Need a snow tire recommendation

IDSandman said:

Nokian Hakkapaliita studded with a set of extra wheels. The Hakks are the the cream of the crop when it comes to snow tires. I run two sets, summer and winter. I picked up a set of extra wheels on craigslist with winter tires for my 1500 for $750, 20” fuel aluminums, freakin steal. I see them pop up all the time.
But for true off road snow travel, chains are the best option.

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Without a doubt the Hakka's are the best and longest lasting snow tires I've ever put on a car or truck. Our Solara has a stud-less set on all four wheels. Without studs they are amazing but they are NOT cheap. We live on a very steep country road... and the Solara goes up and down it as well as my Ram in 4wd. Most impressive is how well the Hakka's stop a vehicle.

On our other car I've got a set of Cooper winter snow tires. No studs. They are far better than all season radials, but they don't last.

Jeepwalker said:

Those Nokians look like a decent all-around tire. But they don't look like they'd be all that great in the snow ....w/o the studs. Yeah, studs make all the difference in certain circumstances (but not all).

You guys can run studs in NY!??? (what are the rules for that?)

So do you use a fork lift to put truck tires on? LOL

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NY requires the studs be off from about April 15 to October 15. I don't use studs anymore for on normal road/highway driving. The new tire compounds for winter tires grip ice with suction and softness far better than your Dad's studded snow tires ever did. And they don't look anything like snow tires used to. The tread is less blocky and they have "sipping" -- they look like thousands of zig zag slits or cuts in the treads, that grip the ice instead of metal studs.

Jrod said:

I’m in northern VA. Dedicated snow tires are not a thing here. All terrain are perfect for this area. Falken AT3 have not disappointed in any condition.

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And when I lived in NOVA I never had winter tires either. Who cares?

Jrod said:

Falken Wildpeak AT3! I'll be buying my 3rd set by next winter.

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They are GREAT tires.

BUT they are not as good on snow and ice as even the cheapest stud-less winter tires made today. No matter what Falken claims.

I have had good luck with Toyos and Coopers, BF Goodrich.
In snow country, most people have pretty narrow tires. Using wide tires because they look cool is a big mistake in snow.

the wifes Tesla has winter hakkas.great snow tire in our area.we have 2" of ice over blacktop with dry powder snow over top of that,every year. my Powerwagon has ridge grapplers on till the first frost then they come off and my oem duracraps go back on.they suck in snow/ice but are still better than the grapplers.i tried to have the duracraps studded but no tire shop will do it if they have been driven on before i try to take them in.the quicker i kill them the quicker i can install studdable hakkas on the truck.

Throwing in my .02 for cooper discoverer St Maxx. 3PMSF rating- lots of sizes, big tread blocks and aggressive look if youre into that, the shoulders of the tires are studdable if you needed it. I had them on a 4runner living in northern maine and whether the road was hardpack snow on a forgotten stretch of US1 or 6" of fresh powder on i95 before the plows came I was comfortable driving.
Have them on my ram as well. My one gripe is they like to pull right and they absolutely have to be rotated every 5k miles or they start to cup and make a nasty vibration.
FWIW I love them but I dont always have time to do 5k rotations so my next tires will be 37" falken wildpeak at3w

Studded Hakka 10 SUV. Put them on the truck in mid-October and take them off in mid-March. Best tires you can get, hands down

healthyrx said:

Throwing in my .02 for cooper discoverer St Maxx. 3PMSF rating- lots of sizes, big tread blocks and aggressive look if youre into that, the shoulders of the tires are studdable if you needed it. I had them on a 4runner living in northern maine and whether the road was hardpack snow on a forgotten stretch of US1 or 6" of fresh powder on i95 before the plows came I was comfortable driving.
Have them on my ram as well. My one gripe is they like to pull right and they absolutely have to be rotated every 5k miles or they start to cup and make a nasty vibration.
FWIW I love them but I dont always have time to do 5k rotations so my next tires will be 37" falken wildpeak at3w

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I tried a set of the Cooper Maxx with studs, they were the worst dedicated snow tires I have ever bought.
That would have been in 2015, they were also the last Coopers I have bought.
I emailed Cooper with my issues with them and never got a response. The Maxx didn't come close to the Cooper Winter masters that I had been running quite often before them.
I have since switched completely to the Nokian studded Hakkapeliitta's they are the best I've used in well over 50 years of buying tires.

