Switching tires

[Jeepmedic46]

My Jeep Cherokee currently has 265/70/17 BFG mud terrains. Not sure how well these tires do in the snow. Thinking of going with the BFG All Terrains. I’ve had those in the past and they did well in the snow. I’ve had load E in the past on my vehicles. Should I go with a standard load?

 

[DRAX]

M/Ts are awful in light snow. Not too awful in some deeper snow, but there are better tires. M/Ts lack the siping and tread pattern that make them good in the snow and ice, my XJ with M/Ts was sketchy on lightly-covered pavement but my JKUR wasn't too bad as long as it was in 4WD.

My current favorite tire of choice for all conditions is the Falken Wildpeak A/T3w. Excellent tire.

I wouldn't use LR E on an XJ due to lack of weight, ride sucks and there's less sidewall flex when aired down. LR C on my XJ worked well.

Just my $0.02.

 

[G & J]

Falken AT3 and BFG AT KO2 are both good in the snow. They both do well off-road, but their downside is in thick mud—not enough gap in the blocks.

E range tires have stronger sidewalls (10 ply) and are less likely to puncture, but they are also stiffer so ride suffers. If you run beadlocks you can air down to a lower pressure and get similar ride performance to a C range tire.

Everything is a compromise.

 

[Jeepmedic46]

M/Ts are awful in light snow. Not too awful in some deeper snow, but there are better tires. M/Ts lack the siping and tread pattern that make them good in the snow and ice, my XJ with M/Ts was sketchy on lightly-covered pavement but my JKUR wasn't too bad as long as it was in 4WD.

My current favorite tire of choice for all conditions is the Falken Wildpeak A/T3w. Excellent tire.

I wouldn't use LR E on an XJ due to lack of weight, ride sucks and there's less sidewall flex when aired down. LR C on my XJ worked well.

Just my $0.02.

Thank you, My Jeep is still in the building phase which is going slow as it is my daily driver. I thought the XJ might be to light even with a winch and rear tire carrier for LR E.

 

[G & J]

Also, check the load index for the tire. Not all E tires are the same. There are some C tires with weight limits the same as some E tires. Load index is a better way to compare apples to apples.

For what it’s worth, I wheel in the sierras and Nevada desert mostly and got tired of sidewall cuts taking out a tire. I run E tires and haven’t had a cut take a tire out since. Not saying it won’t happen, but it seems better to me.

 

[MMc]

Check out Generals and Togo’s too. I have run generals and KO2’s. The last KO2’s only went 28k. I matched the spare with 3 others. If these don’t go 35k+, I will not be replace with KO’s again. They are the first KO2’s from the KO’s. My generals were great.

 

[Billiebob]

My Jeep Cherokee currently has 265/70/17 BFG mud terrains. Not sure how well these tires do in the snow. Thinking of going with the BFG All Terrains. I’ve had those in the past and they did well in the snow. I’ve had load E in the past on my vehicles. Should I go with a standard load?

If you want snow tires, buy snow tires. All Terrains, All Seasons are all compromise tires.... more like 3 Season Tires.

A snow tire tread is very fine, with sipes to pack with snow. Snow traction is gained when the snow packs and sticks to the snow on the ground like a snowball. Driven correctly a winter snow tire will never spin, you gain traction by allowing the packed snow to stick. You lose traction when you "spin out".

Mud Terrains are almost as bad as slicks in the snow.

Here is an excellent winter tire tread pattern.

 

[Smileyshaun]

It also depends a lot on the kind of snow you will be driving through. I’ve had great luck with BFG Ko2 in the past. This winter I’m trying out but Kinda Kleaver RT mostly for the 35x10.50 size But I’ve had them up in the snow a couple of times already and they seem to work pretty well so far Without airing down hopefully in the next week or two I’ll try it and some deeper snow at lower pressures.

 

[G & J]

The falken wildpeak AT3W will give the same performance but last way longer than the KO2

Check out Generals and Togo’s too. I have run generals and KO2’s. The last KO2’s only went 28k. I matched the spare with 3 others. If these don’t go 35k+, I will not be replace with KO’s again. They are the first KO2’s from the KO’s. My generals were great.

 

[Outdoordog]

My km3 mud terrains did fairly well in the snow 1-6" and ice (slowly).

 

[Smileyshaun]

Also matters if your more worried about driving on icy roads or plowing through deep snow .

 

[Billiebob]

winter tires, not stuck, I stopped for the pic, backed up and continued on. winter tires rule
check out that tread pattern, winter tire rubber is softer too



a typical january morning
nothing wrong with the old KOs but winter tires blow them away
and I agree with rumble dog... these old KOs lasted forever. I still use the 20 year old spare as a spare lol



the wife letting us know how short she is

 

[RonaldHoward1313]

I have ran Cooper Stt Pros for the past four years in mud, snow, grass, gravel....they are the best I have found. One set lasts me two years also.

