless snows like THESE
Studdable snows are better off with studs. Non-studded snows are better without studs because of the compount they are made of. They grip better when braking on bare pavement than studded tires do which is the main portion of jersey driving.
Studded tires are terrible on dry pavement. They just slide like crazy. I would never get studded snows unless I lived in Canada. A NON-STUDDED snow tire is what you want living in Jersey.
These are AT's not winter tires althought they perform well in the winter because AT's have large tread blocks. They still have no comparison against Winter tires when on ice and snow.
Chains ARE illegal in Jersey. they put lots of wear on the road. Also, the weather is not incliment enough to even justify chains. We get much more snow here in NY and i wouldn't even think of putting chains on.
The sandbags are definately something to use. I put 300lbs of bags in the back of my truck and left them there all winter long. Huge improvement.
If your really serious about running winter tires in winter months, then get some Studless snows like THESE
Studdable snows are better off with studs. Non-studded snows are better without studs because of the compount they are made of. They grip better when braking on bare pavement than studded tires do which is the main portion of jersey driving.
I was considering finding a pair of cheap 20's or even spare steels and throwing some quality winter studded tires.
You have me questioning getting studded tires. Although finding tires same as stock that are all winter are hard to find. Do you think I would be better running studded or stud-less?
Should I just put an all season tire on my stock 20's and use them all year?
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2009
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Honestly, after seeing the kind of snow you guys get in N.J., i would spend a little coin on some Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ radials in the SLT sizes. Just run them during winter and they will last till the sun burns out. Why cheap out when it comes to your safety and ability to get around when you want?
I just want to add in a few little thoughts about tires here.
1. Probably the one thing that many people don't realize is the fact that winter/snow tires are made of a softer compound just by nature. Add in studs, and you're usually looking at an extremely soft tire. Soft tire= quicker wear.
2. You can out fit yourself with the best snow tire on earth, and it's not gonna save your *** if you can't drive. I've seen people get through 3 feet of snow and ice with a highway treaded tire, and I've seen people with $1200 sets of snow tires sitting in the ditch in the same scenario.
3. IMO, you can get season specific tires and either run them out of season or have to deal with switching wheels each season, but why not learn how to drive and get a nice AT tire and have the best of each scenario?
As a side note, RH, don't be knocking 2WD trucks. We got over 2 inches of solid ice on the roads last week and my truck was never locked down in 4wd to get around, and trust me, I wasn't making any short runs to the quickie mart for a 48 pack.
1. Probably the one thing that many people don't realize is the fact that winter/snow tires are made of a softer compound just by nature. Add in studs, and you're usually looking at an extremely soft tire. Soft tire= quicker wear.
2. You can out fit yourself with the best snow tire on earth, and it's not gonna save your *** if you can't drive. I've seen people get through 3 feet of snow and ice with a highway treaded tire, and I've seen people with $1200 sets of snow tires sitting in the ditch in the same scenario.
3. IMO, you can get season specific tires and either run them out of season or have to deal with switching wheels each season, but why not learn how to drive and get a nice AT tire and have the best of each scenario?
As a side note, RH, don't be knocking 2WD trucks. We got over 2 inches of solid ice on the roads last week and my truck was never locked down in 4wd to get around, and trust me, I wasn't making any short runs to the quickie mart for a 48 pack.
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 24,686
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From: South Georgia/East Florida
Honestly, after seeing the kind of snow you guys get in N.J., i would spend a little coin on some Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ radials in the SLT sizes. Just run them during winter and they will last till the sun burns out. Why cheap out when it comes to your safety and ability to get around when you want?
Your want as much contact with the road as possible (ever wonder why a snowmobile works so well on snow?), so those tall individual blocks on an M/T are not the ticket.
Studs are gonna be the best traction on ice, but can be a PIA. Chains are not a bad idea at all to carry around with you and some of the modern, non-metallic ones do a fantastic job and only take about 2 mins per tire to install when the weather gets ugly.
But as far as just tires go, a good, heavily siped A/T is your best over-all solution for winter driving conditions...
Record Breaker
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,282
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From: Fairplay Colorado
I disagree (and I'm a huge Mickey MTZ fan). M/T tires ARE NOT the answer for winter tires. They will only have an advantage in very deep snow and will be worse than your standard soccer mom tires in hard packed snow, wet pavement and ice.
Your want as much contact with the road as possible (ever wonder why a snowmobile works so well on snow?), so those tall individual blocks on an M/T are not the ticket.
Studs are gonna be the best traction on ice, but can be a PIA. Chains are not a bad idea at all to carry around with you and some of the modern, non-metallic ones do a fantastic job and only take about 2 mins per tire to install when the weather gets ugly.
But as far as just tires go, a good, heavily siped A/T is your best over-all solution for winter driving conditions...
Your want as much contact with the road as possible (ever wonder why a snowmobile works so well on snow?), so those tall individual blocks on an M/T are not the ticket.
Studs are gonna be the best traction on ice, but can be a PIA. Chains are not a bad idea at all to carry around with you and some of the modern, non-metallic ones do a fantastic job and only take about 2 mins per tire to install when the weather gets ugly.
But as far as just tires go, a good, heavily siped A/T is your best over-all solution for winter driving conditions...
Got my real first test with my Super Swampers in the snow this past week in the snowy mountains of CO. My DTT contributed a ton I am sure, but in 2WD I made it almost everywhere with impressive traction. I only had to put it in 4WD once all weekend and that was when I was pulling out of my friends driveway and it is really steep. Other then that I was very impressed. But considering I have been on Mud Grapplers for the past two winters might have helped me believe that these are far superior.
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 418
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From: CNY
Well I agree with Hammer... Large lug tires will help only when you have alot of snow... the large lugs are like baseball cleats on icey slushy roads.. Here in CNY we get horrible lake effect snow bands and we all sorts of snow.. hot selling tires around here are like your blizzaks or cooper coursers... not saying the M/T are junk, they just dont handle the everyday slush and iced over roads...