HEMIMANN said:

General Grabber ATX and Falken Wildpeak AT3 were the 2 top ranked AT tires when I bought 3 years ago. I run Generals, still made in USA.
Falken were made in Thailand.
Great tire.

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I have run General Grabber ATx for two winters now. Blah.

Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 are awesome. I had them for two years - one year on my '15 and one on the '20. The only reason I haven't been running them the last two years is that I put a 5" lift in, and the Blizzaks don't come tall enough to not look stupid.

I also have the DM-V2 on my wife's Explorer and they are amazing there as well.

There is nothing like a modern actual winter tire in the snow. Well, maybe except chains...

Kenda Klever R/Ts. Been great in all the snow and ice we have been getting here lately in Oregon. They are pinned for studs which you can put them in when season starts then take them out when it’s over. Blocks and siping run all they way down.

TestPilot57 said:

There is nothing like a modern actual winter tire in the snow. Well, maybe except chains...

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On the subject of chains.... Yeah I carry them out west because carrying them is required, even if you have snow tires. BUT in 45 years of on road winter travel, I have never had to actually pull over and put them on, because I haven't had to deal with a situation where anything more than snow tires OR chains were required. I've had to pull over and my tires have been inspected many times by the state police and always passed.

I have to say that avoiding having to "chain up" in the cold and snow is another great reason to put good snow tires on the vehicle before you go.

The only time I chain up is for off-road deep snow. However, when the snow gets above a certain point (and that's about 3 feet for my truck) even chains won't work. Too much snow under a wheeled vehicle lift all 4 wheels off the ground. Believe me I know what this feels like. At a certain point you need a tracked vehicle, like a Sno-cat or snowmobile.

What's more likely to stop me from traveling in a blizzard isn't the snow that's on the ground, it is the snow that is falling and/or blowing around, making it impossible to see where the side of the road is. There is a certain highway near my house that we all avoid when there is snow on the ground and the wind is blowing. There may be less than an inch on it.... but its impossible to say for sure because I can't see the road, the side of the road, or the 18 wheeler that's been detoured off I-81 and is now about to hit me.

I use Blizzaks up north here, work fine from just above freezing down to -30 or so, but that cold ice isn't really that slippery anymore. Separate steel rims for winter tires with no sensors which is a bit if a pain having to check them manually once in a while (Oh the pain!). 3 winters and still good. Not sure how many miles/Km they have but starting to show their wear a bit. Should be good for another year or so.
Of course these are LTs on the 2500.
I do notice any "snow tire" will not have nearly as much traction when getting up to the 50% worn range, likely not much better then than an all-season. So if you do a lot of winter driving and especially in warmer weather, be prepared to change them out a lot sooner than normal tires, and avoid running them in warmer weather (above 50F) if you can help it.

Cham said:

I do notice any "snow tire" will not have nearly as much traction when getting up to the 50% worn range, likely not much better then than an all-season. So if you do a lot of winter driving and especially in warmer weather, be prepared to change them out a lot sooner than normal tires, and avoid running them in warmer weather (above 50F) if you can help it.

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I believe that's two areas where BFG All-Terrain KO2s outlast or outperform many other fabulous tires but again, there are many better snow tires than the BFG, just not for my application.

Yes, they will never perform near as well as they did new, but still 500% better than all-season (summer) tires even when past about 70% wear. I ran one set of BGFs to a couple of 32s above the wear limit bar and they still worked incredibly better than my Michelin LTx2s (my summer tires).

