TJ sucks in the snow—are these tires not meant for the snow?

If I had to drive in the snow very often. I’d get a cheap set of spare rims with studded narrow snow tires on them. Chains do work good but they suck when when the roads keep going from good to bad in a given trip. And if they come off they can damage your vehicle. I used to put studded snow tires on my 89 Nissan 2wd back in the day and I’ve passed many 4wd’s over the hill or in a ditch lol. When ice is involved chains or studs are really the only option 4wd don’t mean nothing when you’re going down a steep hill.
 
TJs suck in the snow, period. Our Subaru Outback runs circles around the TJ. Welcome to the joys of a short wheelbase, an old school 4WD system, and no modern electronics.

You need a good snow tire for the snow such as a Blizzak.
+1 on that. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

All of our vehicles have AWD or 4WD and the TJ requires far more driver inputs than any of the others exactly for the reasons Chris said, especially in slippery conditions. But, after all, that’s what makes the thing fun.
 
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You need a good snow tire for the snow such as a Blizzak.
We're good for 3-6 feet up here in the mountains with icy conditions and highway management departments that are totally clueless about how to keep roads clear. They treat sand like its gold dust and hate mussing up their blade bottoms by actual scraping.

Anyway, we usually use Blizzaks. I swap between those and KO2s on the 4x4 1/2 ton. The 4x4 3/4 ton gets 'fer real studded snow tires, the wife's AWD car usually has Blizzaks, this year we're trying Continentals (but I already don't like them). We had a Toureg that had Hakkalapitas and it was the balls - unstoppable in the snow, but I think that was car not the tires.

I just bought my daughter her second set of Blizzaks for her FWD TDI in Boston and my son, ditto on his FWD TDI up here on the mountain. Bridgestone's been re-iterating that tire from year-to-year and it seems like it improves and keeps up with the competition.

I was going to get Blizzaks for the TJ until I drove it in the snow for the first time. Since I've got three other more capable rigs for inclement weather, I decided to put the $1k I would have spent on tires into the TJ re-gearing fund and live with the KO2s that are on there. KO2s are a surprisingly versatile tire - I think the only true all-season tire I've ever had - and I decided that no tire will stop that rig from spinning like a top if you lose focus.
 
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We're good for 3-6 feet ...

Things are pretty good here. So far we've only had 2 feet. 🤣

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I have been driving around on snowy, icy roads for the last couple of days and I will echo what others have said. The TJ is terrible on slippery roads. I have KO2s with about half tread depth. I also have a 2014 Grand Cherokee and that is pretty darn good. The previous Subaru was by far the best. Unreliable but the best in snow. I grew up in Vermont and have spent more than half my life in the northeast so I know a thing or two about driving in snow.
 
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What I expected was: A "Jeep" / 4X4 / tires with a lot of very big, deep tread / 6 speed, & lot's of ground clearance to be a bad ass beast in the snow / better, much better, then my AWD Benz sedan ...........it certainly looks like it should be better............I guess I expected too much :rolleyes:

You did get a bad ass beast in the snow. You're not going to get that thing stuck (for the most part). You are however going to have to drive it, slide around a little, and feel the wheels spin. Your AWD Benz has very sophisticated traction control system that allows you to "feel" like you have more traction than you actually do. I promiss you that Benz will get buried and strand you far quicker than your Jeep.
 
The Jeep is fun to drive in about all conditions. But with the short wheelbase, it'll spin out of control in a heartbeat.
I also have a 4wd Chevy Avalanche and it's super easy to drive in the snow. The long wheelbase makes it easier to control. To the point that I can drift it pretty easy.
 
So what 15 inch x 33’ inch tires would you recommend for snow and snow in wet pavement ?

General grabber x3? Good or Bad?

BFG K/O?

Anything you can recommend ?

What about a 16?
 
So what 15 inch x 33’ inch tires would you recommend for snow and snow in wet pavement ?

General grabber x3? Good or Bad?

BFG K/O?

Anything you can recommend ?

What about a 16?
I think 33s come in limited flavors for 15” wheels and I’d run BFGs KO2s in that size. We’ve got BFGs on pretty much everything at this point and it’s the best true all-season all-purpose tire that I’ve come across. I think Goodyear upped the ante w Duratracs, but those don’t come in 33s as far as I know and I’ve got no recent experience with Duratracs anyway.

That said, my BFGs are down to 5/32nds and I might retire those from winter service at this point. If I go w 33s, then it’s a new set of BFG KO2s. I might drop to 31s for winter months and try something else - more choices in that size and my dumb OEM gearing set-up prefers the smaller diameters. (3.73 w 42RLE).
 
I think 33s come in limited flavors for 15” wheels and I’d run BFGs KO2s in that size. We’ve got BFGs on pretty much everything at this point and it’s the best true all-season all-purpose tire that I’ve come across. I think Goodyear upped the ante w Duratracs, but those don’t come in 33s as far as I know and I’ve got no recent experience with Duratracs anyway.

That said, my BFGs are down to 5/32nds and I might retire those from winter service at this point. If I go w 33s, then it’s a new set of BFG KO2s. I might drop to 31s for winter months and try something else - more choices in that size and my dumb OEM gearing set-up prefers the smaller diameters. (3.73 w 42RLE).
I had Duratracs on both of my JKs. 33x12.5x15
I recall them being just fine in the snow.