Snow and wider tires

Today I ventured out onto a very steep and winding Colorado mountain road with some recent snow on the factory Power Wagon 285 70R17 Duratracs that have 15,000 miles on them. Since I have been running Duratracs in a 265 75R16 size on my Chevrolet K1500 I know what driving through the snow should feel like on the tires. I was feeling a little bit more flotation with the 285 width on the Power Wagon than the 265 width on my K1500, both with similar tread depth. My K1500 has 30,000 miles on the tires and they still have quite deep tread.

I firmly believe that the 285 width is wide enough for at least the Colorado snow. Any wider tire like a 295, 305, 315, or a 12.5 would cause even more flotation on the snow. The way it was today is that I had to engage the front and rear lockers in order to keep the Power Wagon going up and staying off the edge. The only other vehicle was a snow mobile.

So my next set of tires will be no wider than a 285. 285 75R17 (34 inch) or 285 80R17 (35 inch that no one makes).

285/75/17 is a good size... lots of options

Skinny always better in snow...

Yes, KO2 and Wildpeak are 3 peak mountain snowflake rated and seem to be the only winter rated truck tires that come in the skinner 34" size. I really wanted to install some 35" tires when mine get down to 5/32" tread depth, but that wouldn't be a good choice for here.

Nothing beats though dedicated winter tires such as some titanium studded Nokian Hakkapellita or the General Altimax Arctic that I install each season on my wife and daughter's Subarus. They far exceed in snow grip any of my trucks BFG KO, Goodyear Silent Armor/Duratrac, and Armstrong Norseman tires that I have run over many decades of driving on snow and ice. The Power Wagon does just OK in comparison.

Yup, I agree. I run the Wildpeaks and they have performed awesome in the snow so far this winter.

Jarhead57, I am taking your advice on the Wildpeaks due to I just noticed where you're from which is within my stomping grounds from the Grand Mesa. I am quite familiar with your area in all seasons due to I had a child attend school for 5 years in Laramie. It's down the Interstate a bit, but we drove all sorts of routes to get to and from there in all weather. Snow conditions across southern Wyoming are similar to what I experience driving across South Park, Colorado consisting of high wind ground blizzards in subzero temperatures with white outs.

The fact that the Wildpeaks have a deeper tread depth than the KO2 is a plus. Deeper is better due to tires become worthless in snow once they reach below 6/32 inch tread depth or the rubber gets too hard with age in cold temperatures.

Just curious as to how the Wildpeaks would perform on wet dirt roads around the Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Wyoming north end. I have on more than one occasion found that what looked like wet road there was actually covering some deep mud. Worse yet is that I am always towing something when this happens, such as my utility trailer, boat trailer, and/or travel trailer.