Deep Snow Tire Experience?
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1engineer
Moderator
Tires are not the problem in 18" of snow. High centering is the problem.
If you think from a tire's prospective, it does not care how deep the snow is. It only cares about the snow immediately beneath it's tread. How well the tire gains and hold traction on the snow beneath the tread is the key. Your Michelin's will be just as good as anything else in the snow, regardless of 3" or 13" of snow.
If you think from a tire's prospective, it does not care how deep the snow is. It only cares about the snow immediately beneath it's tread. How well the tire gains and hold traction on the snow beneath the tread is the key. Your Michelin's will be just as good as anything else in the snow, regardless of 3" or 13" of snow.
midnight runner
New member
4RnR Grl
New member
Storm Runner
Member
I currently drive a Hummer H3 with 35" Duratracs. They are amazing in any depth of snow. From a light dusting to 24" drifts...I've never been stuck and I drive down un-plowed roads for fun.
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nevada
Senior Member
I REALLY like my BFG AT KO's. one hopes and assumes the KO2s are at least as good.
this is from 2 weeks ago.
those are 35's at 10psi. it was over hub deep in that picture, and got deeper as we went up the road. at times it was up to the nerf bars.
no lockers, open diffs. those tires are AMAZING in snow.
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KidVermicious
New member
No, everyone does not. I'm going to keep saying it, those tires have a good rep because they cost an arm and a leg and everyone who buys them wants them to be awesome so that's what they tell everybody else. They are in fact distinctly average when it comes to AT tires on snowy roads.
In deep stuff they're a little better, but again, not as awesome as their price tag would indicate. For an AT tire in hub-deep snow I'll take my ST Maxx over my Duratracs any day. I've never owned a set but I'd take Nevada's AT/KOs too.
Have you wheeled in deep snow with an X-ice or Blizzak set up? I've heard that wheeling in deep snow is more like wheeling in mud or sand.
Deep Snow Tires - Snowtrek.org
1engineer
Moderator
The key is siping.
KidVermicious
New member
^ True story. In the deep deep stuff you can't find bottom. You want wide tires, aired way down, with deep lugs. You float on the stuff just like deep sand and let the lugs act like paddle wheels, climbing as you make progress and keeping your axles from dragging too badly.
Problem is, if you CAN dig to bottom, those deep lugs and huge voids translate to a drastic loss of traction. An AT tire is a happy medium.
Problem is, if you CAN dig to bottom, those deep lugs and huge voids translate to a drastic loss of traction. An AT tire is a happy medium.
FordyceCreek
New member
I prefer BFG M/T
flyinhawaiian01
New member
Okay, while you guys fight over which tires are good in snow, I'll state my claim that ProComp X-Terrains suck bawls in deep snow! 15" snow base on a forest road that became blocked with a tree. Tried to turn around and as soon as it got sideways on this skinny road, cliff behind, hill in front, all those pieces of crap wanted to do was slide sideways!
These are them:
I now return you to your banter, carry on!
These are them:
I now return you to your banter, carry on!
9494runner
New member
marshal
New member
deep snow you want as wide as possible to create the largest footprint possible, as well you need to be SUPER aired down. that puts you at a substantial risk for blowing a bead, which in sub freezing temperatures will be a total ***** to seat with how stiff rubber gets.
so you have a couple ways of looking at this
compromise tires with beadlocks
purpose tires with standard rims
purpose tires with beadlocks.
with a traditional beadlock on a 285/70 + tire size on a 17" rim you can safely go down to about 5-6PSI as long as you're cautious of what you're doing. unless you're rocking a double beadlock like a Hutchinson RockMonster, your inner bead is still at risk of popping as well.
on a 285/70+ tire size on a traditional safety bead rim, the LOWEST i would go would be 11PSI, you could go to 10 but your danger of losing a bead is that much greater. its not a big deal when you're going snow, but much of the time in snow you need momentum and wheel speed to keep you going. the wider your tire is on a 8" rim (recommended width for offroading) the safer you are keeping your bead.
if you're running a double beadlock like a Hutchinson Rock Monster, you can go all the way down to 0 PSI, since you have both sides of the bead clamped. the thing to consider with going that low though is you need a tire with a badass sidewall, because at that point you're going to be running that sidewall face down for a looooong time.
SO, the best tires I've come across for deep snow that are still very much streetable is the Toyo Open Country MT. The Goodyear MT/R Kevlar is excellent as well.
my opinion.
so you have a couple ways of looking at this
compromise tires with beadlocks
purpose tires with standard rims
purpose tires with beadlocks.
with a traditional beadlock on a 285/70 + tire size on a 17" rim you can safely go down to about 5-6PSI as long as you're cautious of what you're doing. unless you're rocking a double beadlock like a Hutchinson RockMonster, your inner bead is still at risk of popping as well.
on a 285/70+ tire size on a traditional safety bead rim, the LOWEST i would go would be 11PSI, you could go to 10 but your danger of losing a bead is that much greater. its not a big deal when you're going snow, but much of the time in snow you need momentum and wheel speed to keep you going. the wider your tire is on a 8" rim (recommended width for offroading) the safer you are keeping your bead.
if you're running a double beadlock like a Hutchinson Rock Monster, you can go all the way down to 0 PSI, since you have both sides of the bead clamped. the thing to consider with going that low though is you need a tire with a badass sidewall, because at that point you're going to be running that sidewall face down for a looooong time.
