235/85/16 w965 blizzaks

 

My W350 has the BFG all terrains and it does pretty good in 2wd but the deeper snow is no good with no weight in the rear, probably would do good with some weight back there. My D250 has Dunlop All Terrains, haven't even tried to drive in the deep snow we have right now, going to try messing with it tomorrow.

 

It is about the type of snow. Sometimes you have wet snow (like here is the frozen south/balmy north) and you want snow in the treads for traction - wet snow sticks to wet snow.

But here in the frozen south/balmy north we also get regular freezing rain & slush, etc and like Dave says, a spare 4X4 is what you need - not to get around, but to be able to drive back out of the ditch you just slid into .

I'd look at the plow trucks & service trucks in your particular area and probably go with what the majority there have found to work. And like everybody has said, WEIGHT in the bed to counter balance that chunk o' lead sitting under the hood.

 

YES, I will take deep frozen snow any day over freezing rain.

 

Something nobody has mentioned... AIR DOWN!


Airing down a marginal highway ("M&S") tire will always work better than a blocked tire running 65#
If you're not hauling something, drop them down to 20#(or lower) to increase the contact patch...

 

I second that....I dropped my drives to 40 lbs, much better. I don't think i would run them down to 20 lbs though...i have weight in the bed.

 

Blizzaks hands down best snow tire out there, run them on wifes car. My buddy runs them on his 2wd 1500 and with 400 lbs in the bed truck handles great. Here in lower Michigan we get almost every king of weather you can handle and he never has any problems, even on our back country roads.

 

I have run the Bridgestone Dueler Revos on my trucks, 2wd and 4wd alike and love em. Little squirmy on the highway but other than that great. We dont however have horrible winters here in Colorado but have driven em through some of our nastiest blizzards and been just fine!! I also rec the Blizzaks too but very pricey for a two season tire on a heavy truck.

 

Cooper Discoverer STs. Another plus is that they are are made in America by an American company. Something to consider even more these days.

 

If you haul that spare vehicle around in the bed of your truck, it provides the necessary weight to get you through the snow.

Some other good tire info here. https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...highlight=sipe

 

It really depends on if you want a "snow tire" or a "slick road tire". Blocky clearing mud type treads do best in deep snow. Siped treads do best on slick roads. Get the best of both worlds a Sipe an offroad type tire. BFG A/Ts do pretty well in all conditions if they're Siped. I had a set of Super Swampers on my old Dodge M37 with siping. They were *almost* unstoppable.

 

I absolutley do not understand the love for BGF A/T's people seem to have when it comes to winter... I can just assume that most people who think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread have never had a proper winter tire. They are OK, but they are very lacking in the siping department and are downright treacherous on any kind of hardpack.
On a 2wd Cummins truck, I'd want 700-1000 lbs of weight in the bed, and a good winter tire, Blizzaks, or maybe a Michelin X-ice type tire(Nokian make some good winter tires,) depending on what kind of conditions I was dealing with. You definatley NEED weight in the bed if you want to not be in for a scare ride once you do get rolling, and on a 2wd, it's needed just to get rolling. My truck will break the rears loose at 65 on a slightly snowy road with a little too much throttle.
Personally, I run a dedicated set of winters, but, since I run into lots of hardpack, and a fair amount of fresh snow(especially now with the Dodge plowing,) I went for a good all terrain with a good amount of siping and a soft tread compound, and studded them.
General Grabber A/T2's in my case:


You can't really see the tread depth in that pic with the snow, but, they're on their 4th winter on a diesel truck, and they're still probably 85-90%.
And, yes, I know my springs aren't supposed to bend that way....

Pro Comp makes an extreme weather A/T that looks pretty promising too.
http://www.procomptires.com/allterrain.html

 

De-flating the tire LENGTHENS the amount of tread in contact with the ground, sort of making the treads into little short dozer-tracks.

A very little benefit is also gained by the outside edges coming into closer contact, but not nearly so important and advantageous as the lengthening of the tread contact.



Dropping the pressures to around 30-PSI (providing the truck is not loaded) or so will help with "normal" slick conditions.



When you get to that icy hill that you just can't get traction on, then get out and let those tires down to nearly flat, maybe 5-PSI, and it will make all the difference in the world.(don't get yourself run over)

ONLY air down the DRIVE wheels, not any un-driven wheels, as airing down the un-driven wheels will make them harder to "push", defeating your purpose.



When you do drastically deflate the tires, speeds must be kept to a crawl, and the tires inflated at the soonest possible; use your on-board air.

 

we get a lot of snow here. Air down definitely helps, it gives a larger foot print and cleans better cause the tread flexes more. For hard pack a studded block like the Balzac seems to work well. For all around and plowing I like a sipped mud tire best. The big open lugs of the mud tires are great at cutting through the real sloppy stuff like slush and mud that well hydroplane a closed tread tire.

 

The absolute BEST all-around tires I have ever ran in the snow and ice were BIAS GroundHawgs.

They would stick to ice with the best of them, yet had the big bite necessary to plow through the deep stuff.


Most of the trendy newer treads are aimed more at following along after the plows and salters have already made a road.