Truck snow tires

[altacoup]

I gave myself a little reminder of how much of a difference snow tires make this last weekend. I haven't made the switch to snow tires on my Tacoma yet this year and last weekend we got 4-5 inches of snow. The county hadn't plowed the road yet but it was packed where several cars had driven over it. I went to make a right hand turn off of my gravel road, pressed the brake and turned the wheel and just continued straight through the intersection at the same speed. As soon as I got stopped I did a three point turn in the road (in 4wd, with some sliding), went home and jumped in my wife's CR-V with snow tires and tried again. In her car I honestly would have never known that the road was very slick, just seemed "normal."

The tires on the Tacoma are Toyo Open Country A/T III with about 20k miles on them, so not like they are terrible tires.

Similar experience today with winter rated wranglers. Hit the brakes and no response , just uncontrolled sliding. They’ve been great the last two years and I’m going in for winter tires tomorrow. I knew I was at the limit and 24 hours before going in to get full snow tires confirmed it. If you plan on traveling in snowing roads (ie: your a skier) get good tires.

[g_man80]

Good info in this thread. X3 on the point ZZZ and altacoup made; my truck with 7/32” Territory A/Ts is not as sure-footed as our 2wd vehicle with new Blizzak WS-90s, which got the Udot cottonwood canyons sticker yesterday.

[XXX-er]

No idea of the actual mileage but I was at 60% after 5 seasons on Haks altho i missed a season cuz of the knee

someone coming to buy them tomorrow @ 60% on rims for 700$

[CallMeAl]

I think my GT Ice Pro studdable winter tires (which I didn't get studded) on the old 2500 pickup are from China. Cheapest possible winter tire I could find in an E load range, from a real tire company (ie not Ling Long or Liao Lion etc). Something like $125 each.

How do you like them?

I'm also looking for an inexpensive E rated snow tire for my 2500.

It isn't my daily but does see a fair amount of use in the winter- almost always with a trailer hooked to it and/or camper in the back.

[El Chupacabra]

How do you like them?

I'm also looking for an inexpensive E rated snow tire for my 2500.

It isn't my daily but does see a fair amount of use in the winter- almost always with a trailer hooked to it and/or camper in the back.

I don't have much drive time on those tires yet. Definitely can't give any tread wear feedback yet.

Road manners - squishy, like traditional winter tires tend to be. Fairly quiet.

Snow traction is fine, but I got them late last season, and only had a little winter driving conditions on them before I swapped back to the 3-season set. So not much of a review there either.

I had a different set of cheap GT winter tires (Champiro something) on a different 3/4-ton truck, and they were great in winter conditions. They wore somewhat quickly, but I expected that from a soft tire under a heavy truck. I sold the truck before wearing out that set, but I'd guess that they would have delivered around 25K of useful winter traction.

[Skistack]

Admittedly not a comprehensive test, but not a good look for the new Wildpeak. Basically twice the stopping distance on packed snow vs BFG and Firestone.

[Danno]

switching over to my Blizzaks tomorrow!

[ASmileyFace]

switching over to my Blizzaks tomorrow!

Ha, me too and likely half of durango. Wish I had the tools and space to knock this out myself...

[2FUNKY]

Admittedly not a comprehensive test, but not a good look for the new Wildpeak. Basically twice the stopping distance on packed snow vs BFG and Firestone.

Lol, none of those are snow tires. All terrains. ???


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[summit]

Supposedly the AT4 gave up snow performance vs the AT3 in exchange for durability and load.
Supposedly the KO3 improved on snow performance over the KO2.
The testing bears that out.

I'll go with a Nokian Outpost nAT instead of either of the above for my summer tires that have some snow ability.

[Core Shot]

Looking for Hakka based on this thread. Pre studded seems to be the best?

Any slc dealers to use? The interwebs is failing me.

Doesn’t have to be that brand per se. But factory studs seem to be best.

[g_man80]

Looking for Hakka based on this thread. Pre studded seems to be the best?

Any slc dealers to use? The interwebs is failing me.

Doesn’t have to be that brand per se. But factory studs seem to be best.

If you want to go with Nokians, you’ve got Burt Brothers, Discount Tire, and a few smaller shops around the valley. I’ve had limited, but good experiences at the downtown Burt Brothers.

Foothill Tire Pros on Parleys Way has been my preferred shop the last 15 years since they usually nail the balance and I’m very picky about that. They don’t list Nokian on their website, though they may be able to get what you want. I sliced a Goodyear Wrangler and they got a new one same day despite not advertising that brand.

[auvgeek]

Ha, me too and likely half of durango. Wish I had the tools and space to knock this out myself...

We've got a floor jack, impact driver, torque wrench, etc, and I just switch ours on the street. You're welcome to come over and do it.

