Truck snow tires

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Originally Posted by Core Shot

Ko3 is interesting

https://youtu.be/-BtKIFXlyIA

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They have a 50k mile treadwear warranty. I feel like I'll be getting some of my money back with that one. I'll be amazed if I'm wrong. Besides, by the time they get to that point traction will be shit. The only tire that survived two winters on my old truck was the Falken AT3W. Performance was only mildly diminished. IMO, they should have left that tire alone and not replaced it. If the K03 can match that performance and lifespan, it'll be my new go-to, especially for HD trucks and Sprinters. Time will tell.

The new Duratrac RT looks interesting, too. I'm waiting to learn more about tread compound. The original Duratrac was first class when it was intro'd (more than a decade ago).

The Nokian Outpost nAT was my research eventually settled on last year but they were transferring factories & it wasn’t available. So based on this thread I went for the Open Country AT lll and I’m pretty stoked on them.

My 6900 lb (fully loaded) van gets a lot of PNW miles and occasional ID and UT miles; Oregon cascades seem to be the shitfuckiest IME & these were pretty impressive on some days near Flachelor when vehicles were sliding out everywhere.

Sounds like you made a great choice with the Open Country AT III! They’re solid for heavy loads and PNW conditions, especially in tough spots like the Oregon Cascades.

With yall running different sized winter tires compared to your summer tires, what are you doing about your spare?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

OG checkin da spare

A plug kit and a compressor takes up a lot less room than a spare. Less weight too.

^^^^^ had a car salesman call it a bottle of Jesus juice. You pray that it works.

Not all flats are repairable. Having both options is best.

As for size differences? Depends how big. And whether it’s on the drive wheels.

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Originally Posted by SnowMachine

Tire size (rolling diameter and width), weight and tread design. My truck lost almost 2MPG going from 34" tall highway tires at 80psi to 35" tall AT's at 65psi.

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Whoa, I’ve never even gotten close to those psi’s on my truck.

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Originally Posted by ma8103

Whoa, I’ve never even gotten close to those psi’s on my truck.

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Is your truck a 3/4 or 1 ton? The tire psi threshold for warning in my 2500 is 65psi. Max load psi is 80.

I carry a plug kit and compressor in all of my vehicles, but what I've found is that the tpms indicator comes on and tells you that you're low (assuming you arent driving a Flinstone mobile). Most leaks are slow and give you time to get the tire pulled and patched. In my experience plugs are temporary, though my Jeep still has a plug from running over a pair of pliers. It has beadlocks and I'm too lazy to remove the +/- 30 bolts to repair the tire properly.

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Originally Posted by SnowMachine

Is your truck a 3/4 or 1 ton? The tire psi threshold for warning in my 2500 is 65psi. Max load psi is 80.

I carry a plug kit and compressor in all of my vehicles, but what I've found is that the tpms indicator comes on and tells you that you're low (assuming you arent driving a Flinstone mobile). Most leaks are slow and give you time to get the tire pulled and patched. In my experience plugs are temporary, though my Jeep still has a plug from running over a pair of pliers. It has beadlocks and I'm too lazy to remove the +/- 30 bolts to repair the tire properly.

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Ha, nope. I’m in a little old 1999 Tacoma. Running over pliers?! That’s gnarly!

In Canada they are banning more guns but the tpms sensor is not required ... we have freedom

Heh. TPMS has saved my family fleet twice in the last year. No one had damage. But it saved two tires

Sometimes regulations aren’t all bad.

PS. If you run snows, you can get a GM relearning tool for cheap on Amazon. Some newer cars self learn through the onboard computer menu.

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Originally Posted by Core Shot

Heh. TPMS has saved my family fleet twice in the last year. No one had damage. But it saved two tires

Sometimes regulations aren’t all bad.

PS. If you run snows, you can get a GM relearning tool for cheap on Amazon. Some newer cars self learn through the onboard computer menu.

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Drives me crazy the way GM does it. It shouldn't require additional tools to relearn TPMS.

Edit: I did tires on a new Sierra yesterday. I marked the wheel positions and put them back so that I didn't have to relearn. No help on a rotation, but time saving on a mount. If you do seasonal tires you can avoid the relearn by marking tires and "rotating" them on install. The relearn isn't bad if you have the tool. Just another step.

Toyota isn't great, either. You either have to clone sensors on install or write sensor ID'S to the module. Again, just another step.

I use the Autel sensors. Dual frequency capable. They cover almost anything.

I love the passive system on a lot of German cars. The ABS module monitors tire diameter and faults if one goes smaller (reference rpms go up). It has worked perfectly since the late 90's. Only thing it can't give you is live tire pressure, which is nice at times.

