Winter Rated Tires on 5th Gens: Pics and Opinions Wanted!

[007Tacoma]

Quick Background:
I drove a 2WD 1994 Chevrolet Suburban Silverado for 5 years in Colorado with studded snow tires. I never got into a situation that I couldn't get out of (save when they would close the road ahead of me and I had to wait it out). In the numerous vehicles I have owned, I have used everything from Blizzacks on my 86' RX7 to mud tires on my 74' Scout II in the snow and ice. I drive extremely carefully, and I have never been stuck except when there was no where to go.

Now-a-days I drive to Colorado once every 2-3 months. The worst situation I a have ever been in was actually North of Amarillo, TX. Several tractor trailers jack knived and blocked HWY 287 for several hours. Myself and a Landcruiser both sporting AT tires were able to cross to the other side of the highway (with the blessing of the State Police) which had been closed for several hours and make it to Dumas, TX. Seems like North Texas, North East New Mexico, and Raton Pass get it worse than I-70, Denver, Fort Collins, or even my Aunt's place in Steamboat.

The Lesson:
Good winter traction (read: tires) is the best protection when traversing the elements of winter.

The Question:
What do you guys use now days for your winter-only highway and mountain tire?

Post pics...

Give Reviews...

Tell us what works...

Tell us what does NOT work...

I love my Firestone Destination ATs for almost everything, BUT they are not a winter rated or "Severe Winter Rated" tire. ...and I have never resorted to using chains.

Ready? Go... :ranger:

 

[4REIGN3R]

Studded Goodyear Duratracs for winter :rockon:

 

[007Tacoma]

Studded Goodyear Duratracs for winter :rockon:

Studded always wins. However, I need something I can drive when the roads are dry at highway speeds without droning myself and my family to sleep.

Also, several states in the USA don't allow studded snows for obvious reasons... No infrastructure budget to repair the roads... er... I mean the studs tear up the roads.

 

[007Tacoma]

Studded always wins. However, I need something I can drive when the roads are dry at highway speeds without droning myself and my family to sleep.

Also, several states in the USA don't allow studded snows for obvious reasons... No infrastructure budget to repair the roads... er... I mean the studs tear up the roads.

Oh, and Texas (where I currently live) is one of those states that does not allow studs (insert joke here :cowboy - even though the worst weather I have seen was in North Texas.

 

[pitstain]

I am running Studded Nokian Hakkepeliita 8 on my runner, but as for non-studded I always found the Blizzaks with the most amazing grip but the shortest life, Michelin Xice3 were mostly ok, and General Altimax arctics were very good all around and wore like iron.

 

[WindyCity4Runner]

The Yokohama G015's are rated for severe winter service, but I still run dedicated snow tires (Firestone Winterforce are my personal choice for SUV's trucks).
I have had the Winterforce on 4 different vehicles and have been very happy with them. Chicago doesn't allow studs.

 

[007Tacoma]

I am running Studded Nokian Hakkepeliita 8 on my runner, but as for non-studded I always found the Blizzaks with the most amazing grip but the shortest life, Michelin Xice3 were mostly ok, and General Altimax arctics were very good all around and wore like iron.

I really want Nokians, but the price and availability in Central Texas means it isn't going to happen. I loved Blizzacks, but they get loud fast and wear out on dry roads even faster.

The General Altimax Arctics are on my look list as well as the Hankook iPikes.

 

[007Tacoma]

The Yokohama G015's are rated for severe winter service, but I still run dedicated snow tires (Firestone Winterforce are my personal choice for SUV's trucks).
I have had the Winterforce on 4 different vehicles and have been very happy with them. Chicago doesn't allow studs.

My Firestone Destination ATs are not rated for severe winter service, but they have gotten me out of some winter situations that I puckered for. I am at the point of getting dedicated winter tires after several run-ins with idiots that caused me to make "emergency maneuvers" in winter conditions.

