Florida boy here, but I'm moving to Alaska this summer. I guess I need new tires for my new location. I have NO experence driving on ice, so take my question with a grain of salt.
What tire would be better over all in mud, snow and ice? All terrian or mud terrian.
I'll only put 3000 miles a year on the truck but it's Alaska.
Thanks

 

I'm by no means an expert but in my experience AT's are junk. Mud tires get through mud real well and snow real well. Ice is a pain no matter what, tires that get good ice traction have little cuts in the tread called sipes to give you a better contact surface.
I had mud tires on my truck and never got stuck and went in places I should have gotten stuck. I put on a set of AT and got stuck in my yard with 2in of snow. The difference in ice traction between the AT's and MT's was insignificant. I will always have MT's on my truck. Doesn't matter to me if they are a well know tire or not, the worst tire I ever owned was the BFG AT's had on my truck for a month.

I live in NW Iowa so I do get snow and ice around here but nothing like Alaska I'm sure.

 

Years ago I had a set of Bigfoot XT's on an 83 F-150 that were pinned for studs. I lived in Reno at the time and since the amount of snow or ice we used to get was so small, I never had the studs installed. I would think that a set of studded all terrain snow tires for the winters up there would be great. But anywhoo, the XT's were all terrain ,(I think), but they were kind of loud. If you want a quiet riding tire, DO NOT get any mud terrain tires like the Super Swamper, Thornbirds etc. The sound will drive you up a wall with those big tread lugs slapping the pavement.

I've always been happy with a good all terrain tire like BF Goodrich or Yokohama's. I agree that in some situations, the mud terrain tires are great, but if you're only going to be putting 3000 miles or less on your truck, just go with the all terrains.

 

ive had good luck with Cooper Discover HT's on my 86 and 96 f150s. quiet on the highway, keep em aired up and they cut through snow and slush just fine.

when i was driving my 82 f100 i had a set of oversized Goodyear Wranglers on the back, 31 X 10.5, i also kept 440 pounds worth of sandbags in the bed. the truck plowed through everthing i ran into. there were times when i should of just not been on the road, but the truck always got me back fine.

i also live in iowa, when it snows it snows. nothing like alaska i'm sure, but still bad enough. i think the best thing you could do is invest in a good set of tires, some tire chains, a little bit of sand and salt, and a good shovel.

maybe on the way to alaska stop in montana or idaho and do some donuts. get a feel for what the truck is like in the snow, as you make your futher north the snow will get a deeper stop and do more donuts in a parking lot.

by the way always keep in the back of mind, NO ABS. dont be afraid to pump to brake pedal, sometimes its the onlyway. you'll remember this the first time you hit the brakes and you just keep going. for a novice winter driver the first thing most do is put the pedal to floor, sometimes it dont work.

the best thing to is give yourself plenty of time, drive slow, abd get a good feel of what your truck is like in the winter. dont over do it and you'll be fine, goodluck.

 

I personally love my BF goodrich ATs. They were relatively cheap good for mud snow water, pretty much anything that i have been able to throw at them they have been able to handle.

 

I was leaning towards the mud terrain because there is supposed to be a great fishing hole down a 15 mile trail. It's rated as an off-road trail, and I figured what the heck.
I've never had mud tires or winter conditions and was wondering if those two things were like oil and water. I dont really mind the noise cause I've had the windows down for so long now(Florida).

 

We have over two feet of snow right now and my truck is two wheel drive and I dont have any problem at all.

 

get your salf a good set of soft rubber snowtire 4 winter and a set m/t 4 the other seasons !
I live in ontario Canada

 

get your salf a good set of soft rubber snowtire 4 winter and a set m/t 4 the other seasons !
I live in ontario Canada

 

Hi I too live in Iowa 2 weeks ago 40% now its like 30% below and lots of snow
on my 84 I have goodyear wrangler at's and I was stuck in my flat driveway
I had to put my mud tires back on
at's are good for water and not so bad wheather
mud tire have a hudge syphon to releave the mud snow water
at's have a small syphon and cant get the snow out of the tread so the tire has no footprint
practice make perfect my wife has not driven ion the snow and I took her to a lot to drive so she can get the feel of winter, its differnt stoping turning, she found this out quick she tried to turn at the stop sighn by our home and just went straight
I agree with jimbo get as much pratice as posible on the way
snow can also be really fun to just play around
good luck
john

 

Seeing as you're getting there in summer you can research it all when you get there and talk to the townfolk and tire dealers.With ice (black ice especially) a soft sticky type is best so, if you can afford 2 sets— go for it. Probably not worth it for 3000 miles a year. Traction is key (weight over rear wheels and tire choice) and learning to brake effectively. Studded tires are great but not approved everywhere and you can't run them in summer anyway so you're on for another set. In a nutshell, "when in Rome..."

 

I agree with ryan and emgee if you can get two different sets.

 

My family has various opinions on tires but this is what I have learned. BFG AT's are a good all around tire, a little loud and thread life is about average. Open lug (mud style) tires are excellent in mud/snow and if you stud them they work pretty good on ice. But by far the best tires I have seen on snow are Yokohama Geolander I/T's they are extremely soft and have tonnes of sipes. My tires are two seasons old and have never had such good traction we had really bad snow this year and I was passing tons of other stuck 4x4's.

 

Also, www.tirerack.com has tire reviews maybe take a browse through them and see if you can get help there. Not to mention you may find a suitable tire you didn't know existed.