Tires For Ontario Winter

[darkspork]

A few months ago I bought Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires for my Ranger. Last month I bought two 70 lb sandbags and put them over the rear axle (next to the wheel wells). In 2wd I hardly ever get wheelspin in snow/ice with a light foot. I really have to put my foot into it to get the back end to kick out. I'm not saying snow tires wouldn't grip better, but in 2wd my Ranger has maybe 75% of the grip my wife's car (Honda Accord) has with snow tires. Just my observations.

I guess what I'm trying to say is make sure you have weight in the bed.

 

['99 EB Explorer]

Studded tires were made legal in Ontario about 4 years ago. The government is even considering making it mandatory to put on winter tires like Quebec did.

I think studded tires are illegal in Ontario...I haven't seen them for years, but we can still buy them...

I think they outlawed them because they were tenderizing the road kill before it was skinned...

 

[strvger]

i have been using these at's for about 4 years now with very, very good results all year 'round:

http://www.treadwright.com/shopnow/product/tabid/61/productid/14/sename/21585r16-axiom-at-e.aspx

they have several different styles and many sizes. just a thought.

 

[feellnfroggy]

Any winter tire you choose or all terrain for that matter should be fine. Your only going 4 miles, so most of it is gonna be your smart driving. We dont ge tmuch snow here, but when we did I was driving 30+ miles back and forth to work and I ran the basic walmart wrangler all terrains, not the agressive authorities, just the cheapos, and didnt have any problems with slipping. usually as fast as 45 mph in the snow.

(i did faster but would not consider that in any recommendation as it was kinda stupid)

 

[zx6rrdan]

Studded tires are only legal for residents of northern Ontario only. For anyone south of parry sound studded tires are illegal. Personally I don't think the studs legally permitted offer much or any advantage over the modern winter tires and they are a major disadvantage on clear winter roads. Metal doesn't stick much on pavement...

If the original poster was driving on all seasons on a car for years I doubt he'll have much prob with the Michelin Ltx at's. If they are in reasonable shape. If they are near end of life won't work well. That's one reason I got some spares rims with winters mounted because a tires thats still got lots of life left for summer can be useless in winter and if your paying to swap back and forth it's hard to not be wasting money.

I'd suggest getting some rims and mount some winter tires and swap yourself each season. I'm running blizzak DMV-1's and they are just amazing in snow and beyond belief on ice. Oh yeah and as already said +1 for a bit of weight in the back to help the traction and keep the handling balanced when it's slippery.

 

[Ratch]

Weight in the bed or wait in the snow.

 

[JTF]

I took the spare tire off the bottom of the truck and put in the back. Built a frame over the wheel well and added 350 lbs of sand bags (doubled bagged to avoid a mess). Snow for the next few days, we'll see how it handles.

 

[Mark_88]

I think 350 lbs is a bit of overkill...I've never put more than 100 lbs of extra weight (not including myself at 200 lbs and my tools at about 100 lbs) and haven't had a problem...more than that it really starts to chew up more gas than I can afford right now...

I will say that I had about 300 lbs in the bed the other day (no, not in MY bed) and it climbed a pretty slippery hill without slipping once....if I could figure a way to drop that weight at the top of the hill and then pick it up at night it would work out well...most of the other roads don't present a problem...just the one hill at the end of the street where I live...

 

[Jason]

So after South Buffalo got 3.5 feet of wet, heavy snow in a matter of hours, I can you the Grabber AT2's live up to the severe snow rating. The little lifted Liberty was unstoppable. Even at the ends of side streets where the plows left piles...

 

[JTF]

Thanks Jason & Mark, I can easily take a few bags out and drop the weight a bit.

 

['99 EB Explorer]

Studded tires are only legal for residents of northern Ontario only. For anyone south of parry sound studded tires are illegal. Personally I don't think the studs legally permitted offer much or any advantage over the modern winter tires and they are a major disadvantage on clear winter roads. Metal doesn't stick much on pavement...

Actually, my neighbor has them on his truck which he uses to travel all over the province for work. Lots of running further north than Sudbury like Timmins and Thunder Bay and plenty of trips through the snow belt. He said studded tires on ice are almost feel as good as regular tires on dry roads. And they don't stick out of the tire nearly enough to make it hazardous on the pavement.

 

['99 EB Explorer]

BTW...I use the BFGoodrich Winter Slalom KSI tires. They're freaking amazing! I can get it to spin in the snow, but it'll still launch really nice. I can only imagine what they'll be like when I get my 4x4 working. lol

Here's a link to a review

http://www.1010tires.com/tires/reviews/BFGoodrich/Winter+Slalom+KSI

 

[RustedRanger]

I like going to tirerack .com to read the reviews. It's amazing the difference the vehicle/driver makes on the reviews. Stud do make a huge difference,especially on ice and when the snow gets packed down.

 

[zx6rrdan]

I like going to tirerack .com to read the reviews. It's amazing the difference the vehicle/driver makes on the reviews. Stud do make a huge difference,especially on ice and when the snow gets packed down.

I like reading the tirerack reviews too... So you think the drive using a car with traction control on a hockey rink to compare studded and unstudded tires was the reason the non studded tires had better results? What was he doing to impact the result?

 

[Base Model]

I like reading the tirerack reviews too... So you think the drive using a car with traction control on a hockey rink to compare studded and unstudded tires was the reason the non studded tires had better results? What was he doing to impact the result?

In alot of those tests they compare an old low rated studded tire against modern studdless tires. You can get modern design snow tires that can be studded and have the best of both designs.

The General Altimax Arctic is highly rated without studs http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-tires
The Tirerack tested it with and without studs and found it better on ice with studs http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=123

My 2wd open diff Ranger with General Altimax Arctic studded tires works much better on Ice than my previous front wheel drive 4 cylinder car did with Bridgestone Blizzak WS50 tires.