2wd And Wider Tires In Snow?

[matt3]

I have a 08 Sierra ext cab short bed 2wd with a g80 and 5.3. I live in the Chicagoland area, which means snow. I currently have 245/70/17 General Americrap tires on it and want to upgrade to either Bridgestone dueler revo's or BFG A/T and want a wider tire. I plan on putting a leveling kit on before upgrading the tires. My truck handles very well for a 2wd v8 truck with only 280lbs of sand tubes in the bed. I've even stopped on a pretty steep unplowed hill and was able to get going with very little slippage. I am waiting for my black bear tune to show up any day in the mail if that will make a difference. I know skinnier tires work in snow better but, 245's are like pizza cutters. I was thinking going up to 265's or even possibly 285's. I just don't want to start getting stuck in snow just because I put wider tires on it.

 

Will the added performance of a good A/T tire outweigh the wider width? What is the widest tire you recommend going with for a 2wd in the snow?

[wlvrn1215]

when it all comes down to it. Narrow tires are the best for the snow. Wider would serve better when you need to float on top of a surface like sand. Depends on how much snow you get.

[iminaquagmire]

Get some Bridgestone Blizzak's for the winter and get some good street tires for the winter. Very few tires deliver the best of both worlds, especially if you want wider tires.

[seano3ca]

That's what I've done. 245 snows, 265 AT on a 2wd 4.8L Crew Cab. Have noticed no significant power loss with the larger tires, and haven't been stuck yet in the west coast's recent 40-year snowstorm. As long as storage isn't an issue, running season-specific tires is the way to go as far as I'm concerned.

[d3athsong]

My personal opinion is the wider the footprint, the better the traction. For the 500km's ive had them, ive been quite happy with the 265's I put on in place of the 245/70 OEM's. Though they arent that hard to beat.

[hockeypro1411]

I'm not far from you, and I can tell you that with the amount of snow we get, I would get a narrower tire for the winter. With wide tires, the snow tends to just pile up in front of the tire. Narrow tires seems to "cut" through the snow better.

[ALange]

Get some Bridgestone Blizzak's for the winter and get some good street tires for the winter. Very few tires deliver the best of both worlds, especially if you want wider tires.

 

+1 I use Blizzak's exclusively

[matt3]

I cannot afford to buy 2 new sets of tires. Basically, do you think the added performance of a quality A/T tire over the General Americrap tires will offset going from 245's to 265's or even maybe 285's?

[chitownpete]

In my experience wider tires are so much worse I would doubt it. This is my 3rd 2wd pickup and its the only one that didnt really need snow tires. My Americraps work surprisingly well in the snow. Chicago winters are no problem with 200+ pounds behind the rear axle. I was glad I waited to buy snow tires as I didnt need them.

[zxcv]

The wider tires will be worse in the winter.

 

You could always just add some extra sand tubes in the bed to weigh it down some more.

 

 

My suggestion would be to buy the set of AT's for the summer and just keep the crap tires you have on it now for winter. You can pick up a set of winter rims for cheap.

[d3athsong]

Just a quick question. Where do you drive matt? Are you doing all city/highway/gravel, or are you having a littel fun off the road?

[matt3]

I do city, highway, and occasionally will go offroad (nothing serious in a 2wd).

[slayer305]

One would think of tires like snow shoes. With regular shoes in deep snow you sink. With snow shoes you glide over the surface. Check out the I believe its called Suretrax. Its a big plastic pillow like thing you put water in and put it in your bed for added weight. I know Stylin Trucks has them. http://www.stylintrucks.com/parts.aspx?partfamilyid=4433