I change my VW wheels with tpms impunity and the little wheel speed sensors are a piece of cake to replace if they go bad.
I can reset my tire pressure alarm from the drivers seat too, which is nice.

I had my independent tire shop install TPMS to my winter wheels and clone the IDs off my summer wheels. I don’t know which brand they used but it wasn’t cheap … I also had to replace the OE sensors due to spent batteries, so it was easy enough to get 8 sensors installed to the two sets of summer and winter wheels.

Now if I also had a garage large enough to fit my truck and air tools so that I could do the wheel swaps myself, that would be nice! My driveway is sloped and even the street is a little sloped, so I’ve gotta roll the stinkin 8 lug mounted wheels up a wood ramp to get them into my truck bed for a shop to swap in and out.

And now I know to triple check the wheel position before I leave the shop. Last May when I put my summers back on, I told the service manager to have the tech mount the two tires with newer datecode up front and the two with older datecode in back - I checked that this was written into the work order. All four tires are the same model, but two are from 2023 and two are from 2018. I spent months this summer chasing an intermittent traction control light, plus like $1000 of shop time chasing codes and replacing the steering angle sensor (and having it calibrated like three separate times by two separate shops), only to realize at the end of the summer that my local auto shop put the 2023 tires on the left side and 2018 on the right. All four tires have extremely close tread depth - but the older rubber obviously had different grip, and the freaking traction control system kept picking up on that!!!

My buy 3, get 4 Hakka's at Point S turned into a quagmire. The tire shop incorrectly ordered the tires w studs, but I was lucky enough to look at them prior to installation. I can only imagine the shitshow that would have resulted if they had mounted the studded tires.

The story was "I thought that model ONLY came w studs so that's what I ordered."

Me - "okay no big deal, swap 'em out and I'll be back next week."

Tire shop - "those tires are back ordered for 3 or 4 months so we'll put you in some Blizzacks (for the same money) or we can PULL the studs, or you can get a refund."

WTAF

A few quick calls and I quickly found out their distributor could get the tires to the tire shop the following week. After 3 calls back and forth w the tire shop he finally decides to get off his ass and found the tires nearby. Installation is tomorrow. Fingers are crossed.

I would have been better off driving the 150 miles round trip to the next point s shop from the get go.

Why not use the studded version - I didn’t read upthread if already discussed.

Schralp, consider marking your tires for rotation with a grease pen. Maybe that could keep the problem from happening in the future. “LF, LR, RF, RR” for the placement location next time they’re installed.

I asked about the spare earlier… the last time I put on a spare on my truck was due to a sidewall bubble/compromise due to kissing/scraping a boulder on the side of a local road. I drove on it enough to get home (short distance at low speed), but it was pretty bad. Fix-flat, plug kit would not have helped. I have been able to buy tires that are all the same diameter as my spare, which happens to be an old cheap studded tire.

Any good mechanic will write on the inside of the sidewall with a grease pen.

And on a rotation it’s always back to front never side to side.

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Why not use the studded version

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It was not discussed above. I am old and retired so no pressing need to travel if it's not convenient and regular snow tires are fine to carry me to the lift on a powder day which is 4 miles from my house. And I'm in Sun Valley where 100 days btwn storms are not unheard of.

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

Schralp, consider marking your tires for rotation with a grease pen. Maybe that could keep the problem from happening in the future. “LF, LR, RF, RR” for the placement location next time they’re installed.

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It's what I did when putting my winters back on, I went and checked all the tread indicators, rotation indicators, erased old grease markings, and wrote what I wanted on each tire.

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Originally Posted by Core Shot

And on a rotation it’s always back to front never side to side.

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The wheels were in the back of my truck and I'm not even sure if they were marked for previous location. Regardless, my instructions were listed in the work order but the tech was too lazy to check the date code (which are only listed on the inside of the tires, not the outside so kind of hard to see once the wheels were mounted).

I wasn't surprised by that mistake anyways. I *WAS* surprised that my traction control system was sensitive enough to get thrown off by different aged rubber on one side of the truck from the other!!! I can't blame the shop either for chasing the codes directly instead of looking for an obscure condition "I wonder if the tires are the same diameter or age on both sides?" Lesson learned!!!

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Originally Posted by Core Shot

Any good mechanic will write on the inside of the sidewall with a grease pen.

And on a rotation it’s always back to front never side to side.

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Agree. Unless you’re rotating with 5 tires.

