Help deciding on winter tires

[09Sierra1500]

Hello, I have a 2009 sierra 1500. I currently have LT295/55r20's on the truck. The truck has a 3inch suspension lift. They are mudding tires and I live in Montana so I am planning on getting some winter tires since I hear wide mudding tires like these are terrible on ice and snow. I am also buying new rims with the tires. I want to keep the 20inch rim look. Does anyone have some good suggestions for winter tires or all season tires? Thanks in advance

[HoosierZ]

Look at the Cooper ATW. The reviews I've read make them sound promising. They're considered an AT all season tire with enhanced winter traction.

[intheburbs]

I've got 50k miles on my current set of Goodyear Duratracs. Basically a commercial snowplow tire. Unstoppable in bad weather. I'll be buying them for my Jeeps as well when they need tires.

[randylgrep]

Look at the Cooper ATW. The reviews I've read make them sound promising. They're considered an AT all season tire with enhanced winter traction.

+1 on the atw. I purchased them for my avalanche. Walmart had a sale for $89 each. I've put 12k miles on them and so far so good. Road noise is minimal considering the tread pattern. Rain performance is average but nothing scary. Drove on soft mud and performed really good. Just had our first snow, well technically less than an inch lol but I'm confident in their ability.
It's a cool concept but essentially it's an all season snow tire.

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[Mike GMC]

Reading reviews right on Cooper's site, the ATW gets great reviews when new, but once the wear a bit they fall off fast.  They also dont appear to last well.

 

 

I have the Michelin Defender LTX, they rock.  On the 2ND year now and they still look basically new.  Traction has been great on all surfaces I've encountered.  Great tire.

[randylgrep]

Reading reviews right on Cooper's site, the ATW gets great reviews when new, but once the wear a bit they fall off fast.  They also dont appear to last well.
 
 
I have the Michelin Defender LTX, they rock.  On the 2ND year now and they still look basically new.  Traction has been great on all surfaces I've encountered.  Great tire.

Some of the negative reviews that I read seemed to be centered around the atw e load rated variant. I have the suv/non e load rated....don't know if that's the case with the reviews you read. So far no complaints, although to your credit I've only put 12k miles on them.

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[Colossus]

Blizzaks seem to get the highest praise for snow tires. 

[randylgrep]

Blizzaks seem to get the highest praise for snow tires. 

The reviews for blizzaks are typically centered around passenger cars. I've owned a set for a car and they do perform great. But I have not seen it get as much praise for the lt/SUV tire segment.

Also, they're strictly snow tires. IDK if you've ever had/driven snow tires in the summer, but the performance can get a bit hairy. Not to mention that they wear alot faster. That's part of the appeal of the atw. That they're an all season snow tire. They offer snow tire level performance in the winter conditions while retaining the summer/all season tires capabilities. Such as tread life and rain performance.

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[randylgrep]

It gets further complicated whether if op wants lt or p rated tire. If not hauling much, he can get away with p rated and there seems to be more options/better prices.

My suggestion to the op is to figure out the following:
1. Do you want/need e rated tire or will p metric aka SUV tire suffice?
2.do you plan on swapping the tires out once summer comes or do you like the idea of year round use.

Answering both will give a better picture as to suggestions.

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[randylgrep]

If it helps, here are some pictures of the tires mounted on the truck.

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[XSKIER]

Two bits after last winter in my 07 Avalanche. I have always ran 305/50R20 master craft htr tires on it. In September 2015, they were hard to get, so I put on cooper zeons. In January 2016 I thought I would try 265/75R17 blizzaks. Awesome snow traction, but really squirmy on ride and handling. After 2 weeks and 800 miles, the rears were worn to about 60% and fronts 80%. I traded them out for cooper atp in 265/75R17 and have decent traction and handling in the winter now.

1st bit: I feel that the winter tire concept should be reserved for sub 4k pound passenger cars, and not applied to 6k pound trucks. Winter tire compound is just too soft.

