Good Tire Size for Winter? 285? 265?

[Pekoe]

I just bought a 97 Silverado X-Cab with 305-70-16 tires which are great, but I'm concerned they may float on snowy roads. Is it worth spending the money to get 285s or 265s? Isee they will only be about 1-2" more narrow.

Thoughts?

[SageCuda]

I run 265/75/R16s on my 90, BFG All-Terrain T/As and I'm very happy with their performance, both offroad (lots of hunting on nasty roads) and on the highway going over the Sierras. If you live in country that sees a good amount of snow, I think it might be worthwhile to swap out your 305s for the winter.

[Sivart]

Flotation is the key in snow. The wider tires will be better if you are driving in deep snow.

[kenny-1907]

I dunno about that floating on the snow stuff. I mean how wide would you have to go , i had 33/12.50's on my 88 full size jimmy and hve never had it float on top of the snow, sink like a big rock ok but not float. I had the splines on the front drive shaft (the slip joint part) strip out on me one time when i was on a trail with about only 3" of snow when this happened.......and i had a hell of a time trying to get back to pavement. With 3" on snow!!!! May as well have had a damn plow on the front of the thing. In my opinion i still say narrower tires are better for driving in snow. If you want good ground clearance i say get 255/85/16. I have that size on my truck (BFG MT'S) and they are 33.3" tall when new and i rarely have to put it in 4wd in the city , unlike my 88. I hope i did not offend anyone , just speaking from my personal expierence. I think i ALL depends on the type of snow too, hardpacked snow i agree, you would want wider. Soft looser snow like we have here in Canada i think the narrower tires are better to get down to the ground and get some grip. I know some people might say ,"but that is fine for a foot or two of snow , but what happens in snow that is deeper ? ?" You shovel , that's what lol. I know what it is like to try and see how far you can make it when it is real deep , but all it usually ends up being is one big shovel fest. Anything more that 2 foot of snow is what they made snomobiles for

[Sivart]

Obviously when you are trying to achieve flotation the wider the better. 6" wide is better than 5" wide.
You ever seen a Alaskan Tundra truck with 44" tall 9" wide tires ? Nope they go as wide as they can fit so they can stay on top of the snow.
I do understand that if you only get 2 to 3 inches of snow tops and you just want to get to the hard ground narrow that is the way to go, but if you get a lot of snow the wider the better.