Hello Winter!

[Mark86]

We finally got our first snowfall here in New Jersey. There was only around 2 inches, but I made the most fun out of it that I can. It definitely made more of a mess out of my truck than it was worth. I pretty much drove around and parked in the spaces where the plows dumped all the snow. I also tried out the ABS and VSC systems!! Hopefully this is only an appetizer for what is to come. So, what did the rest of the Northeast people think of the first "real" snowstorm? Here is what my truck looked like after a day in the snow!! Believe me, I didn't have as much fun as my truck looks!!

 

[Mark86]

Here is a close up. I actually like the way it looks like this!

 

[sharp4runr]

We got maybe 1/4" of snow and they must have poured 100 tons of salt on my street alone. Cars/trucks in my area are covered in salt.

 

[AK602]

YEA MY TRUCK LOOKS LIKE A BLICE SAL FLAKE ALL FOR AN INCH OF SNOW, WHICH OF COURSE IS NOT FUN

 

[Sac State]

Damn Dunflops

Dunflop Grandtek AT20's suck! I almost killed myself in the snow storm in Virginia. I hydroplaned across two lanes of interstate and ended up in the medium. Basically, I had NO steering control doing no more than 30 mph in a moderatively heavy snowstorm with little ice accumulation. It was 31* outside, so the ice was slushy.

The VSC and ABS worked flawlessly. Sounded like the cockpit of an airplane before a stall. After coming to a stop halfway down the medium, I was able to maneuver the vehicle back onto the roadway and continue without damage, but damn cheapo tires. The Suburban and Trooper following me kept on plowing. Another Cherokee in front of me completely lost control, at least we were only doing 25-30 and they were able to regain control after spinning 360* twice.

I have never had a vehicle(tire) do that before. Scared me straight, I got home and immediately ordered some Revo's, of course they are on national backorder.

I looked up the Dunlop AT20 on Tirerack. It scored a 2.8 for snow traction, which is borderline unacceptable. I can attest to that. This is an OEM tire? I rotated every 5K miles and checked the pressure religiously.

Mark86, you have about the same if not more miles on your stock Dunflops than I, I warn you to take it easy in the snow and ice, I almost experienced a bad situation on these very dangerous non-snow OE tires.

Now I am sounding like my father.

 

[lee]

we got around 10 inches...

 

[lee]

Re: Damn Dunflops

Dunflops suck! I almost killed myself in the snow storm in Virginia. I hydroplaned across two lanes of interstate and ended up in the medium. Basically, I had NO steering control doing no more than 30 mph in a moderatively heavy snowstorm with little ice accumulation. It was 31* outside, so the ice was slushy.

i want new tires badly, but in all honesty, my dunlop a/t radial rover's have been great in the snow, rain and ice. they plowed through this recent storm here with no problems.

 

[Sac State]

Re: Re: Damn Dunflops

i want new tires badly, but in all honesty, my dunlop a/t radial rover's have been great in the snow, rain and ice. they plowed through this recent storm here with no problems.

That is not a stock OEM tire. I am referring to Grandtek AT20's, which are $60 each from Tire Rack. The price ought to tell you what a POS they are.

 

[lee]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ROVATOWL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

mine are 85/tire!

but yea, theyre still not right for this 4wd system.. i need more rugged tires.

 

[Mark86]

Re: Damn Dunflops

Dunflop Grandtek AT20's suck! I almost killed myself in the snow storm in Virginia. I hydroplaned across two lanes of interstate and ended up in the medium. Basically, I had NO steering control doing no more than 30 mph in a moderatively heavy snowstorm with little ice accumulation. It was 31* outside, so the ice was slushy.

The VSC and ABS worked flawlessly. Sounded like the cockpit of an airplane before a stall. After coming to a stop halfway down the medium, I was able to maneuver the vehicle back onto the roadway and continue without damage, but damn cheapo tires. The Suburban and Trooper following me kept on plowing. Another Cherokee in front of me completely lost control, at least we were only doing 25-30 and they were able to regain control after spinning 360* twice.

I have never had a vehicle(tire) do that before. Scared me straight, I got home and immediately ordered some Revo's, of course they are on national backorder.

I looked up the Dunlop AT20 on Tirerack. It scored a 2.8 for snow traction, which is borderline unacceptable. I can attest to that. This is an OEM tire? I rotated every 5K miles and checked the pressure religiously.

Mark86, you have about the same if not more miles on your stock Dunflops than I, I warn you to take it easy in the snow and ice, I almost experienced a bad situation on these very dangerous non-snow OE tires.

Now I am sounding like my father.

Your story did scare me straight!! I am not happy with these tires at all, but never had anything as bad happen as you did. The only time I went into a fishtail or almost spun is coming out of a car wash when there was black ice and armorall, let along only doing around 5-7mph. The VSC really saved my butt and worked great. As I look back, the traction light on my dash was flashing a lot and I wasn't going fast. The only time I play a little is on the country streets where it is deserted!

 

[Sac State]

Re: Re: Damn Dunflops

The only time I play a little is on the country streets where it is deserted!

