Well my Kuhmo MT's are getting near depletion and not to good on slippery roads anyhow. I still have the factory rims in addition and was thinking about putting a dedicated set of winter tires on the factory rims and later replacing the mudders with some new mudders. For max winter performance the idea is to go smaller right? What would be an ideal size? 235/85r16 gives me skinny tires but still good hieght. Any opinions? I hate going to suck a skinny tire after driving 285's for years but maybe a slight bump in fuel mileage might also come with.

I have done extensive searching about tire opinions, and have narrowed my top two choices to Bridgestone Blizzak and Cooper Discoverer M+S, and in 3rd Firestone Winterforce.

Cooper Discoverer M+S are in stock at my local place I normally go, according to thier website, for a seemingly super value but the size/rating doesnt correspond to any given tire on cooper's website so something is incorrect.

 

I am running 235/85/16 dedicated winter tires (Canadian Tire brand Motomaster WT - made by Goodyear I think) on my truck and just completed a wintery vacation trip through the mountains. They worked very well, much better than my last 4x4 with a/t's. For winter traction, skinny is better, it concentrates the weight instead of dispersing it.

 

Went to 235's on our '08 and will never go that skinny again. The stock 265's work just fine for snow and no snow. Skinny is only better in really deep wet snow, not very many places get feet after feet of that.

 

My truck had 265/75/16's on it when I got it and have continued to run that size for the last 9 years. I have had no issues with that size during the winter on unplowed roads. I did run a couple of sets of Cooper Discoverer AT's and they went very well in the snow. I know that the M+S have a very agressive tread and they should work fine for you. Good luck.

 

Deep snow isnt much of a problem here, I don't think I've ever seen any more than 4" on the roads at any one time. Well except for drifts or when folks push thier snow across the road and leave a nice trail across the lanes. Biggest problem is slushy stuff, especially since most roads don't get plowed, just driven on a lot, and the temp bounces around the freezing point. In the city its mainly slush, but I have a long drive home and by half way home and far outside the city it turns from slush to frozen, and the country roads nearer home are often covered in snow that gets compacted down.

Galaxy you said you would never go that skinny again. Was it just for looks or what? I know a lot of trucks that came stock with that size so its not like its far out of the realm of normal sizes. Even my F350 only has 245's on it from the factory. I'll take any little bit of advantage I can get, I just dont want to go too much smaller hieght wise since I do sometimes take it on the farms and in the woods to go after firewood, and deer hunting, etc. I always wanted to try the 255/85's but they don't seem to make tires in that size anymore. So either have to step down to 75 ratio tires or down to 235 width.

 

235's drove like the truck was on skates compared to 265's which were far more stable, also far worse on ice with that much less contact.

 

Gotcha, so its not just skinnier is better, there is a balance to be struck. Maybe around 265 width would be a sweet spot then.

 

The 235/85's I put on my truck were Tires I bought for my last truck, a 4x4 super duty. 235/85/16 was the stock size for that truck.

I will be installing 265's on my f150 for the non-winter months, but I have found better traction and control with narrower tires in winter weather.

My $0.02

 

my 2001 came with 265 and i have stayed with that. I ise an RT tread instead of the AT. NOt much noise and it will go anywhere.

 

i that tire(235-85-16) is a D load which are 8-10 ply...going to a small tire will be a C load so the sidewall will be softer and will be no better and will drive worse on dry-wet raods... you need a tire(blizzack) for winter driving only in which when spring comes or warm weather they will not handle or wear well...

 

Vfast I'm not sure I follow you. I will be sticking with D rated tires at least, I do often haul a bit of weight in the truck. Every tire size I have looked at is D or E rated. For example both the Firestone Winterforce and Bridgestone Blizzaks even down to 215/85/16 are E rated.

 

Cooper M+S are great, Mtn. Snow flake rated. I run 285/70 17 ProComp AT's on my 98' F150 with extra set of factory alloys, they are fantastic on frozen lakes/ice and deep snow town and hwy. Mtn. Snow flake rated also.

 

blizzaks are great just remember they are a winter only tire. run them on hot dry pavement and they will be bald in short order.