[XXX-er]

For many years the dealer would swap tires on rims that I had bought from them no charge but they quit that so I finaly bit the bullet and bought a 3 ton floor jack , you need the 3 ton for a truck cuz smaller jacks don't have the range, at 132 $ a swap the floor jack got paid off pretty quick

I still get the dealer to torque them after driving 100km they torque so many wheels they don't know if paid or not

the Nokian I believe come studded from the factory, I don't think they could stud them at the dealer cuz the studs are square/ much larger that normal studs and I havent lost any in 5 yrs on my last set

[J. Barron DeJong]

For many years the dealer would swap tires on rims that I had bought from them no charge but they quit that so I finaly bit the bullet and bought a 3 ton floor jack , you need the 3 ton for a truck cuz smaller jacks don't have the range, at 132 $ a swap the floor jack got paid off pretty quick

I still get the dealer to torque them after driving 100km they torque so many wheels they don't know if paid or not

the Nokian I believe come studded from the factory, I don't think they could stud them at the dealer cuz the studs are square/ much larger that normal studs and I havent lost any in 5 yrs on my last set

Just buy a torque wrench and torque them yourself?

https://www.tekton.com/1-2-inch-driv...0SWH9LzSPr1fkk

[Danno]

Ha, me too and likely half of durango. Wish I had the tools and space to knock this out myself...

Discount Tire does it for me for free (since I have them on rims already).

Lol, none of those are snow tires. All terrains. ???

Yeah, but they do all have the 3PMSF rating, which many think is good enough.

[XXX-er]

Just buy a torque wrench and torque them yourself?

https://www.tekton.com/1-2-inch-driv...0SWH9LzSPr1fkk

I don't have any other use for a 1/2" drive torque wrench, I do have a 1/2" beam style torque wrench I've used for wheels but reading the beam down on my knees is not so easy /accurrate so I just let the wheels seat in for 100kms and drop by the tire store

[J. Barron DeJong]

I don't have any other use for a 1/2" drive torque wrench, I do have a 1/2" beam style torque wrench I've used for wheels but reading the beam down on my knees is not so easy /accurrate so I just let the wheels seat in for 100kms and drop by the tire store

I don’t have a reason for it other than swapping wheels either. But saving four trips to the tire store each year seems like $50 we’ll spent.

Also seems like lug nuts should be properly torqued BEFORE driving 100km?

[XXX-er]

I don’t have a reason for it other than swapping wheels either. But saving four trips to the tire store each year seems like $50 we’ll spent.

Also seems like lug nuts should be properly torqued BEFORE driving 100km?

they hang a little note in your vehical telling you to get a retorque within 100 kms I've driven to the town 1hr east of here and had another store in the chain do the retorque and they seem to do it free even if I didnt pay for a changeover and they don't know me. The chain is the exclusive Hak dealer so if they are haks I bought them at Kal tire. Locally the tire store is real close, I know the guy cuz he lived downstairs for awhile, buddy just gave me the friends and family deal which saved me 250$ on a set of Haks

actualy back in the day tires were instaled with an air wrench cranked up to mack snell, nobody torqued wheel nuts on big manly American cars, until a honda service bulliten was telling mechanics and tire guys the way they had been changing wheels was warping the brake discs on them wimpy little japanese cars

also back in the day big manly american cars almost exclusively had big manly steelwheels which did not come loose, almost all alloy rims would have been aftermarket, IME alloy rims are the more likely rims to loosen off and nowdays there are alloy rims everywhere

[ASmileyFace]

We've got a floor jack, impact driver, torque wrench, etc, and I just switch ours on the street. You're welcome to come over and do it.

Dang I appreciate the offer. I wish I had seen this earlier, considering I waited in the shop for two hours for the swap lol

[XavierD]

Anyone buy a new set of Hakka LT3s this year and see where they were made? Wondering if they have switched to the Tennessee Factory or still coming out of Finland?

[XXX-er]

Anyone buy a new set of Hakka LT3s this year and see where they were made? Wondering if they have switched to the Tennessee Factory or still coming out of Finland?

Just got a new set of LT3, still being made by dour humorless Finns

[XXX-er]

Good point to differentiate it ^^ might be different for our American cousins

[SnowMachine]

Supposedly the AT4 gave up snow performance vs the AT3 in exchange for durability and load.
Supposedly the KO3 improved on snow performance over the KO2.
The testing bears that out.

I'll go with a Nokian Outpost nAT instead of either of the above for my summer tires that have some snow ability.

I'm doing some first hand testing. My new truck is getting K03's after my last truck had AT3W's. I've installed AT4w's for several friends after previous AT3w's. My driveway is the proving ground. We shall see. Big truck sizes 35X12.5-17 (E load rated)

I'm also testing Baja Boss AT's and Cooper Endeavors on some Sprinters. Lots of new 3PMSF tires to test this year.

I hope Falken didn't ruin the AT4w. It's the only tire that has made it through two seasons for me.

[Get.Kronk]

Anybody in the market for 265/60R18 snow tires? Arctic claw WXI. Not the top of the line but I had good luck with em the last few winters. Have a new car and no longer need them. 4 with ~ 300 miles on them, 2 that are at about 30% of life remaining. In Jackson