Will they or wont they that is the Question...As mentioned..I have a set of 31x10.50 x15 on it now..I want to get it set-up for winter with a set of M/T baja claw TTC 33x12.50x15 with a set of M/T classic III wheels 10" wide..

If I happen to be in the wrong room ? be my guest to move it..

Thanks, Russ

 

You see much snow and ice in the winter? If so, I would pass on these. Mud terrain style tires don't work great on snow packed roads. I used to run swampers and the original Baja Claw ya know when I was younger and smarter than the people that make tires.. Let me tell ya, on road manners with snow covered roads is far better with my bfg all terrain clones. That's stopping, turning, and highway handling.

 

No you're going the wrong way, if you want best performance on snow covered roads you want a narrow tire with lots of sipes in the traad pattern. search Bridgestone Blizzak. I have a an additional set of plain steel rims with winter tires mounted for the vehicles that see winter use, and these tires are in the stock size or something close, this also saves aluminum wheels from exposure to salt.

 

Save your money and tighten the loose nut between the steering wheel and pedals.

I did a few winters on bald and dry rotted desert dogs. I bought them for the rims they were on and wasn't gonna throw away a tire that held air and wasn't showing steel so I ran them for a little over a year while they wore down The guys at the tire shop got a laugh when they dismounted them and they were too old to have a date code. The handled like **** in every imaginable way. It was no big deal. I just had to drive conservatively. The tires I use now are probably worse but it hasn't snowed yet.

When you drive junk you've gotta be smart. If you're stupid and try to eat a hamburger while driving and updating your snapchat story in a piece of junk it probably will result in worse than a near miss.

Just buy whatever tire you want for the rest of the year and live with its winter performance.

 

Where do you live? I basically deal with 8 months of snow, so I do the opposite. I don't think junk tires are worth the risk. YMMV.

I agree, skinny tires are best. 33x10.5 work well for me. I'd like to try a set of studded snows one of these years.

 

Maine. I rocked various street and mud tires when I lived in Vermont (because I know you or someone else will complain that central Maine is pretty flat). I buy junkyard 235/75/15s or 31x10.5s every year or so. I shred sidewalls too fast to buy anything else.

I've lived in MA, NH, VT and ME. In my experience the "amount of snow tire" you need is more closely related to income than anything else. It's very possible to make do without. If I had to spend the cost of snow tires on some luxury to improve my quality of life I wouldn't buy snow tires. Back when everyone drove RWD barges life still went on when it snowed. Spend your money however you want though.

 

I live in PA so we normally have snow for about 6 months out of the year, and I'm pretty happy with my 265/75/R16 GY Wrangler Duratracs. They handle great in everything from a few inches on the roads to 2ft in the fields. I've had them for six years now and am probably going to get another set before next winter.

I usually do the opposite. My truck sees a lot of time in the snow, so I'd rather have control of my truck in the winter rather than just hope I can stay on the road.

 

As mentioned, narrow tires are almost always better for snow. The best tires I've ever used in the snow were these tiny 27" Hankook Winter i-Pike tires on a Jeep Cherokee. They were siped with a not particularly aggressive tread pattern - but they were unstoppable. They would just go through snow so deep that even friend's with 31" All-Terrains would get stuck in.

The difference in performance int he snow between a real winter tire and an "all-season" or even "all-terrain" tire is amazing.

My advice, save your big-tire setup for the spring/summer/fall, and then go get some cheap steel wheels and put some real winter tires on them. Here's a link to the i-Pike tires if you're interested: i'Pike RW11 | Hankook USA

 

This. IIRC they make a 33x12.50/15 in the Duratrac.

 

Run whatever tire you want. Bald, slicks, mud terrain, wide, narrow, studded snows. There are a million and a half reviews on tires. There's some great advice and terrible advice (or whatever **** was trying to articulate) in this thread. I notice the OP is in Virginia, I really can't imagine a severe winter (I'll concede we all have different ideas of what winter entails) there but then again I know roads in Appalachia can be steep, narrow, and shaded.

Something severe snow rated is what I'll recommend. Skinnier the better and siped for ice. For serious deep snow performance, chain up. Forget the MT tire. If you want MT look, but retain winter performance, Duratrac are well regarded unless you haul real heavy (common complaint with diesels and big gooseneck trailers, sidewall is mushy I'm told).

I run good tires. Everyone with a pickup I know around here runs good tires. Maybe I'm not tough enough for bald tires yet, lmao. There are many reasons to run good tires, and only one reason not to (you're broke).