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Originally Posted by Hopeless Sinner

It was not discussed above. I am old and retired so no pressing need to travel if it's not convenient and regular snow tires are fine to carry me to the lift on a powder day which is 4 miles from my house. And I'm in Sun Valley where 100 days btwn storms are not unheard of.

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got it. And hopefully a few days won’t matter to get what you really want (and originally requested). I wish I lived 4 miles from the hill...

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Originally Posted by bodywhomper

got it. And hopefully a few days won’t matter to get what you really want (and originally requested). I wish I lived 4 miles from the hill...

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Had to spend 30 years on the rock pile to get here. It was a huge trade off.

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Originally Posted by Hopeless Sinner

My buy 3, get 4 Hakka's at Point S turned into a quagmire. The tire shop incorrectly ordered the tires w studs, but I was lucky enough to look at them prior to installation. I can only imagine the shitshow that would have resulted if they had mounted the studded tires.

The story was "I thought that model ONLY came w studs so that's what I ordered."

Me - "okay no big deal, swap 'em out and I'll be back next week."

Tire shop - "those tires are back ordered for 3 or 4 months so we'll put you in some Blizzacks (for the same money) or we can PULL the studs, or you can get a refund."

WTAF

A few quick calls and I quickly found out their distributor could get the tires to the tire shop the following week. After 3 calls back and forth w the tire shop he finally decides to get off his ass and found the tires nearby. Installation is tomorrow. Fingers are crossed.

I would have been better off driving the 150 miles round trip to the next point s shop from the get go.

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Pretty crazy but you would have been no better off down in the valley. Did the same but opposite a couple weeks ago. Went to Point S, buy 3 get 1 Hakka but wanted studded. They said they didn't make them studded and I showed them the Nokian website. Dude calls their distributor and they will be here 12/9-12 so I left my snow wheels. They call me two days later (way earlier than they said) so I go back and right before they mount them on the rims and I see them with no studs. I grab a salesman and he says they don't come studded but he could stud them. I told him that I ordered studded from factory (apparently factory studs are better). He was fairly adamant that I couldn't get studded. So I waited 45 minutes for my salesman to get back from lunch. He told me that they make studded but I wanted studless. I asked him to call the distributor and if they would arrive 12/9-12, he had to apologize for telling me I wasn't remembering what I wanted and take off the $213 Point S warranty off my invoice (watch out for that little line item-it's basically what Big O and Les Schwab just include when you buy tires from them). He apologized and removed the $213. It's now the 9th. We'll see if I actually get the right tires.

I'm going back to Big O or Les Schwab next tire purchase. Am not impressed.

Dang, lame. I had never been to a Point S before... maybe was lucky in getting this recent great experience.

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Originally Posted by Core Shot

And on a rotation it’s always back to front never side to side.

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Not always. I frequently go rear to front and cross the fronts to the rear. Changing the rolling direction will usually clear up feathering. Unless the tires are directional, modern casings can be crossed with no ill effects.

Tires that are directional get marked when I remove them and swap inside to outside the next season.

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Originally Posted by Conundrum

Pretty crazy but you would have been no better off down in the valley. Did the same but opposite a couple weeks ago. Went to Point S, buy 3 get 1 Hakka but wanted studded. They said they didn't make them studded and I showed them the Nokian website. Dude calls their distributor and they will be here 12/9-12 so I left my snow wheels. They call me two days later (way earlier than they said) so I go back and right before they mount them on the rims and I see them with no studs. I grab a salesman and he says they don't come studded but he could stud them. I told him that I ordered studded from factory (apparently factory studs are better). He was fairly adamant that I couldn't get studded. So I waited 45 minutes for my salesman to get back from lunch. He told me that they make studded but I wanted studless. I asked him to call the distributor and if they would arrive 12/9-12, he had to apologize for telling me I wasn't remembering what I wanted and take off the $213 Point S warranty off my invoice (watch out for that little line item-it's basically what Big O and Les Schwab just include when you buy tires from them). He apologized and removed the $213. It's now the 9th. We'll see if I actually get the right tires.

I'm going back to Big O or Les Schwab next tire purchase. Am not impressed.

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Point S is the overall brand and there are sub brands so for instance it's Gill's Point S or in Boise Buneel's Point S. I bought off a Gill's and their and Point S customer service are decent, you can call and talk to a real, knowledgeable person immediately.

My idiot just ordered the wrong tire, it can and does happen no matter where you buy from. So go back yesterday he's found a set of tires that's been "around" rather than swapping out w the distributor. I wasn't very pleased w their appearance, but I'm tired of the bs so left the truck to have them mounted. I will never use Gill's Point S in Hailey ever again, but I'm confident the shop in Arco would have been a batter choice.