The other reason I use them is so that I can drive to Florida during the winter and not consume too much tread due to driving in hot temperatures. And some of the sites we access are best traveled with a burly AT tire.

I've made that trip once with winter tires and never again. Twenty-plus hours of driving each way with about 12 days of driving & diving in various North Florida locations.

Just say'in
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If you can afford two sets of tires and rims, yes.

I can't.

I have used BFG KO2's for years. They are great tires in all weather conditions. They provide good traction in winter weather.

Here is a pic of my KO with the recent “Mixed” freezing rain snow slush mix
they have 50 percent life left in them

In this case I figured I needed chains or a “ Mud and Snow “ tire which BF Goodrich makes but they’re special order I’ll get a pair of chains for next time .

Some tire stores specialize in the sales and the installation of chains.

I don’t normally need chains but its better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them,
I could have used them the other day but gladly there wasn’t any emergency.

dagoof said:

I put Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my Ram last summer, and I like them, but I've been stuck in the snow twice now, and it's not acceptable.

I drive a truck specifically so that I can play in the snow drifts and have the ability to push through.

The Ridge Grappler seems to have zero bite when it gets cold.

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You can go with a "dedicated" winter tire, but, depending on how much highway/bare pavement driving you do, you would only get superior traction that a true winter tire delivers for 1-2 winters due to the regular wear of the soft rubber, and rounding of the sipe shoulders, and anything above 40F - 45F in temperature increases the wear of the soft rubber very fast.
As others mentioned, General Grabber ATX are an excellent all year tire, and they are pinned for studs, which really improves their ability on icy roads, and on wet, hard packed snow. I know you are looking for a "winter" tire, but I ran these tires year round on 2 different F150's and where I live (New Brunswick, Canada) they lasted for 61,000 and 67,000 miles. I didn't have them studded (a buddy did and he said they were as good as any winter tire he ever owned) and I was very impressed with winter traction, comfort, and even mediocre mud. Twice the tire in winter conditions as a BFG All-Terrain, and lasted considerably longer.
Just my opinion, but I have experienced all types of driving conditions in my 45 years of driving - from -35 to 100, and from 20 inches of snow to freezing rain............. I really liked General Grabber ATX

Mister Luck said:

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Here is a pic of my KO with the recent “Mixed” freezing rain snow slush mix
they have 50 percent life left in them

In this case I figured I needed chains or a “ Mud and Snow “ tire which BF Goodrich makes but they’re special order I’ll get a pair of chains for next time .

Some tire stores specialize in the sales and the installation of chains.

I don’t normally need chains but its better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them,
I could have used them the other day but gladly there wasn’t any emergency.

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I once had an offroad Toy, an '87 Toyota extended cab with a 3" lift and 33x9.5" BFG Mud TAs. Those tires easily took me up creekbeds and water crossings in swamps and, pulled out many stuck full-sized trucks with their nice-looking and impracticable fat tires.

They also provided endless joy driving on streets & fields full of snow, all winter long.

I have a vivid memory of returning home from a winter offroad adventure. I was at a busy intersection behind my buddy who was driving a full-sized Bronco and he was trying to intimidate me by backing into my truck.

LOL, that little 4-cylinder 22RE had nice tall gears and it didn't take much effort to ease into his bumper, a wee bit of rpm, pop the clutch and he was not able to stop me from pushing him through the red light into the active intersection.

I think he nearly dropped a brick because he didn't know if I was going to stop pushing him or not. I only pushed him through the crosswalk but it sure was fun and a great topic of discussion for many years.

I'm still smiling about that and it was decades ago.
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I have a vivid memory of returning home from a winter offroad adventure. I was at a busy intersection behind my buddy who was driving a full-sized Bronco and he was trying to intimidate me by backing into my truck..........

I'm still smiling about that and it was decades ago.

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Love it!
Those are always fun stories!