climate tires

[lingus]

Since I live in canada, and we get alot of snow (dont live in igloos as most think) I need a tire that will not leave me spinnin' in the local parkin' lot. I have heard that the thornbirds perform quite well in this climate. I also love the look. I dont think i will do extensive offroading until I can afford a sus. lift. Here they are $3000 for 3" Calmini. I just want them for minor offroading and giving the 01 X a mean side. Which size would be best 30 x 11.5 or 31 x 11.0. Anyone have experience with these?? Out here people are running them with no complaints but on this board everyone hates them. Pics anyone???????

[Schludwiller]

If you drive in snow, you don't want a Mud Terrain. Really, a set of Blizzaks will be the best for you, but if you offroad a bit, I would consider the Pirelli Scorpion AT in a 31x10.5 tire. I used those in the winter in BC and they were great, plus they're a good choice for someone who spends more time on the road and offroads a bit.

If you're interested in a "mean" ride, you have to realize you're giving up traction in snow. It's tough to look all badass when your truck is in a ditch because you couldn't keep it on the road.

As a compromise, maybe look at the Truxus by Interco. They perform very well in snow offroading and have a decent amount of siping to help you on the road. If you're truly set on getting MT's, maybe look at the Super Swamper SSR, as it has siping in the center and can give you some traction.

You can't really get anything wider than a 10.5" tire unless you go to 32's and then you probably need to do some lifting.

I really would stay away from the Thornbirds.

[lingus]

thanks for the great info. I just might take your advice. Do the thornbirds have terriblr traction on snow/ice as compared to the SSR. What about in comparison to the stock general grabber which kept me on the road but are sh!t.

[Schludwiller]

Thornbirds are really for show. Personally I don't know why Interco carries them, but oh well. Bascally they're slick in the middle, and spin before the outside lugs can do anything. A SSR is better, but you're really sacrificing snow traction for looks (in your case). I guess you have to decide which is more important, traction or visual toughness.

[lingus]

So basically when it comes down to it will the thornbirds be worse on road than the grabbers? Sure they will wear but will they just spin or will they move me. I didn't have any problems with the grabbers but hell, they look like car tires. I wont have problems satying on the road will I???
Thanks guys from an amatuer

[xterra2k]

The Thornturds are very wide tread in the middle. They suck on wet pavement.
Offroad, the center tread is not self cleaning and you WILL spin until you have dug down enough for the outside lugs to dig in. The outside lugs rocks but they are only good once you have dug in.
I have the TruXus and they are much better on wet pavement but like a lot of Interco not the best commuter tire.

[ozxterra]

If you want sweet snow and ice traction while still being able to wheel I would highly recommend buying some 31' s of the BFGoodrich AT/KO's


Sipe them and they will rock!

I have never run better tires on snow and ice that can still go offroad well.

Thornbirds and any other MT suck in the snow and rain even if siped. An AT will be much better. I have found my Goodyear MT/R's have handled quite well though even for an MT. They are pricey though.

[Schludwiller]

Originally posted by ozxterra
If you want sweet snow and ice traction while still being able to wheel I would highly recommend buying some 31' s of the BFGoodrich AT/KO's
Sipe them and they will rock!

Why would you sipe a BFG/AT?

[ozxterra]

I wondered that until I did it. It made Ice traction awesome....

[Schludwiller]

Just curious since the AT has lots of siping built into the tire mold.

[ozxterra]

Yessir it does, this adds more. :frog:

[OffroadX]

Did you sipe them yourself or have it done? From what I've read a DIY job isn't too tedious, but I don't think I would be very tempted. A siping/grooving iron costs about the same as getting 4 tires siped so cost isn't an issue.

I had a new GDCXC guy ask the other day if there was a place in the greater DC area to have tires siped, so I asked another well-established local 'wheeling group on their board. The consensus was that when they looked into it a while back there are no places within 4 hours of here that do it, much less even knew what it was. Nearest place appears to be the Discount Tire chain's shops in North Carolina. They even had people calling the siping equipment manufacturers to try and track a place down through a distributor and came up empty.

Brent

[ozxterra]

Pretty much all the tire joints in WA will do siping in 15 minutes and it costs a couple of bucks per tire. It is actually offered when you buy tires here.

Seattleites are obsessed with this stuff though. Seattle gets aboot three snowflakes a year but most of the population is convinced they need to run on studded tires for six months of the year for better traction.
You sure need better traction from all the studded tires tearing the heck out of the road.... Its sure interesting on a motorcycle!


For some odd reason siping has actually been proven to improve tire wear on a lot of models...

[Schludwiller]

Yeah, what he said. Siping is offered just about any place you buy tires here in the NW. I saw one jeep who had Boggers with deep siping done longitudinally. Those tires looked like they could climb a tree.