Summer & winter set vs All Terrain

[avacado11]

My Tacoma's OE Hankook Dynapro H/T are still at 9-10/32nd tread. They absolutely suck in snow and grass but work perfectly the other 3 seasons.

I brought a cheap set of used Nitto Terra Grapplers 7-8/32nd mounted on 17" wheels. OE 245/75/16 and Nitto 265/70/17. Frankly the 265/70 is too big for my 2.7 and makes the truck drive like crap. Snow traction is the only redeeming factor.

I can either sell the Nitto set now when there's still decent tread left, and replace the hankooks with an AT/AP set up.

Are H/T tires even slightly more efficient compared to AT/AP tires? I know it's a truck but I will take whatever. The only time my tires leave pavement is when I'm on a lawn or a service trail. That being said snow traction is a must...also to not get stuck on my lawn. Mastercraft AP tires don't seem to be rated as well as Cooper AT3 in snow/mud. Is it worth the trade off going with AP over AT?

My other option is to just run the nittos til next November and replace them with a dedicated snow tire. Saving my Hankooks for the summer. The only reason I want to even run an H/T is for lower rolling resistance and more efficiency. Noise and ride quality don't really matter to me.

 

[Snagglefoot]

For me, I don’t mind doing seasonal changes and I have room to store tires. That being, I prefer to have dedicated snow tires because good performance in snow requires a deep tread depth. I like to preserve that depth and feel its wasteful to put on thread wear in the summer , then use them in the winter. The other thing is that a good winter tire will have a softer rubber compound to handle ice better. Using the softer compound in the summer just invites more thread wear.

There are manufacturers that claim they beat the soft compound wear issues but I really wonder. If you have doubts you could buy a durometer and check the rubber hardness yourself.

 

[dadto2]

Wait until the fall, then give the Nokian Rotiiva AT a serious look as a year-round tire. I have these on my RWD Sierra and I love them. They are all weather, so they have the snowflake symbol for winter, but are used all year. I had the same problem with the factory Bridgestone H/T tires, got stuck in the wet grass twice and didn't even try them in the snow. No trouble at all since I got the Nokians mounted.

Nokian Rotiiva 245/75R16

 

[Astro14]

If you want tires that are good in winter, then buy winter tires!

All seasons suck in snow compared with winter tires, some suck less, and some, like your DynaPro, suck more, but they all suck.

Try something like these: https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/blizzak-dm-v2/

 

[supton]

Didn't know grass was a season.

How many miles a year do you drive? Tires do age out, and I'm guessing that, if you are under 10k/year, you might be sad if you had to replace tires on basis of age--and two sets at that. But above a certain miles/year the cost isn't so bad to have two sets, as the price/mile is similar and they aren't aging out. For example, if you get 50k out of a set of tires, and drive 25k/year, then (roughly speaking) you would do 12.5k on a/s, then 12.5k on snow, and after 4 years you need 2 sets of tires--annoying but if you only ran a/s then you would be buying a set every 2 years. Same price over the long run (roughly).

I'd vote for snow but the tires for the other seasons should have "good" snow rating too. Reason being, if you need to have a tire shop swap them, they tend to get swamped at first snow and/or there's always the chance of getting caught with the wrong set on. Rims are kinda pricey and heavy, so to save a bit of coin you might just have a shop mount the tires each spring/fall, assuming you have space to store (although I recall hearing about some places storing tires for you). But if you can do your own rotations then dedicated rims is the way to go.

I had a set of Nokian WR's years ago and did not like. Big compromise on snow traction (compared to full out snow tires) and big compromise on tire life (compared to a/s). I drove lots of miles per year and it would not have been out of the question to just buy a new set every fall, but I didn't like the compromised traction. I do believe they have come quite a ways since then though.

 

[edyvw]

If you want tires that are good in winter, then buy winter tires!

All seasons suck in snow compared with winter tires, some suck less, and some, like your DynaPro, suck more, but they all suck.

Try something like these: https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/blizzak-dm-v2/

I had them on X5. Xi2 are much, much better choice. They are so sketchy on ice that it can be scary.

 

[totegoat]

The cheapest and easiest traction aid for pickups is weight in the bed. 300 pounds would be a good start.

 

[edyvw]

The cheapest and easiest traction aid for pickups is weight in the bed. 300 pounds would be a good start.

What about stopping?

 

[krzyss]

That helps the other way ;-)

Krzyś

 

[edyvw]

That helps the other way ;-)

Krzyś

LOL, true.

 

[4WD]

A transfer case and front differential is how to add weight

 

[totegoat]

A transfer case and front differential is how to add weight

Figured that out 50 some years ago

 

[avacado11]

How many miles a year do you drive? Tires do age out, and I'm guessing that, if you are under 10k/year, you might be sad if you had to replace tires on basis of age--and two sets at that. But above a certain miles/year the cost isn't so bad to have two sets, as the price/mile is similar and they aren't aging out. For example, if you get 50k out of a set of tires, and drive 25k/year, then (roughly speaking) you would do 12.5k on a/s, then 12.5k on snow, and after 4 years you need 2 sets of tires--annoying but if you only ran a/s then you would be buying a set every 2 years. Same price over the long run (roughly).

I'd vote for snow but the tires for the other seasons should have "good" snow rating too. Reason being, if you need to have a tire shop swap them, they tend to get swamped at first snow and/or there's always the chance of getting caught with the wrong set on. Rims are kinda pricey and heavy, so to save a bit of coin you might just have a shop mount the tires each spring/fall, assuming you have space to store (although I recall hearing about some places storing tires for you). But if you can do your own rotations then dedicated rims is the way to go.

I've been averaging 13k a year lately. I have nothing against owning 2 sets with one being a dedicated winter set up. My set up right now is H/T and A/T. But at the end of the day money & time could be saved by just having 1 set of good tires.

Ideally I will use my second set as a dedicated winter tire. Issue then is trying to decide what to run for the summer once the Hankooks wear out. If I can squeeze 1-1.5 mpg with a LRR H/T tire this would put me at 20+ MPG which is nice. Im currently averaging 14.5mpg with bigger than stock 265/70.

I haven't ran matching size H/T and A/T on this truck yet, or any vehicle for the matter, to see any MPG drop for myself. I assume AP tires would be like Nokian all weather tires, instead even less snow traction but slightly longer tread wear.

On a side note, I'll probably get bored in the near future and find an excuse to buy another car for when I'm not hauling so the mileage driven will drop by alot.