Jump to content

Winter Tires

Grey Jay
 Share

Recommended Posts

Grey Jay Enthusiast

Grey Jay

Posted
Posted

Hi, this is my first GMC.  It came with 275/60R20 tires.  Just wondering what people are using for winter tires?

 

What size? does it mess up your speedo using a different size?

Are you using pressure sensors? If not what happens?

 

I have always had toyotas and used P rated bridgestone Blizzaks.  They are not available in the close sizes as I ca only seem to find LT rated tires in the closest size that matches 275/70R18

  • Replies 37
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Daverado
Daverado

4WD can't help you brake and steer on ice like proper winter tires can.  

killramos
killramos

A good saying around here is that 4x4 will help get you out of the ditch, but not prevent you from hitting it.   Winter tires 100% have their place.

KozzyJr
KozzyJr

Nokian winter tires hands down, the best winter tire on the market. It’s developed in Finland where where they have some of the harshest winter storms on the globe. I’m in northern Ontario and it’s th

Posted Images

aseibel Senior Enthusiast

aseibel

Posted
Posted

Factory tires may be OK, depending what you have. I drove 3 winters on the crappy goodyear SRA's and didn't get stuck, and those are cheap garbage. But Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S do great in snow.

 

Are you actually driving on packed snow and ice for 6 months straight? Like in the mountains? Then dedicated snow tires are useful.

 

If you drive on plowed pavement which is only actually covered in snow a few days a winter, then just keep your current tires and just use 4 auto on those days. Adding some bags of sand in the rear end will help even out the weight distribution and give you the added safety of easy traction if you get stuck.

NeverCold Enthusiast

NeverCold

Posted
Posted

Back when I used to drive in the snow, I used Mastercraft winter tires on my 1-wheel-peel 2wd ranger in Buffalo with a little weight over the wheels did fine in the snow for the massive snowfalls we received.

  • Like 1
Ozer Enthusiast

Ozer

Posted
Posted

275/60/20s are 33" so someone upgraded the tires. Are they stock, you have a picture?

I just use AT tires year around and does great in NY winters. If you need new tires consider Cooper AT/3 or AT/4s and you will be good year around.

Daverado Enthusiast

Daverado

Posted
Posted

I used to run 16"/33" BFG AT/KOs year-round on a Tahoe, but then I got a lowered Sierra and ran 20" Hankook Ventus RH06 summer and 20" Blizzak DM V1s in the winter.  Pretty good combination for handling year-round.

 

On this one I still have the crap no-season 22" Alenzas I run in summer, but I got a set of 275/60R20 Duratracs for winter.  They do well.  The Alenzas would probably do ok in 4-auto full-time, but I didn't want to run the bigger rims in winter either.

 

diyer2 Senior Enthusiast

diyer2

Posted
Posted

IMO

I used to buy BF Goodrich or Cooper AT's.

Lived in the city with occasional mountain driving to a remote cabin.

Got tired of the cost and road noise.

 

Now I live in the mountains.

Drive 3 miles of dirt road in and out of our place with some steep grades.

The roads are maintained.

I currently have Cooper Star Fire tires that are rated M&S.

No as aggressive of a tread.

 

I have not had any problems and there's no weight in the bed.

I'm retired so if the weather is bad I stay home.

 

If you like the look of the more aggressive tread I get that.

If you are good at driving on snow covered roads and have 4 wheel drive with the locking rear differential I see no problems.

 

If you must go off road or play in the snow I get a more aggressive tire.

 

This is my first 4 wheel drive truck. Drove a 2 wheel drive for many rears in the snow and they were all limited slip. So one wheel drive.

:)

Donstar Senior Enthusiast

Donstar

Posted
Posted

Welcome to the forum!  Providing us some more information may result in more accurate responses.  For example, what type of tires are on your truck and what type of driving conditions are you expecting?  If your truck is 4wd and came with all season tires you will be fine for most road conditions.  If you have the money, dedicated snow tires are ideal.  They help you brake as well as go!

killramos Enthusiast

killramos

Posted
Posted (edited)

I plan on using the Duratracs that come with my off road performance pack. They are actually pretty solid tires for deep snow.