Don't take it wrong, I am not 'lecturing' anybody, just making an observation. I was driving like Grandpa and this happened. Steering control was fine and in an instant the wheel did not respond to my input. Very scary doing 30 on the freeway in traffic and have that happen.

 

[lee]

why did toyota cheap out on the tires so much? i mean, its not like 4th gens are cheap to begin with.

some decent a/t's like on the trd tacoma's would have been so much better....


also, anyone know what the stock tires were on 3rd gens?

 

[Sac State]

why did toyota cheap out on the tires so much? i mean, its not like 4th gens are cheap to begin with.

some decent a/t's like on the trd tacoma's would have been so much better....


also, anyone know what the stock tires were on 3rd gens?

I had OEM Goodyear SR-A's on my '02 Sport. They were still going strong at 36K miles. The best tires that I have owned in the snow are Michelin LTX M/S, but they don't come in the 265/65 size. Otherwise, I would be purchasing these. The Revo is the only semi-aggressive A/T tire in the 265/65 size.

The 4th gen comes with Dunflop AT20, Bridgestone Dueller HT's or Michelin Cross Terrains. Depending on your Toyota region, dealer and the way the wind is blowing determines what tire you actually end up with. The Michelin is A+, the Bridgestone is a B- and the Dunflop in snow is an F.

I don't know why there is such a discrepancy in OEM tires. Kinda like Toyota in general, some '03 Sports had a heated vanity mirror and outside mirrors, others did not.

 

[sharp4runr]

Sac State - What part of VA did this happen in? I drove through that snow storm (If you can even call it that) myself and it was a piece of cake. Where I live, we maybe got 1/4". I live in Northern VA, about 30 minutes south of DC.

March 04 in VA we actually got hit with a couple of inches of snow and the truck performed flawlessly in the snow with the stock dunlops. I had no problems navigating the unplowed streets in my neighborhood. I was happy that I bought the truck in January. I too will be ordering better tires, but I'll wait till they are out of tread. I"ve only put 13k miles since I bought it in January so I have at least another year on them if not more.

July

 

[Sac State]

Sac State - What part of VA did this happen in? I drove through that snow storm (If you can even call it that) myself and it was a piece of cake. Where I live, we maybe got 1/4". I live in Northern VA, about 30 minutes south of DC.

March 04 in VA we actually got hit with a couple of inches of snow and the truck performed flawlessly in the snow with the stock dunlops. I had no problems navigating the unplowed streets in my neighborhood. I was happy that I bought the truck in January. I too will be ordering better tires, but I'll wait till they are out of tread. I"ve only put 13k miles since I bought it in January so I have at least another year on them if not more.

July

Yeah, it was freaky. I was driving from VA. Beach/Norfolk (I-64 W) to 58 West. I had the spinout between Deep Creek and Suffolk. At Emporia and I-95, about 60 miles West of Suffolk, there was blue sky and no snow.

V-DOT was plowing and sanding from Suffolk Eastward, I was traveling Westbound, which was not being serviced. Grrr.

 

[Sac State]

I had no problems navigating the unplowed streets in my neighborhood.

Just a tad different than being on an interstate with traffic and 30 mph.

Hey, the Dunflops did fine in other snow storms as well, but at 29,700 miles, these tires are crap. Tirerack, for what its worth, verified the poor snow ability.

 

[Luxury]

why did toyota cheap out on the tires so much? i mean, its not like 4th gens are cheap to begin with.

some decent a/t's like on the trd tacoma's would have been so much better....


also, anyone know what the stock tires were on 3rd gens?

I wonder if the GX470 has shitty stock tires too.

 

[sharp4runr]

Just a tad different than being on an interstate with traffic and 30 mph.

Hey, the Dunflops did fine in other snow storms as well, but at 29,700 miles, these tires are crap. Tirerack, for what its worth, verified the poor snow ability.

Ok that makes a lot more sense then. If the tires had almost 30k miles on them, they were probably due for a change. I think Toyotadoodz also changed them a few thousand miles less than yours because he had been hydroplaning in the rain.

I've got about 13k and when I romped in the snow in March it was less than 5k. I also did highway driving with that type of snow and I wasn't scared to drive 40 mph while it snowed. I too saw the tire rack rating on the dunlops and they did get a low rating. I'll be changing them out, but not for at least another year...

Thanks for sharing your experience.

July

 

[zap]

Got our runner just in time

We bought our 04 4Runner just in time for a record Southern Indiana snowfall. Got just under 22" in 24 hours. This is the first 4 wheel drive vehicle I have ever owned and it is amazing.

 

[Mark86]

Re: Re: Re: Damn Dunflops

Don't take it wrong, I am not 'lecturing' anybody, just making an observation. I was driving like Grandpa and this happened. Steering control was fine and in an instant the wheel did not respond to my input. Very scary doing 30 on the freeway in traffic and have that happen.

I appreciate you sharing your story and I was not aware of how poor these tires really are. I was never happy with these tires, but now I am even less happy. I have around 16,500 miles on my truck and assume I am going to have to change the tires next year from the sound of things. Having a spinout on a freeway doing 30mph is really scary. In addition, you have these clueless drivers in front wheel drive sedans blowing by you at speed limit or even faster.