 

[jrandom]

Best winter tire I have had on a truck/4runner were Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armors. Moderately aggressive AT tread but mostly designed for snow/ice, butt load of siping. You definitely need a second set these wear out fast in warm weather driving. Although, IIRC I believe they came out with a newer version, with less sipes. There should be two sipes on each tread block.

I have another set of older gen M+S rated BFG AT's that do really well, not as good as the dedicated Wranglers, still good, and you can run them year round.

 

[1engineer]

Quick Background:
I drove a 2WD 1994 Chevrolet Suburban Silverado for 5 years in Colorado with studded snow tires. I never got into a situation that I couldn't get out of (save when they would close the road ahead of me and I had to wait it out). In the numerous vehicles I have owned, I have used everything from Blizzacks on my 86' RX7 to mud tires on my 74' Scout II in the snow and ice. I drive extremely carefully, and I have never been stuck except when there was no where to go.

Now-a-days I drive to Colorado once every 2-3 months. The worst situation I a have ever been in was actually North of Amarillo, TX. Several tractor trailers jack knived and blocked HWY 287 for several hours. Myself and a Landcruiser both sporting AT tires were able to cross to the other side of the highway (with the blessing of the State Police) which had been closed for several hours and make it to Dumas, TX. Seems like North Texas, North East New Mexico, and Raton Pass get it worse than I-70, Denver, Fort Collins, or even my Aunt's place in Steamboat.

The Lesson:
Good winter traction (read: tires) is the best protection when traversing the elements of winter.

The Question:
What do you guys use now days for your winter-only highway and mountain tire?

Post pics...

Give Reviews...

Tell us what works...

Tell us what does NOT work...

I love my Firestone Destination ATs for almost everything, BUT they are not a winter rated or "Severe Winter Rated" tire. ...and I have never resorted to using chains.

Ready? Go... :ranger:

I live in snow country near a ski resort. We get FEET of snow every year. Yet most people around here don't run a dedicated snow tire, including me. Why?

Our climate is such that the temperature will drop below freezing, we will get a foot of snow, it will stay below freezing for a few days and then warm up and the snow will melt. It will stay that way for several days and the cycle will repeat. If I lived in an area where the temps got down below freezing for extended periods like months, and the snow and ice would linger, then I would get dedicated snow tires. AT tires are just fine around here. Another reason is snow tires wear out really fast on dry roads. They are a soft compound with lots of siping designed for snow and ice, not dry concrete.

Snow tires will help you drive in the snow. You having snow tires will not magically help those driving around and beside you drive better. They are not a cure for stupidity.

When it snows I automatically go into slick defense mode. My following distance expands, I wait for big gaps in traffic, I slow down. I don't do it because of my driving skills, I do it because the dumbasses driving around me are drining a 2WD with 3/16" tread left on their all season tires.

If I had snow tires, sure, I could stop a bit quicker and that's about it. Again, I just make sure I put enough distance between me and the guy ahead of me.

A few years ago I was driving my previous 4Runner through one of the passes out west. Can't remember which one. It was pouring the snow it it was one of the "need snow tires or chains" to continue. I had fairly new Cooper AT3's was all. The guy was stopping each car and looking to make sure they had snow tires or chains before allowing them to proceed. He saw me and just motioned me on, didn't even make me slow down. I had no problems.

I will say this, the snow out there is nowhere as slick as the snow back east! I think it has to do with the water content is higher back here. Anyway, my opinion.

 

[Liquidmantis]

Oh, and Texas (where I currently live) is one of those states that does not allow studs (insert joke here :cowboy - even though the worst weather I have seen was in North Texas.

We almost always head back to Texas over Christmas. I HATE that panhandle-NM stretch between Amarillo to Raton in the winter.

 

[Liquidmantis]

I will say this, the snow out there is nowhere as slick as the snow back east! I think it has to do with the water content is higher back here. Anyway, my opinion.

