Snow Tire Help (and general ranting)
- Thread starter LPcreation
- Start date
Scramble
New member
Altimax's are $100 right now at Tire Rack com
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...r=1999&autoModel=4Runner SR5 4wd&autoModClar=
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...r=1999&autoModel=4Runner SR5 4wd&autoModClar=
slapdappy
Banned
Michelin
Michelin LTX M/S P265/70R16, 111T SL.
Best value, in my opinion. Yeah, bigger wad of $ up front, but they perform so very well in all conditions, including snow, last forever (60,000-70,000 miles), and are not heavy. The heavier the tire, the more rotational weight, the worse mpg.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...99&autoModel=4Runner Limited 4wd&autoModClar=
Michelin LTX M/S P265/70R16, 111T SL.
Best value, in my opinion. Yeah, bigger wad of $ up front, but they perform so very well in all conditions, including snow, last forever (60,000-70,000 miles), and are not heavy. The heavier the tire, the more rotational weight, the worse mpg.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...99&autoModel=4Runner Limited 4wd&autoModClar=
Scramble
New member
All season tire's really aren't great at anything. Too many compromises are made to the tire to try to be decent at everything. A dedicated winter tire is the way to go. You really need that soft rubber for traction. I would recommend All-Terrains before All-Seasons. All-Terrains will bite into the snow with the aggressive tread patterns. They just don't kick the snow out of the treads the way winter tires do.
19963.4lsr5
New member
untill we got the first 4Runner last summer it was only driven for snow and firewood......Heck last summer it spent almost as much time hours wise in LO range as it did on the road......
However, with the 4Runner now it frees up the Grand Cherokee for me to drive in the Snow. I still use the truck in the Ice because of the studs........I drive 32 miles each way for work on all rural roads. Lots of drift busting. Thing is if you get stuck in the snow in 4wd your dont have 6wd to get you out. So I drive the truck in 2wd with a row of cement blocks lining the rear portion of the bed. and 90% of the time driving with those coopers its plenty. But as good as the truck is with those Coopers I still prefer the Grand in deep snow.
Oh yea, I'm also a believer in the tall skinnys for snow. The truck has 235/85-16's and with the truck weighing 6300 empty it goes places. After a North Easter around 2008 I drove through our back ally with 3ft of drifted snow in Lo range...I really could only drive strait, any turning the truck still went strait. However, the skid for the trans had the snow packed so hard and tight I left no foot prints in the snow where the skid plate passed.
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slapdappy
Banned
Maybe as a general statement, but this does not apply to my Michelin's. The M/S stands for Mud/Snow. I live in Colorado and drive snowy Rocky Mt roads often enough to know if these tires work in the snow. They do. I have experienced no compromise. They are the best of both worlds. They are not noisy on the highway. Excellent performance in the dry. Excellent performance in the wet. Excellent performance in the snow. I mean nothing but snow on I-70, no pavement visible, and it is snowing. Of course I'll be in AWD or 4WD high. If you were my beloved son or daughter these are the tires I would buy for you.
I'm talking about my set from last winter that were close to the wear bars, maybe 5,000 miles away from needing replacement. I installed new ones this spring. Michelin really does make the best tires.
Mine are actually the M/S 2, not the M/S.
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MtnT4R
New member
Truth. Audi demonstrated this in an awd test on a ski jump back in 2005 I think. The video is in German but you get the idea. They swap out tires around 1:20
I also live in an area that gets heavy snowfall, every winter. Snow driving is the main use for my 4Runner, these days.
The LTX M/S2 does well for what it is; an all-season tire. But compared to a real ice/snow tire like the Blizzak DM-V1, the difference is, believe it or not, night and day.
Yes, I've driven on both.
theriddler
New member
I've had 2 set of these and they are pretty awesome and they actually last a long time too. I can't comment on the other brands but Coopers and Michelin make excellent tires too. Snow tires vs street or off road tires makes a huge difference in the snow.
For snow tires keep the width the same as stock or maybe even go more narrow, that way you cut through the snow and not push it as others have mentioned. I get around better in my Rav4 with Blizzaks than all the hillbillies that live around me with their big mud tires and 12 inch lift kits. Seriously, if lift kits and big tires make a truck handle better in the snow wouldn't the highway department and snow removal trucks all be lifted to the sky and have monster truck tires on them?
