what do i do for next winter?

[itsallmine]

i have an 05 sr5 with 17" bridgestone dueler ht 840 all season tires and premium alloy wheels. since the snow is over now i was thinking about next winter, and wondering if i should get a more aggressive tire for the winter months and then change back to the duelers in the spring. i like the duelers and don't want to dump them, just change them twice a year. what do yuze guys do? thanks in advance!

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?threadid=9849

 

[itsallmine]

one more thing

i forgot to ad a question- do i need to buy new rims as well?

 

[Mark86]

If you buy tires that fit a 17 inch rim, then you do not have to buy new rims. Personally, I would keep the Bridgestone's you have on the truck now until they wear out. There really is no need to waste all of that money on new tires if the ones you have now are still good. On the other hand, if you want to go on difficult offroad trails or play around in deep snow, then maybe you should upgrade to a more rugged tire. I did not get rid of my Dunlops until they wore out completely. I was at the point where I had no more traction in the snow and was going all over the place. That justified my decision to put on a new set of Revos! At that point, I had 17,000 miles and the truck was 1.5 years old (they wore much quicker than average).

 

[boston_kevin]

don't forget the stems... Changing out the tires twice a year means you could potentially go through 8 stems per year...

I'd say stick with the Duelers until you can't stand them any more, then move to a tire you'd rather have. Switching out the tires twice a year is a lot and there is some potential for breaking stems, mismatching the tires on the wrong rims/side of the vehicle.

 

[DaveS]

I still have the Dunlops for summer so cannot comment on other tires here re winter traction - I was unimpressed with the Dunlops traction on dry pavement however and figured winters were worth it (I figure if I save myself one accident on ice/snow etc they have paid for themselves 5 times over).

You have an SR5 so you can go down to a 16" rim - if you get winters I would suggest you get a set of 16" steels - they will pay for themselves quite quickly since (a) you save on cost of tire changes (b) there are few options for the 17" rim in our size - more options = more ability to shop around.

Having a set of dedicated rims also saves your alloys from the harsh salt etc and avoids the inevitable wear on the beads of the tires from frequent changes - in theory you should not need extra stems - I had a set of steels with just regular valves in them all winter and the tire pressure system did not signal a problem - ymmv however since that system seems to be a law unto its own.

 

[boston_kevin]

You have an SR5 so you can go down to a 16" rim - if you get winters I would suggest you get a set of 16" steels - they will pay for themselves quite quickly since (a) you save on cost of tire changes (b) there are few options for the 17" rim in our size - more options = more ability to shop around.

Be careful about this. I have an SR5 which came with 17" rims from the factory, and I discovered a few weeks ago that I have the larger front rotors that are found on the SE model. I would be very cautious about downgrading your rim size if your rig came with 17" rims originally.