I don't know about the East, but I'd agree. I think the reasons North Texas sucks is limited maintenance fleets with a lot of asphalt cover and the fact that it's a wetter snow, so the melt/freeze cycles make skating rinks out of the road. Here in CO there's a lot better coverage but the snow has a much lower water content. When out shoveling I can definitely tell a difference between our usual snow and the late season spring wet snows. Those are back-breaking.

 

[mattyrides07]

What I've used in winter (all studless):
Goodyear Silent armor (?)
Goodyear Duratrac (had on my FJ, currently using on '10 T4R)
Dunlop AT
Blizzak
Hankook I-pikes
Faulken Wildpeak AT3W (currently using on '13 T4R)

I REALLY llike the GYDT and the Faulkens. The next set I'll buy will be the Faulkens again strictly because the handling is near the same (unnoticeable differences if any) at ~40% of the GYDT cost.

 

[007Tacoma]

I live in snow country near a ski resort. We get FEET of snow every year. Yet most people around here don't run a dedicated snow tire, including me. Why?

Our climate is such that the temperature will drop below freezing, we will get a foot of snow, it will stay below freezing for a few days and then warm up and the snow will melt. It will stay that way for several days and the cycle will repeat. If I lived in an area where the temps got down below freezing for extended periods like months, and the snow and ice would linger, then I would get dedicated snow tires. AT tires are just fine around here. Another reason is snow tires wear out really fast on dry roads. They are a soft compound with lots of siping designed for snow and ice, not dry concrete.

Snow tires will help you drive in the snow. You having snow tires will not magically help those driving around and beside you drive better. They are not a cure for stupidity.

When it snows I automatically go into slick defense mode. My following distance expands, I wait for big gaps in traffic, I slow down. I don't do it because of my driving skills, I do it because the dumbasses driving around me are drining a 2WD with 3/16" tread left on their all season tires.

If I had snow tires, sure, I could stop a bit quicker and that's about it. Again, I just make sure I put enough distance between me and the guy ahead of me.

A few years ago I was driving my previous 4Runner through one of the passes out west. Can't remember which one. It was pouring the snow it it was one of the "need snow tires or chains" to continue. I had fairly new Cooper AT3's was all. The guy was stopping each car and looking to make sure they had snow tires or chains before allowing them to proceed. He saw me and just motioned me on, didn't even make me slow down. I had no problems.

I will say this, the snow out there is nowhere as slick as the snow back east! I think it has to do with the water content is higher back here. Anyway, my opinion.

I mostly agree with your post. I have used a combination of Michelin M+S2 and Firestone Destination ATs to traverse winter conditions for the past 5 years of 4Runner ownership (2003 SE 4WD and 2015 TEP). Even my PreRunner Tacomas did great with Firestone Destination ATs in the snow.

Snow really isn't the problem for my tires - it is ice and more importantly Black Ice.

I have property North of Jefferson, NC on a mountainside with natural springs that requires 4WD to get to year round. I also have family that lives in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Northern Alabama as well as the aforementioned Colorado and Wyoming. I drive roughly 38,000+ miles a year since the majority of my family does not live near me, and I grew up driving in the snow and ice.

All of that being said, I have never seen snow/ice storms like I have in Northern Texas, Northern New Mexico, and parts of Colorado. Conditions go from dry to snowy to slushy to windy to ice skating conditions within miles. Black ice seems to be a much bigger problem in in that area due to warmer-than-out-East afternoons and far below freezing nights. With nothing to protect areas from storms and drastic climate changes within minutes, I have been in storms that popped out of nowhere and dumped a ton of snow (read as: feet). Then they promptly disappear and just as the snow begins to melt the sun sets. Between the heat of the sun and the cars on the road, the newly melted snow becomes copious amounts of ice. To make matters worse, road maintenance and plowing are almost non-existent in that area, and help is no where to be found.

Most of my pucker moments on icy highways are from someone else trying to utilize the large gap between me and the person in front of me... and then promptly hitting their brakes because intelligence eludes them. Having driven on all manners of tires, I love and miss the better ice/snow traction of a dedicated winter tire when I am making my excursions to the North. Technology has changed quite a bit for winter tires in the past 5 years (since I last owned a set of Blizzacks) - hence my call for pics and opinions on studless tires.