I don't have any idea how people think they can sell something and then not deliver and expect the customer to take the short end of the stick as the resolution.

as i remember you swap bias ply tires one side to the other,gotta wonder if you can even buy them nowdays, radials were sposed to stay on the same side, I write on mine with a marker or sft

I am pretty sure nokians get those big square studs done at the factory cuz I don't think a normal studding gun will work with their square studs

I can''t imagine why someone would want to pull studs unless the po-lice ask cuz the deadline to remove studded tires is past but i am in a furin country

Yeah, just checked. The Nokian studs are factory because of their shape which is supposed to stay in better and last longer. They are stainless too. The only reason to pull studs is the tread is shot enough that they're not much use in winter anymore and you want to squeak a summer of dry road driving out of them. This is what my dad showed me growing up when money was tight. Get every mile out of them.

Those Finns are crazy and you should never drink with one but they know shit about snow tires

We had a studding gun at the gas station where I worked a VERY long time ago and no way it would instal a present day Nokian stud, traditional studs were small and round these new studs are twice the size and square

My last set of Nokians was at 5 yrs/ 60% tread left and NO missing studs which is pretty good cuz I've had Nokians with normal studs and some would be missing,

I just sold my Tacoma rims and nokians @ 60% on the FB for 700$ ona setup that was 1800 $ new, about the same as the setup on my old Ford Ranger, the new setup for Tundra was 2700 !

I have heard of the federales up here telling the motorist maybe in a DUI check they must do something about their studs or get a ticket, so you got 10 days to show up at the detachment with your summer tires or you pull all your remaining studs IF buddy law wants to be a nice guy instead of just givivng you a ticket

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Originally Posted by SnowMachine

Not always. I frequently go rear to front and cross the fronts to the rear. Changing the rolling direction will usually clear up feathering. Unless the tires are directional, modern casings can be crossed with no ill effects.

Tires that are directional get marked when I remove them and swap inside to outside the next season.

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I stand corrected.

https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-gar...o-rotate-tires

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Originally Posted by XXX-er

as i remember you swap bias ply tires one side to the other,gotta wonder if you can even buy them nowdays, radials were sposed to stay on the same side, I write on mine with a marker or sft

I am pretty sure nokians get those big square studs done at the factory cuz I don't think a normal studding gun will work with their square studs

I can''t imagine why someone would want to pull studs unless the po-lice ask cuz the deadline to remove studded tires is past but i am in a furin country

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As far as I'm aware, the only bias ply tires left are legacy Koken tires and trailer tires. Even a lot of trailer tires are radial now.

Pulling studs is silly on a brand new tire. I would have almost done it just to watch the agony in the attempt.

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Originally Posted by SnowMachine

As far as I'm aware, the only bias ply tires left are legacy Koken tires and trailer tires. Even a lot of trailer tires are radial now.

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There are still off road bias ply tires - some of the Interco models (Swampers etc). None of these are ones anyone on TGR would pick for a snow tire.

Just put some Toyo observe gsi six snow tires on my gmc. Insane grip and significantly cheaper at discount tire than other options. Guy there didn’t even realize they made that tire for trucks.

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Originally Posted by altacoup

Just put some Toyo observe gsi six snow tires on my gmc. Insane grip and significantly cheaper at discount tire than other options. Guy there didn’t even realize they made that tire for trucks.

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Getting the feeling these tire guys don't know shit.

the yutes today ain't had proper learin'...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fw4K4k31Rc



fact

Follow up that they got my tires on a couple days late but without issue. And driving on ice then snow on fresh studs is always sweet.

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Originally Posted by Conundrum

Follow up that they got my tires on a couple days late but without issue. And driving on ice then snow on fresh studs is always sweet.

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Good for you, studs are prob the best call for Bogus. I have a saga and I'm at war w Gill's Point S.

What are you all running for tire pressure on your Load E/ten ply?

Studded LT3 currently at 65 front and 70 rear.

I am not towing nor hauling heavy currently and think I could get away with running much less pressure for better traction and softer ride. Thinking of 60 all-around

I run 65 unloaded, almost 80 geared up.

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Originally Posted by Hood26

What are you all running for tire pressure on your Load E/ten ply?

Studded LT3 currently at 65 front and 70 rear.

I am not towing nor hauling heavy currently and think I could get away with running much less pressure for better traction and softer ride. Thinking of 60 all-around

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TPMS warning threshold on my truck is 60psi. I start at 65psi cold. My last truck had the threshold reprogrammed lower. I ran those at 55psi.

I bumped those to 65psi when hauling/towing. I'm never really near max payload where 75-80 is called for.