Skinny or fat?

[Lefty]

These days I'm living in Minnesota, snow country, spending more time off road in my 2003 Ranger Edge. I don't have 4WD, just limited slip with Cooper All terrain tires that are about 10 1/4". I've yet to get stuck but there's been a few times where I would have liked better traction. I'm thinking of an upgrade though, wondering whether or I should go skinny or wider.

I've always thought skinny tires work best on snow and wider work best on mud. Is 10 1/4" a good all around size?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So, I’ve always heard skinny is better in snow, but in deeper snow, wider tires can help you float more towards the top. I bought a good set of tire chains from https://tirechain.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopkLIVA2NzzAhCWg8MCzhPc630jtFwmv3dRw1__ZOZ_QMx1ooKP years ago for my 2wd for when it got bad.

I put a set of winter tires on my friend Lisa’s car years ago. Neither of us ever had a set of actual winter tires. I’ve had 4x4 and AWD trucks for so long now that I just run the same tires I run all year. I was amazed at how well the snow tires did over regular tires. Her Malibu is a tank with them. I’m actually kicking around the idea of getting an extra set of rims for my green Ranger and mount up some snow tires for it for winter.

 

[scotts90ranger]

It depends... on roads not in deep snow skinny is probably best but in the 10" wide range you're fine either way... on my '90 I have 35x12.50 15's which works great but the 12.5's are probably a bit wide for shorter tires...

I go on the wider side but change tire pressure if I know I'm going to need the traction... if I'm in deep snow and need flotation or traction I'll go down to as low as like 6psi but gotta be a bit careful or you'll blow a bead on the front tires...

 

[Lefty]

So, I’ve always heard skinny is better in snow, but in deeper snow, wider tires can help you float more towards the top. I bought a good set of tire chains from https://tirechain.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopkLIVA2NzzAhCWg8MCzhPc630jtFwmv3dRw1__ZOZ_QMx1ooKP years ago for my 2wd for when it got bad.

I put a set of winter tires on my friend Lisa’s car years ago. Neither of us ever had a set of actual winter tires. I’ve had 4x4 and AWD trucks for so long now that I just run the same tires I run all year. I was amazed at how well the snow tires did over regular tires. Her Malibu is a tank with them. I’m actually kicking around the idea of getting an extra set of rims for my green Ranger and mount up some snow tires for it for winter.

I would imagine that snow tires would do well in mud too

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Skinny IMO

If you need more footprint you can air down.

 

[Shran]

Skinny.

My buddy had an Early Bronco and for a time he had 40x17x15" Gumbo Monster Mudders on it. Those are about the closest thing you can get to balloons... but they were horrible in the snow. I could drive circles around him and I was only on 33's at that point. They would just break through and sink.

 

[Snoranger]

It depends on the situation…

The people of Iceland tend to use wide tires.

 

[don4331]

I would imagine that snow tires would do well in mud too

Snow tire do not do well in mud.

For snow, you want lots of little snipes for grip. And in most cases, you want pressure to go through the snow, to the road underneath.

My F150 pulling a trailer with Ranger on it shod with BFG TAs was crushing my son's on some all seasons in the back alley during a recent snowfall. Mine would dig down, hit the gravel under and go; his just floated.​

For mud, you want open tread to empty the tire for the next go around.

For my '98 Ranger, 235s were much better in snow than 265s (technically, 10.5s); 225 studded winter grips were better still (but that small of tire looked funny on the 4x4).

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I would imagine that snow tires would do well in mud too

Not really, most snow tires don’t have a lot of void space between tread blocks and have a lot of siping cut in the tread, the idea is a sort of suction-cup effect on slippery surfaces. Mud you want big wide cleats to fling the stuff. AG tires on tractors are an extreme example of this, so are the paddle tires for sand. Either of those on hardpack snow or ice isn’t going to do well. Too aggressive, really. Snow tires might do better in mud than all season tires, but an aggressive mud tire or even a decent AT will be better in mud than a snow tire.

 

[Roert42]

just run 3 season highway tires all year round and complain that it’s dangerous to drive in the snow like most people.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Not really, most snow tires don’t have a lot of void space between tread blocks and have a lot of siping cut in the tread, the idea is a sort of suction-cup effect on slippery surfaces. Mud you want big wide cleats to fling the stuff. AG tires on tractors are an extreme example of this, so are the paddle tires for sand. Either of those on hardpack snow or ice isn’t going to do well. Too aggressive, really. Snow tires might do better in mud than all season tires, but an aggressive mud tire or even a decent AT will be better in mud than a snow tire.

Tractors are goofy and don't really compare to a vehicle.

They are heavier in the rear (drive wheels) than a car of the same weight, things don't line up the same.

 

[19Walt93]

I've driven in snow since 1970 and have owned many different snow tires and all terrains. The Goodyear RTS's that came on my 04 Ranger were useless on snow. The cooper Weathermasters on my Escape work on snow and during mud season. I've found stock size snows to work better than wider ones.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It depends on the situation…

The people of Iceland tend to use wide tires.

View attachment 122907

They worth awesome in deep snow... but tires big enough to work don't just plug into a normal truck very well. I don't know how well they work on ice/slush or at high speeds.

Icelandic Snow Tires In America Test 2! 1.5psi with no bead locks...

 

[Bill]

No fat chicks!
Fat tires are OK.

 

[superj]

wide tires look awesome though.