Never too soon to plan for old man winter here in PA...

I do a fair amount of snowplowing in between fixing furnaces and was looking for a tall, skinny tire.

What do you all think of these?

http://www.intercotire.com/site36.php

I'm looking at the 34/10.50/17.

The price is resonable for these...I know they won't wear well on the dry pavement and probably will ride like crap...but are way cheaper than buying new studded snows.

Comments...

 

I put a set of Good Year silent armour LT truck tire on our light duty truck with a gasoline engine and they make that two wheel drive operate in the snow as if it was a four wheel drive. I pulled a 2000 lb 18 foot tandem flat deck car hauling trailer with two 1100 lb round hay bales loaded out into a pasture with eight inches of fresh snow and those tires gripped perfectly in the loose snow. I just had to avoid the steep slopes because the rear drive tires started to spin from trying to tow the 3200 lbs plus push the pickup's weight up a slope. The ground was frozen solid like a rock.

If I require grip tires on my diesel it will be Good Year Silent Armour tires because after the first couple of hundred miles of somewhat roughness from grip tires they smooth out almost like a summer tire. Also those tires are not noisy at all. They are also supposed to have one or two kevlar belts. We are using the silent armour tires for both winter and summer driving without noticing any roughness. They are heavier duty tires then a summer P rated tire. A summer P rated tire for a 1500 GMC has a maximum of 35 psi in both front and rear tires. The silent armour tires can take 55 psi to carry more weight.

 

Mud tires suck in the snow. Snow sticks to snow,thats why "snow tires" have lots of smaller treadblocks with lots of siping. They aren't designed to clean themselves like a mud tire.

For snow use,I'd take an A/T over an M/T any day.

 

Siping is the secret.
I don't plow with my truck but probably get more ice and snow than any other state in the lower 48. I used to run studs but after having a set siped will never go back. Currently running straight treaded highway tires with no winter problems. Local tire shop charges $10 per new tire to sipe, $12 for used because they have to first remove any rocks.

More info on siping if you aren't familar http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tireSiping.dos

 

I'll be following this with interest. I've got Blizzaks on my car during the winter and they work great. The OEMs on the truck just plain stink in snow and ice.

 

The Truxus MT's are awesome in the snow... been through enough tires and snowy winters to know the difference... but they wear like crap in the summer. Very soft rubber... but E rated. They are very quiet on the street though and handle well; maybe not the best in thick mud, but still very competent.

 

IMO, A/T's pack up too much with snow.

Are these E Rated Tires that you are running?


What type of tire do you sipe? I did not know about that. Thanks.


I've had good luck with M/T's in the snow as well...that's why I was wondering about the LTB's, plus they are tall and skinny...just how I like 'em

 

Currently running Toyo HT but have also siped Toyo M-55, a more aggressive tire.
I get all my tires, passenger cars included siped now.
Well worth it even if you don't need the extra traction, siped tires run cooler and thus last longer.

Toyo HT

 

Thanks for the help...

No comments on the LTB's yet...

Yay or nay?

 

megacabdad, the Good Year Wrangler Silent Armour tires on our half ton gasoline powered pickup are P-rated tires that are much more robust in construction than P-rated summer tires because of the Kevlar belts. These tires are quiet on the highway at 75 mph and they wear well on bare asphalt road surfaces. If I do put G Y W S A tires on my diesel also, those tires will be E-rated with a 80 psi inflation capacity. I will keep the E-rated OEM Michelin summer tire mounted on the Dodge chrome rims, and I will put the Good Year E-rated Wranglers on steel rims for the winter time. I am not driving my Dodge much this year due to fuel prices being high, so I do not need winter tires. Actually, we are staying home more than in previous years and none of our vehicles gets used much. The gas jobs get the local run-a-bout duties.

 

Bill!!!!! I try to keep current with the automotive add ons. But you sir are just outstanding, siping !!! I was afraid someone was looking down a long rifle with that word. I just bought a new set of tires and now I am going back to see if I can get this done. Thanks again Bill.

 

The important factors in snow tires are tire size, lug size, tread compound and siping. Picking the right tire requires being realistic about your needs. Most of us never try to drive in 3' deep snow but rather we drive on crud that might be up to 1' deep. We need a tire that has enough traction not to get stuck but that also corners well and brakes well and can handle ice. A lot of people mistakenly buy mud tires which do well in deep snow but do not do as well in the crud and do terribly on ice.

With the weight that our front ends have, you can pretty much forget ever floating so the best bet is to go with a narrow tire that will bite down through. A very popular size is a 235/85/16 because of this.

Depending on what you want to do, you need to choose your tread pattern accordingly. Generally speaking, an AT type tire will have the best traction. The voids need to be large enough so that they don't pack with snow. The key to traction is the number of ridges on the tire that will stay clear and be able to dig in. Mud tires can be great in super deep snow but they don't do very well in other conditions because the lugs are too large. You also need to make sure that the tire has side to side grip as well as driving traction since you need to be able to corner(mud tires tend to do poorly in this department).

The softer the tire compound, the better the tires will do but they will also wear out more quickly. A softer compound conforms to the surface and makes slipping harder.

As infidel stated, siping is really important. The reason for this is closely tied to the reason that AT tread patterns are good and soft compounds are good. Siping allows the tire to conform better to the surface giving better traction. If you are going to be spending time on ice, forget trying any tire without a lot of siping.

My favorite winter tire on the market is the cooper discoverer m/s. If you have a tire shop near you that does siping, you can go that route as well.

 

Thanks for the replies...

I've ruled out the LTB's...read that bias plies don't support the weight of these beasts very well, especially with a 8' snow plow hanging off the front.

I gotta have something that is E-rated.

I've always had good luck with Coopers, even though people have some bad things to say about them. I've also had good experiences with the local Cooper dealer in my town.

Goodyears are nice, kinda pricey, and I don't like the dealers of them in my area at all.

Any other snowplowers out there...What are you plowing with?

 

Having lived in northern California for years, I have found that the deep wet snow we normaly have here an agressive tire works best. The Cummins is so heavy that it really sinks the MT's agressive tread down into even paked snow for a good bite. Also I have found that having them sipped helps a lot for the icy roads. If you only drive on plowed roads with less than 6 inch doop snow then a good AT will work very well for you. But for deep fresh snow (like plowing) MT's seem to work better here.

 

what exacly is sipping anyway?