Swapping Tires Question(s)

AW22 · January 8, 2014

I am picking up my Sierra 6.2 SLT Crew on Saturday, after seeing and driving it for 30miles when it arrived last week. (Out of town dealer). Did a fair amount of forum and Internet surfing and new I wanted to drive off the lot with a more aggressive AT tire than the SRA's it shipped with. It was a close call between Bridgestone dueler, and Mich AT's, and a new tire from Goodyear the Wrangler AT Adventure w/ Kevlar...I decided on the GY's...I will post feedback in a week or so after I have a chance to put some miles on the truck.

JCthebigTree · January 8, 2014

I'd just run the Goodyears until they're toast and instead get a set of dedicated snow tires. The only people who will try and convince you that any all season or all terrain tire will do well in the snow are those that have never run snow tires.

Guess what? You don't need 4wd w/ snow tires it just makes the vehicle perform that much better. My preference is to have a nice aggressive all terrain for the warmer months (and they'll blow even worse than an all season in the snow) and snows for the winter. The snows should last close to 4-5 seasons depending on how much you drive. I got Michelin latitude snows 275/55/20 for around 170 from the rack of tire.....and they're better in dry pavement and quieter than the goodyears

Don't disagree, but in my situation it really doesn't make sense.

It's a lease truck I'll have for another 37 months... I don't want to sink $1,200 into a new set of tires so I can swap them every season. I want a good reliable all year tire.

I've driven in snow for 20+ years and I've never run dedicated snow tires on any of my trucks and have never had issue (I have driven on them regularly on a 2008 2500 regular cab plow truck and know what they can do). In fact, the BEST tires I've had in winter weather were a set of BFG All Terrains 285's on my old Avalanche - granted part of that was vehicle weight and handling.

Bottom line I've finally got the dealer willing to pitch in enough to make the cost palatable and want to get rid of the SRA's and get a good set on there so I have reliable traction and not get killed on tires when I turn the truck in.

crushNchowda · January 8, 2014

You can't generalize quite so much. Some AT tires are lousy in the snow--others are quite good (vastly better than any "all season" highway tires).

Intended use is important. Snow tires are great for the winter months--on pavement. If you spend much time offroad quite often there's a layer of mud underneath the snow and snow tires are completely worthless.

no they're not they'll do well in the mud/slush/snow mix - I know, I just drove in it in north western VT on backroads, outside Burlington!

Don't disagree, but in my situation it really doesn't make sense.

It's a lease truck I'll have for another 37 months... I don't want to sink $1,200 into a new set of tires so I can swap them every season. I want a good reliable all year tire.

I've driven in snow for 20+ years and I've never run dedicated snow tires on any of my trucks and have never had issue (I have driven on them regularly on a 2008 2500 regular cab plow truck and know what they can do). In fact, the BEST tires I've had in winter weather were a set of BFG All Terrains 285's on my old Avalanche - granted part of that was vehicle weight and handling.

Bottom line I've finally got the dealer willing to pitch in enough to make the cost palatable and want to get rid of the SRA's and get a good set on there so I have reliable traction and not get killed on tires when I turn the truck in.

Didn't realize it was a lease. In that case I'd do what you had already intended.