Winter Tires

[Rambling]

Does anyone run winter tires on their 3rd Gen Rams..? Or any Gen Rams for that matter..? I'm just curious as I bought myself a used set of winter tires on rims. Just wanted to know if anyone noticed a difference or not between the LT tires and winter tires. My current stock set are Michelin LTX AT2.

 

[Rambling]

No one run winter tires at all..? Haven't had one single comment. Just looking for any insight, handling characteristics, information, anything..!! If anyone can help. Thanks in advance.

 

[xtremewlr]

I'm in SoCal. What is "winter"?

I run the same tires year round so I have nothing helpful to provide.

 

[RR7_905RAM]

^LOL

I have a fourth gen with 2100 km on it and winters here can be brutal.

Having said that I am going to see how it goes with the stock all season tires.

It can never hurt having winter tires and your probably doing yourself a favor by having them.

 

[gofishn]

Does anyone run winter tires on their 3rd Gen Rams..? Or any Gen Rams for that matter..? I'm just curious as I bought myself a used set of winter tires on rims. Just wanted to know if anyone noticed a difference or not between the LT tires and winter tires. My current stock set are Michelin LTX AT2.

Depends on tyour type of WInter Tires. Some are nothing more than a more agressive tread pattern. In which case, for most paved street driving, it;s not really that big a difference over what you normally run.

Then there are teh speciality winter tires, these have a very soft outter rubber tread pattern which wears away , over 50k miles or 4-5yrs to a normal density rubber. Firestone Blizzaks are one such example, Michelin makes a great one too.
running that type of tire, in all winter driving conditions, will be a huge improvement over your current tires.

Used to run blizzaks on our caravan, if it was truly nasty out, snow sleet ice etc, we took the van instead of my 2500 v10 heavy duty beast with 10ply tires. The van got around much much better, only thing that could stop it were high centering Drifts.

for the truck i ran LTX M/S and had a set of chains for those rare occasions when they were needed.

 

[KPietriyk]

Run Blizzaks on our cars, they're great. Last year I got the first model for 75% off because they introduced a new one. I've run studded snows, and the Blizzaks are better for everything except pure black ice. Even with studs, you have to travel at idle to keep them from spinning.

I keep a set of diamond chains from tirechain.com in the truck, they only take about 10 minutes to put on, and they're good up to around 30 mph. Truck is a tank with them on. Bought them when I got the truck, never really used them. If it's that bad out, I stay home. Really got them so I don't get stranded somewhere away from home. I had a set for my previous vehicle (92 Merc Wagon) and I could drive through the woods with a foot of wet snow and never got stuck.

 

[BigA]

I think it depends where you live. Yea winter tires are great on snow and ice but they don't preform as well on wet and dry roads. So if your like me and you see only a handful of days with actual snow and ice covering the roads their really not worth it since most of the time you'll actually have less traction driving with a snow tire on a clear road.

 

[Padilen]

Not on my pickup but I had Firestone Winter force on my Jeep. Very good tire. Cold weather rubber compound stays flexible in extreme cold. The are good in wet weather and dry pavement. But dry pavement will wear them faster. On in mid November and of in beginning of April. Rest of year AT's.
http://www.firestonecompleteautocar...amp;aspect=75&rim=16&phone=(518) 636-0642

 

[Rambling]

Thanks for all the replies guys. The set I bought are Toyo Open Country G-O2 Plus Winter. I've never had winter tires on a truck, but I've had some on my cars. So it'll be completely different then it was on all my FWD cars. But seeing winter tires are a softer rubber compound I don't think it'll be a bad thing. As for the winters here, they are quite long and very cold at times, (Northern Ontario Canada). The winter seasons here usually last around 6 months. So a dedicated set of winter tires usually help. Just wasn't sure what to expect with them installed on my truck.

 

[Jimmy68]

I run Goodyear Duratracs on the truck. Winter approved. I run General Artic max on the HHR. A straight WINTER tire. I will run nothing but the best I can afford on my wifes vehicle. Sometimes I can afford Nokian. Sometimes General. But ALWAYS a winter specific tire for her safety. The differance is amazing.

 

[hemihustlin]

Dedicated winter tires and rims here too. Wouldn't have it any other way. Also no choice as the government passed a law 2 years ago requiring real winter tires between December 15 and march 15 (except for high GVWR trucks) That snowflake in a mountain symbol.
I think its a good idea except for the type of people that would run all seasons before now just run finished winter tires. Cant win em all i guess.

 

[Padilen]

Oh, I use steel rims - aluminum looks terrible after a few salty/sanded road winters.

 

[Rambling]

Yeah, aluminum rims weren't my preferred choice either. The set I bought are used tires that were already mounted on aluminum rims, (2 Winter Seasons). Not sure what the original owner's thought process was here, but that's what I got. And as you stated the rims are already salt/sand eaten. But hey, for $800 for the whole set I ain't complaining.

 

[xtremewlr]

You can always paint them black or PlastiDip them. That would hide most of the crap.

 

[tsc]

Thanks for all the replies guys. The set I bought are Toyo Open Country G-O2 Plus Winter. I've never had winter tires on a truck, but I've had some on my cars. So it'll be completely different then it was on all my FWD cars. But seeing winter tires are a softer rubber compound I don't think it'll be a bad thing. As for the winters here, they are quite long and very cold at times, (Northern Ontario Canada). The winter seasons here usually last around 6 months. So a dedicated set of winter tires usually help. Just wasn't sure what to expect with them installed on my truck.

I believe if you live north of the French River, you are allowed to stud your tires. I know a few guys Sudbury way and they swear by having studded winter tires. Just a thought.

I'm a huge proponent of dedicated winter tires. It's the difference between a Sherpa or Chris Farley in Crocs running up Mt. Everest

 

[Rambling]

Yeah, I live close to Timmins Ontario. You are allowed studs until a certain time of year then you have to take them off. Contemplated getting studs put in whenever I change the tires over. But I'll see when I get there. What are your opinion on studs..? Never had them on any of my winter tires for my other cars.

 

[KPietriyk]

Studs are great until they wear down. Plan on spending an afternoon removing them once they do. Small straight screwdriver and a pair of dikes work the best. They have to be off the vehicle by Apr. 15 here, although I've never heard of any tickets for it.

 

[hemihustlin]

I liked studs on my lil dakota that weighed nothing and needed all the traction it could get. I thought it would be the same with my ram and was going to do it. Bought new winter tires and was going to stud them but the day i put them on we didnt have the right size studs in stock so i said **** it i cant drive around on my summer anymore (was very much winter at that point)
Every since then i have not regretted the choice one bit. This heavy ram with soft compound winters has all the traction i could ask for. Put it in 4 lock and mash the gas, turn the wheel it goes where ever i want. That and not having to listen to those damn studs when you are on dry pavement is bliss for me.

I will agree that on pure ice studs deliver more traction but 95% of the the time they are not necessary. The exception being nokians, pre studded from the factory. The studs are more recessed in the tire making way less noise and severely reducing the chances of breakage or completely coming out, two things which always happens after 2 seasons with hand studded tires.