KidVermicious
New member
The ABS kicks in when it senses the tires losing traction. These trucks have miserable ABS, it's true, but better tires will absolutely help by providing better traction. Better traction equals less locking up at a given brake threshold, and less locking up equals less ABS kicking in and trying to kill you.
I chose not to disable the ABS on my wife's '99. It scares the shit out of her when it activates, but that's teaching her threshold braking in poor traction situations, which she needs to learn. I instructed her not to rely on the ABS to stop the 4Runner, but to think of it as an alarm indicating that she was braking too hard.
theriddler
New member
This is going to be my first winter with '02 4Runner we just bought so I'll be able to give my .02 on the ABS in a month or so. I appreciate the heads up regarding it, I'll make sure I put it to the test before I hand it over to the wife with our little one in it.
I upgraded ours with Goodyear Adventure All Terrain tires. This isn't a snow tire per se but an all terrain tire, but I've been very happy with it as of now...quiet, plenty of sizes available, open tread design, lots of siping for snow/ice. Went with a 265/75/16 for a size taller on the height but still factory width. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.
http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/goodyear/gy_wrang_atadvkev_owl_ci1_l.jpg
I upgraded ours with Goodyear Adventure All Terrain tires. This isn't a snow tire per se but an all terrain tire, but I've been very happy with it as of now...quiet, plenty of sizes available, open tread design, lots of siping for snow/ice. Went with a 265/75/16 for a size taller on the height but still factory width. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.
http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/goodyear/gy_wrang_atadvkev_owl_ci1_l.jpg
Caffeine Power
New member
A neighbor works for the local Firestone dealer. Blizzaks all day long.
I've had two sets of wheels for our 4Runner and the Audi. Easy driveway swapping or if bought at the dealer they do it for free since it's considered as the free tire rotation.
I've had two sets of wheels for our 4Runner and the Audi. Easy driveway swapping or if bought at the dealer they do it for free since it's considered as the free tire rotation.
allwheeldrive
New member
Blizzak's are IMO the best snow's out there. There are plenty of others that do a great job also, but are you going to sacrifice somewhere else, noise being the main issue to me. Thats where the winterforce's fail miserably to me. I've never had the General's, but at 100 bucks a tire, thats damn cheap and almost worth taking a flyer on. I personally run Michelin LTX AT/2 on mine and have had zero issues with snow. Yes the ABS is too sensitive IMO but just have to adjust the driving style to work with it. And in 2wd it blows, but thats whats great about the 4wd button being right there. And obviously, that makes a huge difference.
Best of luck with your tire choice, it always takes me forever to decide on a tire.
Best of luck with your tire choice, it always takes me forever to decide on a tire.
cfranck1
New member
IMO these Nokian snow tires ARE the best snow tire out there!!
Hell, they invented the snow tire category.
All R&D is in the Nordic!
Hell, they invented the snow tire category.
All R&D is in the Nordic!
slapdappy
Banned
I'm suggesting a dedicated snow tire may be unnecessary.
I agree, and the OP is interested in dedicated snow tires.
Guy here has a Mini Countryman AWD with Blizzaks or Studded and th grip on that thing is unbelievable, bizarrely grippy.
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theriddler
New member
I looked into these a while back, they have a super aggressive design which would grip like hell on ice/snow...I was concerned about the life of them. Would last a long time if you always had snow on the roads, but where I'm at it will snow and get slick then get plowed off or the sun will usually melt it the next day so tread life is important. I'd like to try these out someday when I have a dedicated set of rims/tires for winter.
I put a set of studded Hakka LT2's on a couple weeks ago, so far I'm thoroughly impressed. In AWD it honestly feels like driving on dry pavement. I went with 235/85/16 as they are skinnier, yet within a rounding error of the diameter of my summer 265/75/16's. I'll be using them for multiple spares on some adventures this summer.
They weren't cheap, but since I'll be running them ~6 months of the year I decided quality was more important than saving a few bucks.
As for tread life, it is my understanding that the temperature plays a bigger role than whether the roads are dry or snow covered.
Nokian has a Rotiva that has the winter snow flake and can be run all season, we put them on all our company trucks that run in the summer, winter, mud ect. They are awesome and I have them on my runner for most of the season then I switch to the Hakapilita suv 5(now they have a 8 series) for full winter traction.
