Need WINTER Tire recommendations for 2021 Willy’s Diesel—KM2’s NOT cutting it!!

[Dakota Kid]

By the way, you guys are all awesome! This is by far the most useful forum I’ve come across in my vehicle forums.

Thank You all again!

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[Wheelin98TJ]

So I actually stopped to take a picture as I’m starting to get a little confused and the BFG’s say “Mud/Terrain …but then TA KM2… not MT KM2.

They did much better in actual snow than bladed roads/intersections…. Got 5” yesterday on the Northern end of the Valley to play in. But, as I live in a city, I’ll be on bladed road more than rural roads blowing up snow drifts for fun.


Tire Rack reviews say these tires are supposed to be fantastic on snow and almost 7 of 10 on ice. I’ma little skeptical after this weekend.

Yea, you definitely have the MTs and they are not as good on plowed roads compared to the BFG ATs. They’re better for deep snow and snow wheeling.

 

[Mac]

So I actually stopped to take a picture as I’m starting to get a little confused and the BFG’s say “Mud/Terrain …but then TA KM2… not MT KM2.

They did much better in actual snow than bladed roads/intersections…. Got 5” yesterday on the Northern end of the Valley to play in. But, as I live in a city, I’ll be on bladed road more than rural roads blowing up snow drifts for fun.


Tire Rack reviews say these tires are supposed to be fantastic on snow and almost 7 of 10 on ice. I’ma little skeptical after this weekend.

Those are not really designed for snow big flat lugs with no siping.

 

[Dakota Kid]

Those are not really designed for snow big flat lugs with no siping.

Agreed!

 

[Liftr]

I live in Alaska now, so this topic is very relevant here.

I bought some takeoff Sahara/Overland Bridgestone Dueler A/T, rims and all for $700.
I took them to a local tire store and had them “siped“.
basically, it looks like they ran a Bologna slicer across them every 1/4”.

They work like a dream in my local conditions. I can only think of 2 times when the ABS has even activated. Both times were downtown, at stop lights, where the packed snow has turned into ice.

 

[JoseQ_80]

Does anybody air down whatever tire they have in winter conditions?





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[PADesert]

On my Jeep JK, I ran Cooper Discoverer ATP all terrain tires when I lived in the mountains in Southern Virginia. These worked so well in most conditions that I bought another set after I wore out the first ones.

HOWEVER, I moved to Erie, PA and was not happy that first winter. The difference? Snow in Erie is around longer and gets packed into icy patches on the city streets. Also, it just snows more, but the biggest difference is that everyone just keeps going when it snows. You're out there with people on snow tires going about their routines.

All that to say that I moved to dedicated studded snows, Firestone Winterforce, and was happier. Those stopped and accelerated much better on ice and hard packed snow but were pretty meh in deep snow, especially turning. Good enough, but not great.

Enter the Gladiator: I wanted new snows since the JK's Firestones were too small. I wanted something better, and after some checking, ended up with studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT3. I couldn't be happier. They are at least a little better than the Winterforce in every way, and MUCH better in some ways (deep snow, turning in all winter conditions, stud noise, rain). I recommend them. They come studded from the factory, but also make a version without studs if you don't need that where you drive.

 

[OnlyOne]

So I actually stopped to take a picture as I’m starting to get a little confused and the BFG’s say “Mud/Terrain …but then TA KM2… not MT KM2.

They did much better in actual snow than bladed roads/intersections…. Got 5” yesterday on the Northern end of the Valley to play in. But, as I live in a city, I’ll be on bladed road more than rural roads blowing up snow drifts for fun.


Tire Rack reviews say these tires are supposed to be fantastic on snow and almost 7 of 10 on ice. I’ma little skeptical after this weekend.

Yeah. No wonder. Those aren’t KO2s. Lol Those are what we call dangerous in the snow.

 

[OurJTOverland]

So I actually stopped to take a picture as I’m starting to get a little confused and the BFG’s say “Mud/Terrain …but then TA KM2… not MT KM2.

They did much better in actual snow than bladed roads/intersections…. Got 5” yesterday on the Northern end of the Valley to play in. But, as I live in a city, I’ll be on bladed road more than rural roads blowing up snow drifts for fun.


Tire Rack reviews say these tires are supposed to be fantastic on snow and almost 7 of 10 on ice. I’ma little skeptical after this weekend.

You have B. F. Goodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2's and not the All Terrain T/A KO2's that several others have indicated perform well in snow.

 

[whiteglad]

Generally, you want a relatively narrow tire for snow, so the stock 7.5" wheels are fine. You can often find sport s take-off wheels, or tires and wheels cheaply. Some Discount Tire stores will take almost new sport s tires in trade, helping defray the cost a little.

 

[dcmdon]

Does anybody air down whatever tire they have in winter conditions?





? of ? opened.

Its interesting. Conventional wisdom has always been that you want a small contact patch for snow, so there is more pressure on the snow so the tire digs down. This means higher air pressure.

The 3rd video is on compacted snow and this is what he found.

The first video is on virgin fluffy snow and he liked it better with less pressure.

 

[dcmdon]

Generally, you want a relatively narrow tire for snow, so the stock 7.5" wheels are fine. You can often find sport s take-off wheels, or tires and wheels cheaply. Some Discount Tire stores will take almost new sport s tires in trade, helping defray the cost a little.

One other option that a guy I ski with did is get the 18" overland wheels for his snows. Then he could run smaller tires and still have reasonable wheel height. Though he ended up with something like 275 / 75 R18s.

 

[dcmdon]

I live in Alaska now, so this topic is very relevant here.

I bought some takeoff Sahara/Overland Bridgestone Dueler A/T, rims and all for $700.
I took them to a local tire store and had them “siped“.
basically, it looks like they ran a Bologna slicer across them every 1/4”.

They work like a dream in my local conditions. I can only think of 2 times when the ABS has even activated. Both times were downtown, at stop lights, where the packed snow has turned into ice.

I didn't know this service existed.

 

[tjkenck]

I recently put on the studded Hakkapalita for Montana. Had some snow but very icy roads last week and they performed well. Without I think I would have been all over the place. 140 accidents reported in Bozeman that day.

 

[Tacos]

I vote Duratrac

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