I am not giving up my Destination ATs. I just want the best possible traction for highway travel during the winter months in that area. Any help I can get from avoiding those idiots and protecting my family - I will take it.
:thumb:

 

[007Tacoma]

We almost always head back to Texas over Christmas. I HATE that panhandle-NM stretch between Amarillo to Raton in the winter.

...and this is my dilemma. We traverse that area in December AND January to see family and my wife's doctors in Denver. We have a full 4Runner with kiddo, dog, cooler, and whatever else my in-laws send us back with. That area is either very nice, very windy, or absolutely horrendous.

I don't know about the East, but I'd agree. I think the reasons North Texas sucks is limited maintenance fleets with a lot of asphalt cover and the fact that it's a wetter snow, so the melt/freeze cycles make skating rinks out of the road. Here in CO there's a lot better coverage but the snow has a much lower water content. When out shoveling I can definitely tell a difference between our usual snow and the late season spring wet snows. Those are back-breaking.

Exactly - wet snow that suddenly becomes ice slicks. If Texas allowed studded snow tires, I would be sporting a cheap set on a second set of rims next month.

What I've used in winter (all studless):
Goodyear Silent armor (?)
Goodyear Duratrac (had on my FJ, currently using on '10 T4R)
Dunlop AT
Blizzak
Hankook I-pikes
Faulken Wildpeak AT3W (currently using on '13 T4R)

I REALLY llike the GYDT and the Faulkens. The next set I'll buy will be the Faulkens again strictly because the handling is near the same (unnoticeable differences if any) at ~40% of the GYDT cost.

I had some Duratracs, but they were E-Rated. My wife liked the look, but they beat us to death on the cross-country sprint. I sold them and went back to the old-but-reliable Destination ATs.

I am seriously considering the Faulken Wildpeak AT3W. I really appreciate your input on this.

 

[wanderMT]

I am very pleased with Firestone Winterforce LT - have on both our vehicles. Drive and ride nice, no balancing problems, and mileage is noticeably better than my Toyo A/T.

 

[MtlT4R]

Living here in Quebec we get some of the nastiest winters around. Winter 2014-15 I ran non-studded hakkapeliitta 8's which were great. As the hakka's aren't an option for you why not just get KO2's which are winter rated? Winter 2015-16 I didn't get around to installing my Nokians and left on my KO2's. I worked up north all winter and they did great in every road condition.

 

[JayceeP]

I read great things about the Nokian's and Blizzak DMV'S. I bought almost new 17" Michelin X-ice XI2's mounted on steelies a few years ago. They seem alright. I'm not a huge fan of them in deeper snow on the highway... they seem to float a bit on top of the snow. However, they are amazing around town as far as getting traction to go up hill and whatnot. The 4Runner really digs in. Overal, in more compact conditions the tires seem to perfmom better i.e, harder packed snow/ice.

 

[96r50]

Quick Background:
I drove a 2WD 1994 Chevrolet Suburban Silverado for 5 years in Colorado with studded snow tires. I never got into a situation that I couldn't get out of (save when they would close the road ahead of me and I had to wait it out). In the numerous vehicles I have owned, I have used everything from Blizzacks on my 86' RX7 to mud tires on my 74' Scout II in the snow and ice. I drive extremely carefully, and I have never been stuck except when there was no where to go.

Now-a-days I drive to Colorado once every 2-3 months. The worst situation I a have ever been in was actually North of Amarillo, TX. Several tractor trailers jack knived and blocked HWY 287 for several hours. Myself and a Landcruiser both sporting AT tires were able to cross to the other side of the highway (with the blessing of the State Police) which had been closed for several hours and make it to Dumas, TX. Seems like North Texas, North East New Mexico, and Raton Pass get it worse than I-70, Denver, Fort Collins, or even my Aunt's place in Steamboat.