2nd bit: going from a 305 section to a 265 is a huge help in snow. If you can put more psi on your tread, then you get better snow traction.

Having two sets of tires:

Pros: keeps the salt off the chrome 20s. Can drive a little faster on slippery roads

Cons: Aesthetically Appalling skinny tires for 5 months a year. Always having a set in storage. TPMS problems. Can only drive as fast as the slow traffic in front of you.

.

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[randylgrep]

Two bits after last winter in my 07 Avalanche. I have always ran 305/50R20 master craft htr tires on it. In September 2015, they were hard to get, so I put on cooper zeons. In January 2016 I thought I would try 265/75R17 blizzaks. Awesome snow traction, but really squirmy on ride and handling. After 2 weeks and 800 miles, the rears were worn to about 60% and fronts 80%. I traded them out for cooper atp in 265/75R17 and have decent traction and handling in the winter now.

1st bit: I feel that the winter tire concept should be reserved for sub 4k pound passenger cars, and not applied to 6k pound trucks. Winter tire compound is just too soft.

2nd bit: going from a 305 section to a 265 is a huge help in snow. If you can put more psi on your tread, then you get better snow traction.

Having two sets of tires:

Pros: keeps the salt off the chrome 20s. Can drive a little faster on slippery roads

Cons: Aesthetically Appalling skinny tires for 5 months a year. Always having a set in storage. TPMS problems. Can only drive as fast as the slow traffic in front of you.

.

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The winter tire concept applies to lt tires as well, that's a part of what differentiates winter from non winter tires. That and the tread block design of course. On an all season or summer tire the rubber gets hard, whereas the winter tire it remains pliable. Hence why they wear faster. That's part of the allure for me at least, with the atw. That they manage to achieve this softer compound by using silicates which don't wear as fast as rubber.
The atw compund is borrowed from Motorcycle tires that have been using this formula for years. That slight difference in rubber pliability makes a HUGE difference on 2 narrow contact wheels, I can attest to this first hand.

Also, I agree as to the narrower footprint. Where I live , we get a lot of suburban and urban traffic that's accustomed to plowed and salted roads..you typically see them in ditches in their Audi/BMW/Mercedes SUVs as they're riding around on all season tires that are about 2' wide!
Some argue that a wider footprint tire allows you to float over the snow... I personally disagree but I see the validity in that statement, namely when it applies to a vehicle with subpar ground clearance and significant snowfall where they can get high centered easily..a narrow tire will dig to the ground causing this to happen, whereas in theory (I guess) the wider tire will float over.
Ultimately I'm with the old school of thought, that tall and narrow wins the Snow battle.

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[randylgrep]

The winter tire concept applies to lt tires as well, that's a part of what differentiates winter from non winter tires. That and the tread block design of course. On an all season or summer tire the rubber gets hard, whereas the winter tire it remains pliable. Hence why they wear faster. That's part of the allure for me at least, with the atw. That they manage to achieve this softer compound by using silicates which don't wear as fast as rubber.
The atw compund is borrowed from Motorcycle tires that have been using this formula for years. That slight difference in rubber pliability makes a HUGE difference on 2 narrow contact wheels, I can attest to this first hand.

Also, I agree as to the narrower footprint. Where I live , we get a lot of suburban and urban traffic that's accustomed to plowed and salted roads..you typically see them in ditches in their Audi/BMW/Mercedes SUVs as they're riding around on all season tires that are about 2' wide!
Some argue that a wider footprint tire allows you to float over the snow... I personally disagree but I see the validity in that statement, namely when it applies to a vehicle with subpar ground clearance and significant snowfall where they can get high centered easily..a narrow tire will dig to the ground causing this to happen, whereas in theory (I guess) the wider tire will float over.
Ultimately I'm with the old school of thought, that tall and narrow wins the Snow battle.

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FYI this is a high performance tire after 1 day at the track. The high performance vs regular mc tire show a huge difference in wear, but also performance.


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