 

Where they start to fall behind is on ice, where dedicated winters (esp with studs) perform much better. Overall dedicated winters are much better, but I have always found the gap to be a fair bit smaller for Truck AT tires to Truck winters than passenger car all seasons to winters. I would run something mountain snowflake rated for sure, just know the bar for that symbol is not very high if you see real winter.

 

For size, Just keep same overall diameter tire, but a little less rim always helps.

Edited by killramos
UncleDave Enthusiast

UncleDave

Posted
Posted

I used Cooper AT3's on my Ram years back and they were great in all weather conditions. Once these stock tires wear out, I'll be replacing with the Coopers.

newdude Senior Enthusiast

newdude

Posted
Posted

Almost nothing beats a true full purpose winter tire.  Nokian Hakkapeliitta, Bridgestone Blizzak, Firestone Winterforce, etc.  As for non specific winter tires, Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac work great in the snow, ok on ice.  Most good AT type tires will handle snow ok/good. 

 

Having 3 sets of winter tires in the family (all Nokian) however, hard to beat them.  My brother's open diff 2004 Town Car can drive through just about everything, as can the front drive 2009 Mariner.  Snow, ice, etc. they handle it all and very well.   

AJMBLAZER Enthusiast

AJMBLAZER

Posted
Posted

When I lived in Northern Michigan where snow meant feet of it falling at a time (no joke, they didn’t start plowing until 4” had accumulated on the ground) I always ran aggressively sipes mud terrains. Big voids and lugs to dig through the deep snow and lots of sipes and softer rubber to grab the slick stuff. Worked great. Even bought my own siping/grooving knife. 

 

That said, if your snowfall isn’t that severe you want more ice and slick road traction.

 

Best solution for me was to move south. In Western Kentucky last winter I think we got 3” of snow all winter. Could have used drag slicks. 

aseibel Senior Enthusiast

aseibel

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, newdude said:

My brother's open diff 2004 Town Car can drive through just about everything, as can the front drive 2009 Mariner.  Snow, ice, etc. they handle it all and very well.   

I have put plenty of miles on front wheel drive cars without nanny systems. They are way more sure footed in snow than a truck. Until you put the truck in 4WD.

Mountain boy Enthusiast

Mountain boy

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Ozer said:

275/60/20s are 33" so someone upgraded the tires. Are they stock, you have a picture?

I just use AT tires year around and does great in NY winters. If you need new tires consider Cooper AT/3 or AT/4s and you will be good year around.

Those were stock on my AT4

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Forum Statistics

    250.5k
    Total Topics
    2.7m
    Total Posts

  • Member Statistics

    342,947
    Total Members
    8,960
    Most Online
    Sothpaw27
    Newest Member
    Sothpaw27
    Joined

  • Who's Online   3 Members, 0 Anonymous, 578 Guests (See full list)

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Grumpy Bear
      Some Assembly is Required

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      www.enginelabs.com/news/what-i-learned-today-bearing-clearances-vs-oil-viscosities/     www.enginelabs.com/news/oil-viscosity-can-the-numbers-be-misleading/ The Big Lie… Coming full circle to the reason Lake discusses the Porsche engines in particular. Based on the 2000 samples in the SPEEDiagnostix database, increasing the oil viscosity in these engines, even those run on the track, showed no significant difference in results.   The smoking gun was in the oil chemistry. That is where the data shows higher instances of more wear. Molybdenum was the key; the higher the amount, the less the wear. Speed postulates that higher viscosity oils have more thickeners to artificially inflate their viscosity numbers. These thickeners lose viscosity under shear, and the result is that not all oils of the same viscosity have the same shear stability.   Having enough viscosity is the most important characteristic, but according to Speed, once that required viscosity level is reached, additive chemistry matters more than additional viscosity. Speed also states, oil pressure problems on the racetrack aren’t a viscosity problem; it’s an oiling system problem. Running a thicker oil is just a band-aid for an underlying oiling system problem.
    • Grumpy Bear
      Some Assembly is Required

