Narrow tires for winter

[Cowfeedman]

Hello All-

 

I drive a 2017 High Country with 275/55R20 tires.  I have put 36000 miles on since I got the pickup May 1st.  I am worried about the Goodyear Eagle tires in the snow.  I'm concerned they are too wide.  I have found several manufactures of 235/55R20 tires.  Looking for opinions.  Thank you!!

[EaZ8]

in theory, yes a skinnier tire will cut through snow better than a wide one, think of how a tire can hydroplane.

so with that said, you should run a skinny tire if you are somewhere that rains a lot...

 

imo get a better set of tires for all year round. i had the stock duellers on for 2 winters and i hated them and they were 255 70 17. i may not have much time on my duratracs yet but so far they have seen mud, white out snow storms, ice, and rainstorms all in about 3 weeks and 1500km...they grip and go in all conditions. 

check out the duratracs, K02 and a couple other snow rated AT tires...i personally picked duratracs because i know 3 people currently running them, another buddy had them and they all are hard on their trucks. great tread life and they run them all 4 seasons.

 

just IMO..

[EaZ8]

also, look at your rim width,.its a 9" wide rim...quick google search 235 will just fit but....ehhh i dunno.

and as you go with a thinner tire the sidewall is a % so the overall tire size gets smaller.

 

Rim width (inch)	Min. tire width (mm)	Ideal tire width (mm)
9,0	235	245 or 255

[Donstar]

I would buy a good quality tire and keep stock size.   If you are determined to go narrow, stick to the same height. ie:  245/60/20 

[Pearl2017]

if you want a narrower tire go from a 55 series to a 60/65 series. For general road usage and snow a Michelin defender M/S is hard to beat. LT265 /60 R20

[DanY]

If you can afford it, I highly recommend Blizzak tires in the stock size for winter.  I have a set of Blizzaks on my original High Country wheels and they work great.  Of course this means a set of winter only wheels or dismounting the tires every year.  I ended up buying a set of 22" Rally Edition wheels for my summer tires.

 

One down side with the Blizzaks is that they are very soft and will get eaten up quickly when the temps go up into the 50s. 

 

I also had good luck with Pirelli Scorpion all seasons for winter tires on my 2003 Silverado SS AWD.  According to Tire Rack they had a snow rating almost as good as the Blizzaks but were a good all season tire.

[crushNchowda]

unless you live in the arctic it shouldn't be of concern....a dedicated winter tire that's sized 295/55R20 is going to perform better in all categories over a stock sized 275/55R20 "all season" or "all terrain" - period.

 

I live in MA & ski ALOT in the winter, travel ALOT as well - so for me even w/ a 4wd truck snow tires are a must have because they give me the peace of mind that for the most part, I never have to be concerned what the weather does or where I travel because w/ the snows + 4WD + stability/traction control + increased ride height I am pretty well covered. I won't even bother to start addressing the debate as to whether "all season/all terrain" tires are "good enough" or "comparable" to a dedicated snow...because its pure nonsense. Perfect analogy to quell the discussion - take my vette to the drag strip on "all seasons" or hell even "max performance summer only" or something & run your best times, then put the CORRECT tire for the situation - like a DR or slick - & run again, you know what will net the better result. The difference between a dedicated snow & anything else is just as, if not more significant than the analogy I just mentioned @ the race track.

I would stick to similar size that belongs on the truck because it makes things simpler when swapping wheels, odometer being accurate, range of choices etc.

 

I have an offer that may make it real easy to try out snows though if you're so inclined - I'm about to take off some Michelin X-ice snow tires in stock 275/55R20 size from my stock wheels....I've lifted the truck some & went w/ taller 275/65R20 tires on another set of wheels, getting the truck tuned & speedo corrected for that height, & wanted to maintain that throughout the year so I'm swapping out my old snows for a new set in that 275/65R20 size (general grabber arctic I think) & these I actually had studded so kicking it up a notch.

 

Planned on selling the Michelin snows in 275/55R20 size, they have approximately 60% tread life remaining & would be a good way to dabble in snow tire in stock size to see if it works for you....I can guarantee they'll do a helluva lot better than the crap you're running from the factory. Last year I was passing plows doing 65 in 4WD hi coming back from the white mountains in NH during a blizzard......apparently passing plows is illegal in the state of NH.....at least so I was told by a trooper @ a rest stop on the boarder who had actually been radioed regarding my trucks activity lol!!

 

PM me if interested.

 

So yeah, try doing that w/ any confidence on all seasons & let me know how you make it out the ditch or what the repair bill was....

