Snow Tires

[Breckenridge_Realtor]

I have a 2005 Yukon Denali, with the standard tire package, and I am considering the purchase of snow tires.

 

I live in a very wintry Colorado ski resort environment, I have another car for when the roads are dry, and my job sometimes has me on steep and unplowed roads, so I do not think that getting snow tires would be a waste of money.

 

One tire I have considered is the Bridgestone Blizzak as they have pretty good reviews. Will they work with the tire pressure sensor on my Yukon? What other tires should I be considering? And, does it make sense to get new rims for my new tires so that I am not paying to have them reinstalled and balanced each spring and fall?

[pwall]

And, does it make sense to get new rims for my new tires so that I am not paying to have them reinstalled and balanced each spring and fall?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

My opinion....get a seperate set of plain old steel rims. If you slide into a curb and damage the rim, cheaper to replace. More importantly, if a lot of road salt is used, the road salt can 'pit' your nice rims.

Of course, there is the obvious advantage of it's easy to change the tires over, less wear on the belts due to less changing, etc.

[GM-Tech]

Most likely, the tire pressure sensors will not fit aftermarket rims. If not, you'll have to live with the "Service Tire Pressure Monitor" message on the cluster all winter long. No, it cannot be disabled.

 

The message will be annoying, but cars have been driven for 100 years without electronic tire pressure monitoring so you'll be okay.

[Breckenridge_Realtor]

Based on these replies, I have done a little more homework here:

 

http://www.tirerack.com/

 

I am considering the following:

 

16x8 ASA TRS Chrome Plated

for 2005 GMC Yukon Denali

 

265/70QR16 Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 Blackwall

for 2005 GMC Yukon Denali

 

SCHRADER 315MHZ TRANSMITTER

for 2005 GMC Yukon Denali

 

REQUIRED VALVE SLEEVE FOR TPMS

for 2005 GMC Yukon Denali

 

These tires and wheels will be mounted and balanced at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

 

From what I can tell, the tire pressure sensor should work.

 

What do others think of this company? Will the 16" tires in fact give me better snow and ice traction than the 17" tire which are also compatible? The Yukon came stocked with 17" tires.

 

I would like to save money on the wheels but I bought the Yukon for driving clients around and I think that the better appearance would be worth it.

 

Still, any other tires I should really consider?

[naturalbornmudder]

I live up here in interior Alaska where we literally have snow and ice packed on the roads for 7 months out of 12. Blizzaka are a great tire for snow/ice. Their downfall is that they are a soft rubber compound and they wear out extremely fast on pavement. I would recommend going with a Bridgestone all terrain or a BFG all terrain tire to get the most bang for th buck all the way around and skip having to swap tire/rim combos. How many months do you have snow on the roads?

[Breckenridge_Realtor]

How many months do you have snow on the roads?

Sept 22 was the start of our first three foot storm of the season and it is dumping out right now with snow called for every day through the weekend. The first local ski area opened on Oct 13th. Last year the first three foot storm started around Oct 8. It is common for us to get at least one good dump in May.

[naturalbornmudder]

How many months do you have snow on the roads?

Sept 22 was the start of our first three foot storm of the season and it is dumping out right now with snow called for every day through the weekend. The first local ski area opened on Oct 13th. Last year the first three foot storm started around Oct 8. It is common for us to get at least one good dump in May.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

IMO, if you are sticking with 1 set of tires, go with the Bridgestone's.

 

If you are going with a second set of winter only tires, go Blizzaks, but don't install em till after the first snow is on the road. Plain pavement will eat them up!

[DJinCO]

I run Blizzak's on my Tahoe every winter. I find that they last about 2-3 years going on in Nov and off in May. Today we had a bit of snow, about 8" and some icy roads. The BFG All-Terrain are OK, and I didn't have any problems this morning, but they do not have the same capabilities as the Blizzak's.

 

I have the Blizzak's mounted on the stock rims and the BFG All-Terrain's on Amerian Racing Python Rims for the Summer.

 

I bought my first set of Blizzak's in 1997 from TireRack on my wife's Mercury Sable. I installed them the morning of the Blizzard of 1997, then went to work that night for the night shift inside Cheyenne Mountain. I came out 40 hours later and made it home past stuck Hummers (H1's) that ANG was using for rescuing stranded folks.

 

I think that the cost of Blizzak's are an insurance policy against being stuck, stranded or replacing the front end from sliding into a curb/car/ditch.

 

Just MHO!

[c502cid]

I'll take it to the next extreme. The Blizzaks are not enough tire!

 

I also live in Colorado. For the winter, Not only in my trucks, but in my cars too, I run a studded snow tire. Cooper M&S or Winterforces both are excellent and much better priced than the Blizzaks or any "designer" snow tire. Get yourself a set of take off OEM rims, get em mounted, and dont worry about ice at intersections again because thats where you are going to slide....at the intersections. Studs offer the next level of performance in the winter. You wont want to run them year round but if you value your families safety, they are the ONLY way to go.

 

By the way, both the Coopers and the Winterforce will give you safely three or four winters each if you use them half the year. They dont wear out that fast (faster than regular tires though) on dry pavement.

 

 

My 2 cents!

[the blur]

I have an 03 Denali. The factory junk-year tires were USELESS in 1" of snow.

the truck would slid sideways !!!

I brought another set of Denali wheels, which are now a dime a dozen, check ebay.

and I brought NOKIAN WR's. It's a snow rated tire that can be used all year long. so I don't have to worry about wear if I run them on the dry pavement.

the truck is much better in the snow.

 

and I run the factory junkyear tires during the warm months.

[yukon4wd]

I put Coopers on last year, and I must say they have already paid for themselves. I am very impressed. Yes I would love studs, but they are not allowed where I do most of my driving unfortunately. Although I should have an LSD, it looks like I haven't (that's my next post), yet with the Coopers, I could go just about anywhere.

 

Originally I ought them because in Europe where I am they were the only 265/17/70's I could get, but now I am glad I got them.

 

As to rims. I could not find 17" steel rims which is what I wanted. I really don't like running alloys, since I am not a granny, and drive the truck pretty hard, and I am fromt he old school that likes things that bend rather than crack. So I kept the one set of alloys, and I change rubber each year, but its not my preference. I must say thought that I would not want to have to cancel the tire warning every time I put the key in, so make sure if you find 17" steel, that you can get the computers.

 

No matter what though ....

there is no such thing as an all year tire. You MUST have theright tire for the right terrain. Never run snow tires on dry tarmac, and never run summer tires on snow or ice.

 

Keep in mind that Snow tires are defined by three things

 

1/ Have a basic "chunky" tread which makes it easy for snow to fall out. I fthe tread is filled with snow, then you loose the effect of traction.

2/ Withing the chunks, the treat is seperated but small cuts, these allow the treat to move, and keep traction when the tire slides. These look like little cuts in the tread, and are very important.

3/ Most important, and defintelu most ignored and most forgotten, is that they are made from a rubber that is flexible at a mch lower tempurateure, but that also decays at a much lower tempurature. So they rely on water to keep them cool. If you must drive on dry tarmac with snow tires, then do it slowly, and don;t drive for hours, stop and let them cool down.