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      Can it still be Assembled II?   Viscosity on the decline by various means. Heat on the rise making that worse. Engine RPM in the tank. Smaller motors with more boost trying to emulate an electric motor. Full torque, zero rpm. Then we will triple the OCI. Argh.    But wait....there is more. LSPI has pushed a shift from Ca to Mg and as that cost more PLUS the run to lower sulfur compounds the TBN is moving in the wrong direction for the increased OCI's demanded.    That not being enough to placate a demand for a parameter they can't measure the other sulfur bearing compounds are also under attack. That would be zinc and phosphorus sulfonate compounds. To some degree those are being replaced with boron esters and others, i.e. titanium ect. All of which have shorter service lives. And there there is the "Secrete Sauce" marketing for AW adds that 'Can't be detected by UOA's" but trust me because I (the blenders) never ever lie.    Spoiler alert; ALL additives are sacrificial! Smaller amounts of the old blended with less robust versions of the new do not equal longer service lives. So what are the blenders recommending? Wait for it.......   MOVING THE GOAL POSTS! OMG      Let's declare the long standing TAN/TBN crossover irrelevant and tell people that soot is a great 'graphite' based lubricant which can aid tribo films. Wait, what? Let's declare that the standards used for oxidation and nitration were to conservative and can be expanded. Let's tell them that because GDI fuel dilution, although being a VISCOSITY KILLER and an acid generator is actually okay because we have better base oils that limit viscosity failure limits. (Said knowing this is measured in fractions of a centipoise and in bases not commonly used in shelf oils)   Lying from the heart is not just the new normal but we have a public, a very young public, that is so ignorant of the facts and so sure of their "RESEARCH" into AI driven models base in regurgitated  instead of scientific research based unvarnished, peer reviewed FACTS that the incoming guard is loosing their grip on reality and the OEM's are tickled pink while the blends bend the knee.    You have an ever limited set of tools to work with. And sooner or later those will be taken from you as the API and the EPA strangle the last remaining fluids from the system. What you have left is your wits. If you care to use them.    At some point in the very near future it will not longer be possible to do "What is best for the machine", and be replaced with "The best you have access too". You WILL be rewarded with half the life and twice the cost. That isn't that hard to predict.         
    • Chuck FB
      Software Update

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I trust you saw the other comment where he knew what he was talking about !. Yes, these darned newer vehicles with all their so smart they are stupid technology, goes and drains the battery down. As you might see my other comment, I installed a Noco 5 battery tender under the hood and at this point still have the cord routed so I have to lift the hood and then plug it in but am typically parked in a garage or a shed so its not risking the engine hood in the wind. That way I am assured or hopefully so of not finding I have a battery drawn down and can't even start the truck and that also damages the battery to draw it down too far. 
    • Chuck FB
      Software Update

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I guess no surprise my guesses were wrong !, at least now I know if I ever happen to see it grayed out in my own truck as to what is going on.    I never happened to catch my truck with it grayed out, it seemed every time I would test to see if there was an update it never found anything and yet more than once I would check to see if there was an update and there was nothing, then a day later or even that same morning I would drive to town and after more than one engine shut down in town as I did my errands it would pop up that there is an update now ready to install and the only place I have a connection to the internet is at home by wifi so its not as if it grabbed the download while driving. I don't trust these new vehicles due to all the crap they can decide to do while sitting for some days not running and run the battery down so most of the time if I know the truck will sit for a few days I plug in the battery tender I have mounted under the hood and so the only time the truck must have downloaded software was when it was sitting in the garage where the signal is awful but I have that tender plugged in and somehow it managed to download it. I honestly detest all this crap, way to easy to leave a person stranded.    Since I don't trust any of it I don't do the install of the already downloaded software until I get home and sometimes have even sat in the truck to watch what its doing as its going through the process to its conclusion as its not like it is set up that it will tell you the next time you fire up the engine that the update that was initialed actually installed or installed properly. Yes I can go into the updates and see the list. After I go through the install where I feel its safe to do so in case it breaks down as a result, I will plug in the battery tender after the fact to recharge as I don't know how much power its taking just to do the install and that can take a while for it to install. 
    • nfisherman
      Software Update

      By nfisherman · Posted

      Thanks for the reply. All settings were correct and the engine was off, as it was supposed to be. It turned out to be something simple. I took a drive for about an hour. I must have had a low battery without knowing it. The voltage gauge on the display looked ok. At the end of my drive, I shut off the engine and the update prompt came up and it updated normally. It’s ironic because one of the features of the update is a reduction of battery drain. 

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...