 

 

 

[aseibel]

I agree with keeping your stock tire size as long as they are decent winter tires. I'm a supporter of Cooper Discoverer A/T3

 

going with an excessively narrow tire would really benefit you if you are constantly driving in 6" or more of snow off-road. I don't think they will do you any good on a paved road with an inch or 2 of snow.

[newdude]

16 hours ago, Cowfeedman said:

Hello All-

 

I drive a 2017 High Country with 275/55R20 tires.  I have put 36000 miles on since I got the pickup May 1st.  I am worried about the Goodyear Eagle tires in the snow.  I'm concerned they are too wide.  I have found several manufactures of 235/55R20 tires.  Looking for opinions.  Thank you!!

 

You have this wrong (no offense).  235/55/20 is NOT the tire size you need.  You will be dropping your tire diameter by 2 inches, throwing your speedo off by 4mph faster compared to what the truck is actually doing.

 

You need a 275/55/20 snow tire, a good year round 275/55/20 or a different size wheel/tire package to do this correctly.

 

275/55/20 all terrain tires:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+A%2FT+Revo+2&partnum=755TR0REVO2OWL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Wrangler+All-Terrain+Adventure+with+Kevlar&partnum=755TR0WATAOWL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Dynapro+AT-M&partnum=755TR0RF10&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

275/55/20 winter tires:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Grabber+Arctic&partnum=755TR0GRAXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=iceGUARD+iG51v&partnum=755TR0IG51VXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Latitude+X-Ice+Xi2&partnum=755TR0LXI2V2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+DM-V2&partnum=755TR0DMV2XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

Option 2 is a 17" wheel, with either a 265/70/17 or 245/75/17.  This will keep your tire diameter equal to stock, keep your speedo normal and give you a skinnier snow tire.  This way also, your 20" wheels won't see winter at all (no salt or corrosion). 

[applewoodsb]

Around here we all hate a wide tire in snow. I run narrow tires in winter and watch the guys with wide tires struggle. They will learn no matter snow depth poor traction with wide tires.


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[Grumpy Bear]

2 hours ago, DanY said:

If you can afford it, I highly recommend Blizzak tires in the stock size for winter.  I have a set of Blizzaks on my original High Country wheels and they work great.  

I second this. Even drive a late 90's 5.0 Mustang in the deep snow?   I put a set of Blizzak's on it and turned it into a Jeep. I've never been so impressed with a dedicated tire as I was that set.  My current truck? Yea, I have a salt car. 

[aseibel]

44 minutes ago, applewoodsb said:

Around here we all hate a wide tire in snow. I run narrow tires in winter and watch the guys with wide tires struggle. They will learn no matter snow depth poor traction with wide tires.

what do you mean by "wide tires"? are you talking about the OP's 20" tires or my factory 265/65R18? Or are you talking about guys who put on oversized aftermarket tires? I think the factory rubber is narrow enough as-is.

 

I believe the factory 20" are 10.8" wide and my 18" are 10.4" wide. How wide are your "narrow tires"?
 

[applewoodsb]

265 divided by 25.4 =10.4. I run 245 divided by 25.4=9.6.


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[Donstar]

I remember when 245 was a wide tire!  I doubt you'd notice any improvement in traction with the same tire in a 245 width compared to the 275 version on your High Country.  Replacing the 185 width tires with 275's on my wife's Yaris would be noticeable.

[aseibel]

I think this discussion boils down to why one would want to change the tire width. The narrower tire width does not change the total contact area. (a narrower tire would just create a longer contact area to support the weight) Neither does it affect the coefficient of friction. In other words it does not increase your traction on ice or packed snow. The only way to do that is to get rubber designed for snow use, such as the blizzaks.

 

The one thing that does change based on your tire width is how much snow you are "plowing" with each wheel. Driving through really deep slush or snow, you would notice a big difference between a really wide or narrow tire. Wider tires will pull you around and force you in the ditch easier. Now the less than 10% change in width that is being discussed here, would it make a difference? maybe a little.

 

So in my opinion, if you are worried about driving on mostly plowed roads with some ice and packed snow this winter, or maybe an inch or 2 of recent accumulation- any sized tire designed for winter use will be fine. I would not specifically seek out a narrower than stock size unless I was frequently driving through deep snow or unplowed side roads with little traffic. I am not going to buy my tires based on the 1 freak storm a year, when the average person should just stay home until after the roads are cleared. A person should always adjust their driving to the conditions. And even though people like crushNchowda think they are invincible on the road does not mean you can out-drive road conditions. 4wd trucks and 2wd cars have the same braking ability on ice.