Best tires for 4x4 in snow country?

zugg · 11-19-2008, 05:13 PM

Greetings,

I am looking for agressive tires for 4x4 snow application.
Currently I have some radial tires made by Continental and they are nice.
I would prefer BG Goodrich AT/KO, but they don not make them for 18" rims.
I did find some Nitto Terra Graplr, but what are some other suggestions?
I am not upgrading my rims, nor changing my sweet 2008 Ford braking system, so 16" rims..blah--blah are not in the picture.

Who has 18" and what tires are you running?
How do they do perform in the snow?

Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks!

Peace,

Zugg

Veg Hed · 11-19-2008, 05:27 PM

I had some BF Goodrich All-Terrains, 33x12.5 mounted on 15 inch rims on my old Toyota a few years back. They seemed to do all right in the snow. I really like that tread pattern. But if I was going to do some extreme snow traveling I would get a set of chains. If you have never ran with a set of chains in the snow give it a try. It makes a world of difference.

zugg · 11-19-2008, 06:02 PM

Hi Veg hed,

Yes chains are a good idea.
I have used them and if I can't find some agressive tires for my 18" rims, the chains should do the job.

Thanks,

Zugg

Greg In Austin · 11-19-2008, 06:45 PM

We have Cooper Discoverer STT on 18in rims. They are aggressive, BUT we have not yet used them in snow.

The are load range E, at 3860 lbs.

They also have a lower max cold pressure.

We have no worries about overloading them, and the ride is not as harsh as some higher pressure tires.

j.whitbread · 11-19-2008, 07:30 PM

I have no complaints about my Terra Grappers. They are showing up on new and old SMB and 4x4 of all kinds. The load ratings are better on the Nitto's too.

j.whitbread · 12-21-2008, 11:06 AM

I went to Big Bear during the big snow on Dec 17. The Nitto tires worked perfectly. CHP waved me on after showing I had chains with me. Hwy 18 was closed at the bridge so everyone had to go around the north end of the lake. Lots of snow obviously, the horizontal kind. I was very cozy in my van. From desert to sea! These things are awesome.

Bumper to bumper, stopped for 30 minutes at a time while front wheel drive cars with chains were moved out of the way. In Big Bear the road was covered in packed dry snow with 4-6 inches of powder on top.

I had no problem stopping, going, turning or anything else. I tested the acceleration from dead stop and other speeds. It was good snow but I couldn't even break them loose without risking doing something worthy of America's dumbest videos.

I saw a lot of four wheel drives with chains. I felt very confident without them. With chains it would be a tank.

jage · 12-21-2008, 07:26 PM

Gotta plug the Toyo Muds. I have 35s on my Jeep and have yet to have any fun on the roads. They seem very good in the snow- better than my siped BFG Mud TAs. Nitto and Toyo are the same manufacturer BTW.

alta825 · 12-22-2008, 07:01 AM

thumbs up on the Toyo M/T's here in snowy UT - zero issues

Jeffrey · 12-22-2008, 11:06 AM

J.whitbread,

So, what tires performed that well?

Blackeye · 12-22-2008, 02:51 PM

Just got back from Mammoth where I was able to run around a little in the snow.

We are running the COOPER Discoverer STT - 325/65/18, the same tires that Greg in Austin mentioned earlier.

No problems or issues. The rig always felt solid, even when I thought the tires might break traction, they stuck. I didn't push the envelope as we are dealing with a big vehicle with lots of mass. Acceleration, cornering and stopping was all done with that in mind.

Off topic, I was really impressed with how comfortable the rig was in the cold. It got down to 10 F outside and was 20 F inside. I turned on the Espar in the morning and in 20 minutes it was 45 â€“ 50 F.