Road Trip - New Tires?

[leverlution]

Taking a trip from the east coast (Maryland) to St. Louis in January. Going to be in that area from Jan, through Feb, into March. Never been in the area, but I am assuming snow and ice is going to be an issue both on my drive through the northern US and in St. Louis. Especially with the winters we have been having lately. Question is, with a 2010 Silverado (~12,000 miles) ECSB 4x4 and 265/70 R17 Wrangler ST's, would you find a way to get 4 tires before leaving or roll with what you got? Money is tight, you all know the sob story. Not really too interested in financing $1000 for tires from Sears/Mr. Tire etc. But, that's the quandary. Chance the ST's, or finance some tires. Have to go, don't have a choice, and don't have cash laying around right now. Never driven this truck in the snow yet, so I am not really sure what to expect. From the way they act in the rain and such I expect them to be pretty bad.

 

Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

[eusa1]

Taking a trip from the east coast (Maryland) to St. Louis in January. Going to be in that area from Jan, through Feb, into March. Never been in the area, but I am assuming snow and ice is going to be an issue both on my drive through the northern US and in St. Louis. Especially with the winters we have been having lately. Question is, with a 2010 Silverado (~12,000 miles) ECSB 4x4 and 265/70 R17 Wrangler ST's, would you find a way to get 4 tires before leaving or roll with what you got? Money is tight, you all know the sob story. Not really too interested in financing $1000 for tires from Sears/Mr. Tire etc. But, that's the quandary. Chance the ST's, or finance some tires. Have to go, don't have a choice, and don't have cash laying around right now. Never driven this truck in the snow yet, so I am not really sure what to expect. From the way they act in the rain and such I expect them to be pretty bad.

 

Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

they are not the best tire in the snow, however they will do fine with only that few miles on them. just remember that its 4 wheel drive and takes off better in the snow and ice, however it won't stop any better than any other vehicle!! stop early and be safe.

mike

[leverlution]

Appreciate that. Good advice. I have experience driving in the snow, just been spoiled by a Wrangler with real nice AT's on it the last few winters. Just don't want to end up stuck somewhere halfway on the trip, or not able to get to where I need to be while in St. Louis.

 

I'll get some tread depth measurements tomorrow at work (think I have a gauge laying around my work bag) and see where I am at to help yall answer. TIA.

[leverlution]

Well, we just got about 2-3 inches today during work. I was extremely surprised how well the truck did in the snow, especially these ST tires. It wasn't deep, but just enough where the tires weren't touching pavement anymore. I found a few business parking lots with steep hills etc. and really tested just about every bad situation I could except deep snow. I didn't realize until about halfway through my testing deal that I was still in 2wd. Only needed to plop it into auto 1 time, and I think I was just on a bit of ice. One I did put it in auto and re-did all the different scenarios, the darn truck drove in the snow like a Jeep. Never seen a pickup drive that well in the snow before, let alone with tires this bad. the trac control, ABS, and Stabilitrac on this thing is INCREDIBLE. Perfect. Just aggressive enough to keep everything under control, but passive enough to allow the truck to do what it needs to do. This is my first GM vehicle where the ABS actually slows down a vehicle when activated on snow. GM usually has a bad habbit of setting the pulse rate way too high. All in all, I think everything will be okay and I appreciate the comment(s). I think these friggen tires (At least for now) drive better in the snow than in the rain, . I was even able to back up my driveway, on the grass, un plowed, which has a nice rake to it. Couldn't even do that in a Wrangler with Grabber AT2s.