I didn’t know where else to post but figured this would be a good place to ask. I have a work truck with narrow tires (235) and it does very well in the snow. The vehicle I purchased as a personal has 265s on it. The only way I can go narrower is to find some take off 17” wheels as 17s allow me to get that narrow. I can’t find an 18” that narrow in an LT tire. Would the swap of wheels be worth it for the snow performance? Or stay where I’m at? I need new tires before winter, so I don’t have the ability to compare these to the other truck. If anyone has experience in the difference between the two let me know! Thanks!
Tire size for snow
- Thread starter Tbs
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If you're dealing with snow on roads and sometimes plowed , the 235 width works fantastic on a TJ . The 265 will work , but not as well.
Off road in playing deep snow , Bigger is always better.
I have commuted in the Rockies for almost 50 years , and I have seen a Baja Bug drive in 1 foot of snow on a road that a CJ-5 with 33X12.50 - 15 would move forward 10 feet and slide off the road over and over. He finally had to park the Jeep . These were in real mountain conditions during a snow storm.
Playing in the snow offroad is super fun , as long as you can get there.
I'm also in Colorado and have been driving in the snow here over the last 30+ years as an avid skier. Our snow is drier looser than many other places, though similar to MN and WI snow in my experience. I have traveled alot for work, so I get to experience it. Ice exists here, but it's not as prominent a feature.
Tire technology with snow has changed alot over the years so some old rules have changed too. Modern snow tires are designed to get snow to stick to them because snow sticks to snow. Siping and some other compound, tread and sub tread tech helps this too. More carbon or silica in the rubber helps to reduce the glass transition temp keeping the tire soft and sticky. Sounds weird, but it all improves snow traction. Except, road traction is better than snow traction and since our snow trends powdery I can get down to pavement. In my experience a narrower tire tends to cut down to pavement a bit better on thinner snow coverage here and it sounds like you've experienced that too. The pressure applied on the ground is the same, but it's in a more linear path, helping it cut down. However in deep offroad snow, the script flips. Super low pressure and a wider bodied tire will generally float on and paddle through the snow a bit better.
This will probably sound a bit weird here but my snow car is an older manual 911 4S. Unless the snow is very deep, it's alot better than my TJ Rubicon has ever been on snow. Not the best snow car I've ever had, but good and lots of fun. I have winter and summer wheelsets for it and when I got winter wheels I intentionally went for a narrower rear wheel. The fronts are 235s either way. My summer rear tires are 305, my winters are either 265 or 275 depending on what I can find and I use an 18x10 rear wheel in winter. That car would overpower a narrower wheel on dry pavement and I can easily break the 265 winter tires loose. The mrs drives a Volvo wagon on 255 width tires and it's the best of our current cars on snow and ice - helped alot by the directional stability it's length provides. Which is just another part of the equation. Your truck may track better than your other car due to wheelbase.
If this is a TJ we're talking about here, 15s and 16s should be easy to find. If it's something else that normally comes in an 18" wheel - I tend to like a bit more sidewall to soak up the potholes on our roads in winter and spring and that's another reason to consider picking up some 17s to run some appropriate 235 tires.
Tire technology with snow has changed alot over the years so some old rules have changed too. Modern snow tires are designed to get snow to stick to them because snow sticks to snow. Siping and some other compound, tread and sub tread tech helps this too. More carbon or silica in the rubber helps to reduce the glass transition temp keeping the tire soft and sticky. Sounds weird, but it all improves snow traction. Except, road traction is better than snow traction and since our snow trends powdery I can get down to pavement. In my experience a narrower tire tends to cut down to pavement a bit better on thinner snow coverage here and it sounds like you've experienced that too. The pressure applied on the ground is the same, but it's in a more linear path, helping it cut down. However in deep offroad snow, the script flips. Super low pressure and a wider bodied tire will generally float on and paddle through the snow a bit better.
This will probably sound a bit weird here but my snow car is an older manual 911 4S. Unless the snow is very deep, it's alot better than my TJ Rubicon has ever been on snow. Not the best snow car I've ever had, but good and lots of fun. I have winter and summer wheelsets for it and when I got winter wheels I intentionally went for a narrower rear wheel. The fronts are 235s either way. My summer rear tires are 305, my winters are either 265 or 275 depending on what I can find and I use an 18x10 rear wheel in winter. That car would overpower a narrower wheel on dry pavement and I can easily break the 265 winter tires loose. The mrs drives a Volvo wagon on 255 width tires and it's the best of our current cars on snow and ice - helped alot by the directional stability it's length provides. Which is just another part of the equation. Your truck may track better than your other car due to wheelbase.
If this is a TJ we're talking about here, 15s and 16s should be easy to find. If it's something else that normally comes in an 18" wheel - I tend to like a bit more sidewall to soak up the potholes on our roads in winter and spring and that's another reason to consider picking up some 17s to run some appropriate 235 tires.
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I've heard that about the Western states. Our snow here is the exact opposite, we get heavy, wet snow that packs hard, so hard in fact that I've seen people injured by snowballs. Oh, and plenty of ice. Here, I think tire type/tread design plays a much bigger role than width.
Definitely my experience in the eastern US too. If I lived in like New Hampshire or upstate New York I'd run a dedicated snow and ice optimized tire and would probably go with the stock width tire and studded. Studded is still the way to go on ice even though studless tires have improved massively.
Wow, first of all thanks for all the quick responses. Although I love jeeps, I don’t have one right now as the budget doesn’t allow it (I have to have a truck for my business). What I’m driving is a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500. So it’s got some weight to it. The stock tires are 265/70/18. Was hoping to go narrower but that’s where the switch to 17s would be necessary.
Here, little 195 all-seasons will move cars until they lose ground clearance. My 12.5" wide tires on my truck and Jeep will also go until I lose clearance. For typical snow conditions here, when it does snow, I think width is the least of concerns.
Our sand or mud is very much width dependent, you either want to dig to the bottom or ride on the top, no in-between.
Unless you need dedicated snow/winter tires, just buy a good tire in the stock size.
I would tend to agree about going all seasons unless you want to switch back and forth. Narrower may still be better for MN snow. There are now some all-season tires that do get 3 peak snow rating but don't have the warm weather issues of traditional snow tires. Dedicated snow tires get squirmy above 65 degrees F. Michelin Crossclimate 2 or 3 is a great passenger car example which we run on our Volvo, but I don't know the LT equivalent. It has been excellent in the snow, on par with dedicated snow tires. I think it's this tire which is available in a 235 or 245 width in 17" Load Range E suitable for a 2500 truck.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=38R7ACC&tab=Sizes
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=38R7ACC&tab=Sizes
Also Alaska for 3 winters, studded toyos g3 ice did well on the f150 for 3 seasons, blizzaks on the wife’s Highlander was like glue on snow. Changed out seasonally
My jeeps don’t see snow.
My F350 does so that’s about the same size vehicle. I put on a set of Baja Boss AT’s last year. 305/70/18’s and am very happy with them. Drove through a blizzard in the UP/Wisconsin last winter as a good test. I had traction going up hills that other vehicles were literally sliding backwards on.
The stock tires were Duratracs in 285/75/18.
Both sets were 3 peak snow rated but I think the Bosses are much better in snow and ice. Plus they look better and all my 4x4 vehicles run Baja Bosses, although the truck has the smallest and narrowest size.
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