snow tires on 15's or 16's and other winter mods

[ncgyver]

I am upgrading my wifes 2wd T4r for winter driving. I have 2 sets of rims and have read to keep snow tires small. Looking at some Blizzaks and wondering if I should mount them on the 15 " or 16" rims. My thinking is to do the 15's for snow tires and keep the 16's for bigger all terrain tires. Any other winter mods?
We live off the grid in Colorado but on about a mile of dirt road and maybe 1/4 of that is an incline. So far with weight in the back and rear chains it has no issues. Ideas?

 

[Hepar]

I am upgrading my wifes 2wd T4r for winter driving. I have 2 sets of rims and have read to keep snow tires small. Looking at some Blizzaks and wondering if I should mount them on the 15 " or 16" rims. My thinking is to do the 15's for snow tires and keep the 16's for bigger all terrain tires. Any other winter mods?
We live off the grid in Colorado but on about a mile of dirt road and maybe 1/4 of that is an incline. So far with weight in the back and rear chains it has no issues. Ideas?

I think your best bet is to mount them on the 15's. Are you thinking a set of studded snow tires?

 

[Gerdo]

15" rims usually don't fit over the front brakes.
Height isn't the issue with snow tires. For on road, narrow is best.
What size tire is your "summer" tires?
You could run something like a 225 or 235/75-16
A 235 is 30mm narrower than a 265 (about 1" narrower).

Narrower tires cut thru the snow down to the road. Snow tires have more siping that holds snow and that snow grips snow/ice. Snow tires also use a rubber that stays flexible in lower temps.

Sidenote: MTs usually are terrible in the snow on roads due to the lack of siping.

 

[Hepar]

15" rims usually don't fit over the front brakes.

I guess I was assuming that his 2wd would be fine with that. A lot of the earlier 3rd gens had 15's stock.

What year is your 4Runner and do you know what size it came with stock? Info is in the driver's side door jam if you don't know offhand.

 

[ncgyver]

it's a 97 with stock 15's, I picked up a set of 16 rims

 

[Gerdo]

You said that you have two sets of wheels. I'm assuming that your summer tires are on one set. I would use the second set of wheels, unless you hate them, for your snow tires.

Think narrow. Tall and narrow is fine too. The added height will help clear deep snow.

Also you mentioned chains. I assume you are talking tire chains. I would also take the chain size into consideration. Get tires that the chains will fit. Taller tires will put the chains closer to the fenders. Snow tires will get you far but chains will get you further.

 

[ncgyver]

I'll be due for "summer tires" too soon , but snow tires is the priority now. I have set of chains for the rear 15 a/t's, but will probably have to get new chains regardless since I don't think they'll fit narrow 15" snow tire. The worse part is it hasn't snowed in So CO in 3 weeks. But it'll come!