 

[Billiebob]

comparing all seasons or all terrains to winter tires is like comparing a 1970 LT1 Corvette to a 1978 Indy Pace Car
or comparing a CJ8 to a JT, or a bias ply tire to a radial, heck there is a guy driving a Crown Vic on Hells Revenge vs ?????? anything else
yes they are each very cool but one does out perform the other

in snow, winter tires rule and until you buy a set and drive them.... you are commenting in a vacuum

 

[RonaldHoward1313]

comparing all seasons or all terrains to winter tires is like comparing a 1970 LT1 Corvette to a 1978 Indy Pace Car
or comparing a CJ8 to a JT, or a bias ply tire to a radial, heck there is a guy driving a Crown Vic on Hells Revenge vs ?????? anything else
yes they are each very cool but one does out perform the other

in snow, winter tires rule and until you buy a set and drive them.... you are commenting in a vacuum

I have driven with snow tires before.....I will stick with my Cooper Stt Pros. Much better in my opinion.

 

[Smileyshaun]

Imho , if your seeing a lot of ice and sub zero temps and have the means to have 2 sets of wheels or have a car or 2wd vehicle I think a dedicated snow tire is a fantastic choice , if you spend a lot less time in ice and drive up to the snow I think a A/T or mud tire with sipes is a great choice . Asking for advice on tires is a lot like asking what you should get for toppings on your pizza , it’s going to come down a lot to what you like and how you drive .

 

[ThundahBeagle]

N

back in the '90's i was running BF A/T's, the orig ones, not the KO2's, on my '90 gm stepper. they were very good in the snow, but lacking in mud and some other terrain so i switched to BF M/T's, again the orig M/T's.
i would say they were about 80-90% as good in the snow as the A/T's, but i figured it was a good trade off, as we only get snow for a month or two all yr anyways.
after 17 yrs (yes, 17 yrs) with the M/T's, they finally wore out and i replaced them with BF KM2's. after 2 yrs with these, in my experience, i find them to be just as good as the A/T's in the snow and perfect for any other kind of terrain.
View attachment 180470

Nice GMT400 truck. My favorites

 

[ThundahBeagle]

If you want snow tires, buy snow tires. All Terrains, All Seasons are all compromise tires.... more like 3 Season Tires.

A snow tire tread is very fine, with sipes to pack with snow. Snow traction is gained when the snow packs and sticks to the snow on the ground like a snowball. Driven correctly a winter snow tire will never spin, you gain traction by allowing the packed snow to stick. You lose traction when you "spin out".

Mud Terrains are almost as bad as slicks in the snow.

Here is an excellent winter tire tread pattern.

View attachment 180464

I'm with @Billiebob here. I've tried running Michelin and Goodyear all seasons in the New England winters. Snow here is hit or miss but it's always cold and icy.

Always hearing that I should use winter/snow tires in winter, and remembering the 1970's when my dad and all the other adults would swap out for snow tires, I decided to take the leap this year.

We got a foot of snow a couple days ago and I did my own impromptu test. In 4x4, I drove through a a back parking lot with my aluminum alloy rims and highway tires (Yokohama Geolandars)




then swapped for steelies with studded snow tires (Cooper Discoverer M+S).



What a difference!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

I bought the steelies with Cooper snows used on Craigslist for 3 or 400 bucks. The performance on snow and ice is quite measurable. I would say, though, that if you dont get a lot of packed snow ice left on the roadways, just dont get the studs. Some say they can slightly increase stopping distance on dry pavement. I dont see how it would be that bad if they also say the studs tear up asphalt.

At any rate, if you have the means for a dedicated set of snow tires, or a full set of rims and tires, I highly recommend doing that. Swap 'em back out for your All Terrains when the weather breaks in March or April.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

I'm with @Billiebob here. I've tried running Michelin and Goodyear all seasons in the New England winters. Snow here is hit or miss but it's always cold and icy.

Always hearing that I should use winter/snow tires in winter, and remembering the 1970's when my dad and all the other adults would swap out for snow tires, I decided to take the leap this year.

We got a foot of snow a couple days ago and I did my own impromptu test. In 4x4, I drove through a a back parking lot with my aluminum alloy rims and highway tires (Yokohama Geolandars)

View attachment 180562


then swapped for steelies with studded snow tires (Cooper Discoverer M+S).

View attachment 180563View attachment 180564View attachment 180565

What a difference!

Let me also clear something up...studded snows are not always the best solution. Money happen to be studded - I bought them used that way. But they are really best unpacked snow or ice within 5 or 10 degrees either way of freezing. Otherwise they should be aired down a little so more rubber can grip the road. You'll lose fuel economy but it will be safer