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Snow Tires... Wide or Narrow??

4

4WDlifeform

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Beaver Falls, PA
Hey all... There has been recent debate on what a good snow tire should be... Do you want wide to stay on top of the snow? or narrow to cut through it??

Our XJ's are light for an SUV... I used to have an explorer that was literally TWICE the weight of my new stock XJ! Went wheelin not too long ago in a friends XJ with Mastercraft Courser MTs 33x12.5. (I used the same on my explorer). Needless to say, we got stuck on basically flat ground, with some bumps. So, decided, lets reduce pressure, and "widen" the tires. Didnt seem to help any... Is this a bad thing to do for snow?? there was about 3-4 inches on the ground... powdery stuff...

I dont know if its the light weight of the XJ that made it so bad, or the tires. The tires are great tred... 3/4 still remaining, so that is out. When I had the 3 ton explorer, it did fine with those tires. Infact, seemed to do great.

What are your opinions? Any good experience? Tips for snow wheelin? Thanks guys!
 
mt's are no bueno in the snow imo, they dig down too much. lowering pressure is a good idea, the idea is to float on top of the snow. did he even use 4wd to get out of the 3-4" ? i have a set of 33 x10.50's but i havent had a snow expierence with them yet.

tips for snow, loss of traction = a bad thing so never try and get excess wheel spin. never lock up the brakes cause you will lose steering too. drive in the snow like you would the mud. never wheel alone. carry chains for better traction. come prepared with winch or come along or at least a tow strap!
 
i think tire width depends on snow depth. if the snow isnt deep skinny tires are better, if its deep, wide tires are better. i had 235/75/15's and i pulled this guy out with 33x12.50's in pretty shallow snow 6-8" tops, but same area different time, this truck on 35 12.50's walked all over my jeep in deeper snow.
 
imho skinny is the way to go in the snow or mud. just look at the specs of the "old" jeeps (i.e. what the military used before the "humvee" came along).
i'm running 235/75/15's at the moment, unfortunately they almost bald.

this is what happened in my front yard at a slight grade!





when we lived in pennsylvania we never had to use chains or anything (but i did carry a tow-strap, just in case).
moved down to tennessee (to get away from the snow & cold) & i get stuck in the snow! go figure! lmao
 
You would only want wide tires for driving in snow that is soo deep, that if you were to reach the bottom, you would be stuck.

Otherwise, you need skinny tires to sink in to the pavement or mud or gravel you are driving on.
 
I use skinny tires. The only time you would want to float would be when the snow is more then 2-3 feet. I like a good all terrain tire with plenty of siping and a block style tread pattern. When the snow is slushy do not cause the tires to spin. It causes ice and you get no traction.

I also drive in snow in a full size van along the Lake Superior shore line. Lake effect snow that I've seen 12-18" of snow on the main roads with this vehicle with no issues. Weight does have some to do with traction also. I keep 600lbs bolted down in the back of the van and 200 lbs in the back of the Jeep strapped down. Tires worn down to 1/2 tread are only used for spring and summer driving here.
 
what kind of driving do you want to do?

off road, < = 2' of snow I'd stay with narrow tires, get down to where the traction is
off road, > 2' of snow go wide and hope to float

on the road, narrow, end of story.
 
beakie said:
what kind of driving do you want to do?

off road, < = 2' of snow I'd stay with narrow tires, get down to where the traction is
off road, > 2' of snow go wide and hope to float

on the road, narrow, end of story.
Click to expand...

x2. You also have to think what you terrain you wheel in the other 8 months of the year too. My KM2s have done really well both on road and off in the snow. I'm pretty happy with them. Much better than the old KMs. I haven't had them long enough to get them on the rocks yet, but that will be the majority of my wheeling. I'll sacrifice a bit of performance in the snow it they are that much better in the rocks.

So, good snow and mud tires = skinny.
snow and rocks = wide
 
I agree with most here, tall and skinny unless you need flotation. Best snow performance I ever got from anything was on those old bias ply 7.00 x 15 LT's. Skinny, stiff, high profile, with a deep deep tread. They dug in like saw blades.
 
Our Commander is the best thing we have in the snow and its on wide tires, can't remember the size but they are GoodYear Fortera's. It goes even with snow even with the fog lights, about 18" with no issue and you have to use the Hemi to make it break traction. The Commander weighs 4700# stock.

The worst thing we have in the snow is our JK, even with the LSD D-44 rear it just could not get traction. It has tall narrow tires. I think it is too light.

My trail rig on 35" BFG MT's did fine (locked/locked) but would dig a lot at times. My trail rig weighs in at 4100#.

I think it comes down to weight and how you control the traction more than the type of tires but tires can make a difference.

I prefer a auto in the snow myself as its easier to ease out without breaking traction but then again I was a drag/circle track racer for a while so pulling out easy just doesn't work for me with a clutch.
 
xjtrailrider said:
Our Commander is the best thing we have in the snow and its on wide tires, can't remember the size but they are GoodYear Fortera's. It goes even with snow even with the fog lights, about 18" with no issue and you have to use the Hemi to make it break traction. The Commander weighs 4700# stock.
Click to expand...


i dont get what you mean by USE THE HEMI? hemi is a full time sorta deal. hemi simply means it has hemispherical combustion chambers.

unless you meant you have to USE the hemi meaning get into the throttle, then i understand
 
Just my opinion!
On a Light weight vehicle Like an XJ a 10.5" wide tire is all you should ever need.
XJs with wide tires slide all over the place when it is slick out!
 
Just my 2 cents... in the snow that hit the east coast 2 weeks ago, I couldn't get into my driveway. Admittedly, I was only in 2wd, but locked. With my 35x12.5s I didn't have enough weight traction to move from a dead start. Even at idle both rear tires were spinning on any kind of incline, needed to get on flat ground to get some momentum. Meanwhile, a stock XJ with street tires blew past me. :) Unless you're doing deep stuff, I think a narrow tire is the way to go.
 
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