Looking for a new set of winter / snow tires. They’ll be on a truck that is used primarily in the winter (Northern Ontario - deep snow, froze snow pack, ice, slush) and occasional trails/bush roads in the fall, not much summer use. It’s a winter beater now, I don’t want to buy two sets of summer and winter tires for this truck anymore.

I’ve run Cooper M+S, ATw, and Hercules Avalanche Xtreme in the past, but they are all discontinued. They were decent compounds/tread for winter and good enough for summer off road time to time. They did the job. They had good siping and a block tread pattern.

I found the all terrains / mud tires I’ve tired in the past (last time was about 10+ yrs ago) to hard of compounds to run in the winter here, get too slick, not great on slippery roads, or deep snow. The above mentioned were a good compromise. Are AT (such as AT3) the only option now? Normally use a set of AT in summer and dedicated snow tires in the winter.

Temps down to -40.
10 ply / E rated.

I recently put a set of Toyo M55 on another truck, but haven’t tried them in winter yet. Thinking of another set of those, maybe studded to try on this truck.

Any suggestions?


Edit: Decided to give a set of AT a try year round again. The M55 are on back order, with no eta, so I ordered a set of Toyo AT3. They were recommended as a decent all year round tire by a local shop, they are what he uses year round on his personal trucks. I’ll try to remember to come back and update this thread in a year. (I’d also consider the Toyo Open Country C/T)

December 2022.
EDIT #2. Toyo AT3 are pretty good in the snow so far, even on ice not bad. Not a true snow tire, but really can’t complain.

January 2023.
Edit. No complaints at all. I’m actually surprised how well these are in snow and on ice, and in cold weather. I’d buy them again.

Aug 2023.
Edit. No complaints. Working very well. Just bought another set of AT3 for my ‘06 F250, plan using them year round. The other truck I have the AT3 on is now a plow truck. Just used my ‘06 to pull a 5,500# truck up a slick, grassy / muddy hill, no issues.

Sept 2024.
Still no complaints. 14k miles with them on the ‘06 SD. No issues. Ran a few bush roads with them this summer, gravel, rocks, sand, mud - they didn’t seem to pick up / throw too many rocks. Bush roads always have sharp rock on them, no cuts or chunking that I’ve seen. Highway, city, back roads. They’re wearing well, just about to rotate them again - Rotated once at 7,000 miles, this will be the second time. They did lots of highway miles last year with the truck loaded, moving a shop last winter, and some pulling.

Sept 2025.
About 5k miles more on the ‘96 250 and Yukon, and 10k ish on the ‘06 250. The ‘96 stayed parked last winer.
Lots of hauling and towing in the ‘06, year round and some in the ‘96. Lots of trials and plowing in the Yukon.
One real miserable snow storm for 12 hrs, towing about 6k in the ‘06. No issues. They worked very well.
No complaints.

 

It’s been over a year since I tried the Toyo AT3, thought I’d update..

Running them on two trucks now. One set all last winter, and one since this past July. Just plowed with them this morning, and run them on a 2006 F250 since July, about 5k miles and no noticeable wear on them. Not noisy either.

No issues. Work great in the snow and cold. AT tires have come along way in the past 25 yrs.

I don’t think I’ll bother with dedicated snow tires anymore, on trucks anyway. I’ll just run these year round.

Pics.









I questioned whether they would work well plowing, but I couldn’t tell the difference.




EDIT. SEPT 2024

Just to add to this thread. I’ve also been running Toyo M55 on my ‘96. Those tires work really well too year round, they are a little rougher and slightly noisier than the AT3. But, that’s comparing them on a ‘96 250 to an ‘06 250. No issues with either one though.

 

Thought I’d do a quick update, two years into my tire experiment, just getting the trucks ready for another winter. Last winter was a very light and mild winter, we’ll see what this year brings.


The Toyo are working well, still no issues to report with them.

2006 F250, Toyo AT3. I have 15k miles on them, wearing very well, no noticeable tread wear yet. Rotated for the second time the other day.

1996 F250, Toyo M55, not as many miles on them, wearing well. I had to have two tires re balanced. Other than that no issues.

1997 GMC Yukon, Toyo AT3. again not many miles, probably around 3-4K miles on them, but wearing well, sits around a lot. It just sat for 8 months straight. No issues, got it going, runs down the highway nice and smooth.

 

Thanks for the review of these tires and the updates to the thread over time. I am in need of a new set of tires for my truck and I am looking pretty hard at the Toyo A/T III as a good year-round option.

