Got a 2010 Trail and still got the original tires. There at 45k and due for a new set.

Looking for good set of winter tires. I live along Front Range of Colorado so it could be 60 degrees one day and 2' of snow the next. Do lots of skiing and winter hiking so often on I-70 in the snow or unplowed back roads getting to trail heads. There still 2 months of summer/fall left here so will likely be on some dirt/rock jeep trails getting to some more remote trail heads.

Suggestions?

Thanks

He!

I had the Bridgestone Dueler DMZ-3 on my Toyota-truck. It was a very good and safe winter-tire in my opinion. The material-mixture is very smooth, so I think it's not a tire for mile-eaters.
Now I've mounted the Cooper Discoverer M&S on my truck. What I noticed is, that it get's a bit slippery on wet pavement. I haven't tried it on snow yet.

greetz, O_J

Big fan of Nokian Hakkapeliittas. I am currently (well in winter) running a set of R's on my 2010 limited.

not sure if those are available for the 4R.. i'm stuck running this winter with the original, OEM tires, but Blizzaks were freakishly fantastic to me when I drove the 300+ RWHP monstrosity throughout the winter.

I run Goodyear Duratracs with studs on a separate set of wheels here in Oregon. Great on the packed icy stuff as well as in the deep stuff up in the Cascade Mountains.

You did say winter tires...

If you searched, you'll find that Hakkas and Blizzaks are pretty much the favorites for dedicated winters tires. Blizzaks for me.

Friends/relatives of mine are happy with Hakkas and Blizzaks. I used Michelin Alpin for 7 years and completely satisfied with it. I will pick up my next set of winter tires this coming weekend, this time it's Nokian Hakka R SUV.

As Philsey mentioned, both hakkas and blizzaks are well regarded dedicated winter tires...

I live in the mountains up the Interstate from you and started out with the Duratracs (not studded) and while very happy with them in dry and wet conditions they weren't very good in snow. I should clarify - they were better than the stock tires or a summer tire but for a snowflake rated tire I was unimpressed. I'm sure studded they would be much better but I was past that point and besides, I wanted to keep them for non-winter use.

I installed a set of the Hakkapeliitta LTs (Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT), had them studded and have been incredibly happy with them. In fact they paid for themselves (and likely saved my life) the week after I bought them. I was driving back home up I70 in a snowstorm late one night returning from a business trip. The roads were snow packed and although there was some traffic we were moving around 35-40 miles an hour. I had just passed the Copper Mountain exit, was in the left lane when I looked up and coming around the corner was Dodge 1500 coming right at me in my lane (yep, the wrong way on the Interstate). I was able to make an emergency lane change (ok, swerve) in to the right lane successfully without losing traction or causing another accident. The scary thing was that the next exit was Vail Pass which means the guy had been going the wrong way for almost 10 miles when he passed me.

Anyway, back on topic - the Hakkapeliitta's are great winter tires for our truck. Great in the snow but also tough and durable so if you do end up on dirt roads/off road they will hold up fine. I studded them but if I lived down on the front range I probably wouldn't do that.

Living with snow 4 months a year, I've tried the Nokian Hakka and the Michelin X-Ice2 and both are my favorites.


The choice is easy : you want stud, go Nokian otherwise I suggest the Michelin.

Stud will perform better on ice but will be noisier.

Why on earth do you need a dedicated winter tire on this vehicle. I also live in the Front Range and commute to Vail for work 5 times a month. I had 0 issues in deep snow with BFG AT's last year. In fact, the truck was unstoppable with them. That includes deep slushy highway, packed snow, deep fresh snow on dirt roads.

Saying the truck was 'unstoppable' with the BFG's is not exactly an endorsement for winter tires.... just saying ...

As for why a dedicated winter tire is necessary, it comes down to numbers... one of them being $ and the rest being other statistics. Everyone has a different point at which the improved performance of one tire makes it worth having...

... for example, the province of Quebec, Canada, has required that all vehicles have dedicated winter tires (in winter), because the statistics are such that, just like seat-belts, they apparently save lives. But still, some people refuse to wear seat belts, and I get the impression that there are people who feel similarly about winter tires. My opinion is that I will use any device I can to give me the most advantage when winter driving, including winter tires, etc.

mib

I wondered if someone would catch my joke.


Here in Denver, we have no need for a dedicated winter tire on a 4 wheel drive truck, at least in my opinion. I mean, I do run blizzaks on my STi, but that's a different machine. I dunno. Just my 2 cents.

Yea, I'm not in Denver, I'm up at 8000'. If you think an all season is sufficient, I'm open to suggestions. But after the lame winter we had last year in the front range, seems like we're do to get walloped this year. I work down the hill (Centennial) and it's pretty amazing the weather (snow) differences between down there and the west side of town, and then mt vernon canyon and above.

Wrangler DuraTracs have the little snowflake that's supposed to mean it is good in Winter. They're also good off-road.

I'll be trying them out for the first time this winter in Michigan. We get some pretty bad snow storms with lake effect. Read a lot of good reviews on them from other Michiganders. We can't use studs either, so I'm hoping the DuraTrac tread suffices.

You apparently missed my first post about commuting to Vail all winter, even though I live in Broomfield. I get micro climates and snow differences. This winter is going to be another La Nina which means NW flow and cold/windy/dry front range cities. Congrats at living at 8k feet. You come across a little pretentious.

BFG AT's are one of the top rated winter/A/S tires, btw.