The Lesson:
Good winter traction (read: tires) is the best protection when traversing the elements of winter.

The Question:
What do you guys use now days for your winter-only highway and mountain tire?

Post pics...

Give Reviews...

Tell us what works...

Tell us what does NOT work...

I love my Firestone Destination ATs for almost everything, BUT they are not a winter rated or "Severe Winter Rated" tire. ...and I have never resorted to using chains.

Ready? Go... :ranger:

I don't know what winter is like in Texas but if the temperatures stay below 45F regularly I'd definitely look for a dedicated winter tire. The advantages over a winter-rated all terrain are the substantial improvements in braking and steering (the most important parts of collision avoidance). 4WD doesn't help you in either of those areas.

I have a set of General Altimax Arctic for our 4Runner that we've used for two winters and I have no complaints. I've used the old BFG ATs on a previous truck and hated them in the winter as they turned into hockey pucks. The summer tires on our 4Runner are Cooper AT3s and the driving them in the first snowfall each year reminds me why I have winter tires. The OEM Dunlops also sucked. I have new Cooper ATWs on the 4Runner now and they've been quite good in the snow and ice we've had thus far this year but I'll still be switching them out for the winters.

My experience with Duratracs on our pickups at work is that they are good when new but their winter performance drops off dramatically as they start to wear. I've also used Michelin X-Ice Xi2s on a Hyundai Tucson and really liked them. I have a set of those waiting at Costco for our Sienna (the Michelins, not the Duratracs!). General now has the Grabber Arctic that might be worth looking at as well. They have a P265/70/17 with an XL rating which should work well for a 4Runner.

If you wanted me to pick for you I'd narrow it down to the General models for a dedicated winter tire or the Cooper ATW or Falken AT3/W for a year round tire. There are lots of options so you'll just have to see what makes the most sense for your winter travel plans.

Our climate is such that the temperature will drop below freezing, we will get a foot of snow, it will stay below freezing for a few days and then warm up and the snow will melt. It will stay that way for several days and the cycle will repeat. If I lived in an area where the temps got down below freezing for extended periods like months, and the snow and ice would linger, then I would get dedicated snow tires. AT tires are just fine around here. Another reason is snow tires wear out really fast on dry roads. They are a soft compound with lots of siping designed for snow and ice, not dry concrete.

...

If I had snow tires, sure, I could stop a bit quicker and that's about it. Again, I just make sure I put enough distance between me and the guy ahead of me.

I agree with the most of what you had said (stupidity is the enemy, not the winter!) but unless you're seeing temperatures significantly above freezing for the majority of the winter I'd venture to say you could still benefit from a winter tire. We experience Chinook winds fairly frequently throughout our winters so we see similar conditions to what you describe. Due to their softer compound winter tires have the advantage over ATs until the temperature is above 45F at which point it's not really winter any more anyhow. The improvement in grip for steering and stopping is noticeable in cold weather regardless of the road surface and the durability of modern winter tires is comparable to that of all seasons or all terrain tires. I'm not saying AT tires don't work in the winter; just that they don't work nearly as well as winter tires.

The way I look at it for my personal vehicles is that you can get a significant winter performance and safety increase for minimal cost (given that the second set of wheels and tires will essentially double the lifespan of your summer set). What's not to like about that? :biggrin1:

 

[mattyrides07]

I am seriously considering the Faulken Wildpeak AT3W. I really appreciate your input on this.

They're pretty great. The ONLY thing I'd do different is go 1/2" taller and get the 285 75 17. The bigger ones will fit easily with BMC.

The AT3W's do hold onto small pebbles. So if you're Wheeling fire roads and what not, be prepared to hear the rocks on the drive home. I have NOT tried these in mud. But in snow they handle superbly; in ice I stick to the ground with the 4WD; and the tires allow the truck to be predictable in the various weather conditions. The tires are SILENT on the highway and roads.