 

Been plowing through a lot of snow the past while. Toyos are doing great, no complaints at all.

I was in a local shop today (different shop from where I got my tires) and got a look at the new BFG KO3’s. They look like another good option too, the shop owner said he’s been installing these, and the toyos. No complaints from anyone in the snow with them.

BFG KO3. They changed the tread pattern.





Toyo’s.

 

I've been running the Toyo ATIII myself for 3 years now. 305/70/17. I'm very happy with them, work well in NE Michigan winters. But, I have Falken A/T3W's on my Jeep, and '04 RWD Ranger. It seems the Falkens may be just a little better. I have a set of Falken A/T4W's in 285/75/17 coming, that I'm swapping with the Toyo's on my F150.
Toyo is a good tire, so is Falken, anxious to see how the two compare.

 

I’ve heard people like the Falken as well, I’ll be interested to hear what you think of them if you swap them out (Edit: …compared to the Toyo). Are the toyo worn out, not happy with them, or just trying something different?

I was running a set of Nokian LT3 studded on my Jeep. Great tires in the snow, and on ice with the studs. Sold the Jeep, kept the tires, lol. Thinking of getting another one.

 

I'm one of those guys that can't leave a truck alone. The Toyo's I have only have maybe 10K miles on them, I can not say anything bad about them. What happened, I decided to go back to Raptor wheels, bought a set, and almost just swapped the tires over. Then, I figured I might have better luck selling the Toyo's with the aftermarket wheels they are on. That presented a good opportunity to go to the A/T4W Falken.
When I originally bought the Toyo's, it was because I couldn't get the size I wanted in the Falkens.
My Ranger, a RWD LSD, with the A/T3W's performs great in the snow, figured if those were that good on the little Ranger, the A/T4W oughta be fantastic on the 150.
Still waiting on them to show up, seems any tire I'm interested in, is somewhat hard to get.

That's a mighty fine looking OBS you have.

 

I can relate, on both counts, lol. Either that, or they cost double what everything else does..

And thank you, it’s a labour of love that truck. Doesn’t see winter anymore, not on the road in the salt anyway. Little light plowing on the property now and then, and that’s it. It’ll probably be parked all winter this year.

On another note…
Snapped a few pics today going to town. This is what the Toyos are running on the highway. Still no complaints.

 

That is crazy! Seems impossible to drive in those conditions. Good thing it was 70 F here in Corpus Christi today. Some rain, but no snow.

 

I don't know what came on my 24 DRW F350, but we had our first snow last week and the truck did very well in it, only slid a little bit coming to a stop when braking too hard. I was getting annoyed being behind a goup of tailgaters constantly on the brakes, so went around them and there wasn't a hit of slickness in the traction. Quite pleased considering they are OEM all seasons. I have Coopers on the Focus and Flex, and no complaints on either of them. Cooper makes some pretty good tires.

 

Ok, I’m going to call the Toyo AT3 experiment a win. No problem in the snow or cold. These are every bit as good as a snow tire.

About 5k miles more on the ‘96 250 and Yukon, and 10k ish on the ‘06 250. The ‘96 stayed parked last winer.

(EDIT: Almost 20k miles on the 2006 250 Toyo AT3 total.)

Lots of hauling and towing in the ‘06. Lots of trails and plowing in the Yukon. No issues.

We had so much snow here last winter, it just didn’t stop. Started snowing in Nov, and didn’t stop until April. It was a good snowy winter test for them.

Spent the night driving in one real miserable snow storm for about 12 hrs in December, towing about 6k in the ‘06. No issues. They worked very well. I was in 4x4 for lots of it, it just got too deep in some areas. Normally the drive would take 6 hrs.

No complaints with these tires. Question is now, how long will they last. So far, no noticeable wear. I’ll measure them next summer.














Snow banks make life interesting pulling out onto the highway.. good tires makes all the difference.

 

Thanks for the write-up!

Nice F-250! Nice Yukon, too!

 

I was debating the Toyo AT3's... when I found out Cooper discontinued their AT3. I was lucky to score one of the last sets in the city... so I still have Coopers at the moment, but when I wear these out, I'll have to look, again, at the Toyos.

 

I've had great luck with Toyos!

I used to exclusively use Remington a vary long time ago, but when they disappeared I was stuck out in the cold (metaphorically). After trying several brands over several years and cars, I finally tried Toyo on my motorhome . . . and then one(set)-by-one(set) on other stuff. They have been nothing short of excellent!