SO, the best tires I've come across for deep snow that are still very much streetable is the Toyo Open Country MT. The Goodyear MT/R Kevlar is excellent as well.
my opinion.
Not sure about deep snow, but for general snow...Spent some time on forrest service roads a few weeks ago with my KO2's. While I don't have anything to directly compare them to I was extremely pleased with how they handled. Here are a few scenarios I encountered. This is in a 5th Gen w/ 265's @ road pressure. Tires had 9K miles on them.
1. 6-8 inches of snow over a well maintained FS road with other tracks, 0-8% grade. I was driving 25 - 30mph, slid a little on an afternoon icy shadowy corner. This was on a pretty wide road with very small drainage ditches on the side so I felt it was pretty low risk opportunity to try and push it into/out of turns. I got it to slide but it was always at the point where I had to try and was assisted by someones hard packed track.
2. 9-10 inches of snow over a well maintained FS road, no tracks 0-8% grade. I was driving 20-30mph. Traction felt very solid, even on a 20%+ grade hill up/down from a parking area. I was not going to pull down into the parking area due to the hill and being 8 miles out and alone but at that point I felt confident in the tires/truck in the snow to be able to get me out. Worst case scenario I could have engaged rear locker or crawl control. I didn't need any of that, didn't even slip coming back up the hill.
3. 2-4 inches of snow over a moderately maintained dirt logging road 5-15% grade. driving 5-15ish? This was a switchback road up a mountainside. A lot of the turns were in shade and would have deeper snow than other sections. The snow was melting so the dirt road underneath was muddy but was hard packed so very little depth to the mud, just a slick surface. I pushed it on a few turns to try and break traction but due to the cliff to one side, didn't push to hard. Traction felt solid with normal driving, I know there was wheel spin but never to the point where I felt I lost any unacceptable amount of control.
4. 17ish inches of powder on a paved road, driving 15-20+ mph 5-10% grade They had only plowed the uphill lane so on part of the way down I drove though the unplowed lane. Wish I had a vid, powder billowing everywhere off the front valance. Pulled into a turn out and stopped, did a 2 point turn and headed back up hill. handled amazingly. The tires cleared very well in this and all scenarios.
This is my first 4x4, so these are probably super amateur scenarios haha? But those are my experiences in snow, I'm really happy with how these tires performed. I feel confident they will take me/get me back from the places I go.
1. 6-8 inches of snow over a well maintained FS road with other tracks, 0-8% grade. I was driving 25 - 30mph, slid a little on an afternoon icy shadowy corner. This was on a pretty wide road with very small drainage ditches on the side so I felt it was pretty low risk opportunity to try and push it into/out of turns. I got it to slide but it was always at the point where I had to try and was assisted by someones hard packed track.
2. 9-10 inches of snow over a well maintained FS road, no tracks 0-8% grade. I was driving 20-30mph. Traction felt very solid, even on a 20%+ grade hill up/down from a parking area. I was not going to pull down into the parking area due to the hill and being 8 miles out and alone but at that point I felt confident in the tires/truck in the snow to be able to get me out. Worst case scenario I could have engaged rear locker or crawl control. I didn't need any of that, didn't even slip coming back up the hill.
3. 2-4 inches of snow over a moderately maintained dirt logging road 5-15% grade. driving 5-15ish? This was a switchback road up a mountainside. A lot of the turns were in shade and would have deeper snow than other sections. The snow was melting so the dirt road underneath was muddy but was hard packed so very little depth to the mud, just a slick surface. I pushed it on a few turns to try and break traction but due to the cliff to one side, didn't push to hard. Traction felt solid with normal driving, I know there was wheel spin but never to the point where I felt I lost any unacceptable amount of control.
4. 17ish inches of powder on a paved road, driving 15-20+ mph 5-10% grade They had only plowed the uphill lane so on part of the way down I drove though the unplowed lane. Wish I had a vid, powder billowing everywhere off the front valance. Pulled into a turn out and stopped, did a 2 point turn and headed back up hill. handled amazingly. The tires cleared very well in this and all scenarios.
This is my first 4x4, so these are probably super amateur scenarios haha? But those are my experiences in snow, I'm really happy with how these tires performed. I feel confident they will take me/get me back from the places I go.
FrontRange4Runner
New member
UNIMOG - problem solved...
