MarineOpLaw,
Well, since you seem to be somewhat concerned about your prospective tire's ability in the snow, you might wanna check out the Yokohama Geolander AT+.
I've seen nothing but great reviews of them, and although I can't speak for most of the forums, I know theres quite a few Toyota guys running 'em. They claim they're good on all surfaces, from snow and ice, off-road, and on-road.
Try any forum, and do a search on "geolander".
How much money do you want to spend? There can be a huge variation in $$$ between brands.
Good luck.

Rembrant

 

Any Cooper dealers in your area? Around here the Cooper Discoverer S/T is very popular. Basically it's an "aggressive all terrain". All terrain like tread, but tread depth and voids more like an AT. I don't have a set, but I have friends who do and the gist I got was onroad they're like any other AT, but offroad they can do a heck of a lot more than a regular AT. Won't dig through the goo like a true MT, but definately do better than most AT's (aka muddy donuts).

Oh yeah, Semper Fi. I'm a former Marine.

 

I've learned one thing. Anything that is great offroad sucks in the snow. I've only run across three tires that did mediocre in both. Those would be the BFG AT, Cooper ST, and General Grabber AP. Any of those are better than a mud tire in the snow but they're not as good as a snow tire.

I, myself, recommend two sets of tires. I run Cooper Weathermaster IIs in the winter and various other tires in the summer.

Pizza cutters work best in the snow. Wide tires that are better offroad suck in the snow. I've driven on a whole slew of tires and never found a snow tire better than a Weathermaster. There is a tire from Iceland/Norway/Sweden (I forget) that has these hard chunks of green rubber in them that are a TON better on ice but they cost a boatload of dough.

The problem with a real snow tire is that you'll burn the tread off real quick in the summer because they're a soft tire.

You, having a light vehicle, will have even more trouble with wide tires in the snow. I'd hate to be on a set of TSLs in a Jeep with 4" of snow on the roads.

 

I DD my Jeep and have been happy with MT's except in rain. They wear ok in dry at higher psi. Have to rotate them a lot.

Wide tires are nice in snow aired down. Well they work for me.

 

Well, you need to rotate a mud tire every 3,000 miles or so to get them to wear well.

If I had to choose one tire for everything I'd probably go for a Grabber AP or a Cooper STT.

I can't take off uphill with my MTs in the rain on polished aggregate concrete (all the topping wore off the concrete so the stones make the surface). In the snow I have to run in 4wd all the time to get it to take off or stop. If I run in 2wd all the rear tires do is spin or lock up.

The MTs are great in powder or deep snow. However, around here, where we get around 300" of snow each year we pretty much always have a mat on the roads. The longest I've ever gone without seeing asphalt peeking through the snow is 37 days (or was it 38? I forget). It's pretty much always an inch or two of packed snow or ice.

I always race this guy in the wintertime that runs a 1 ton Dodge with Detroits and 38" rubber. He always gets a kick out of how a truck with open differentials and 235s will blow the doors off him because he's left there throwing giant clods of snow.

 

In reply to:

Try any forum, and do a search on "geolander".

[/ QUOTE ]
It's Geolandar with an "a." Geeze, get it right next time

Yeah, good tires (AT+II) - I managed to cover my truck completely with mud a couple weeks ago - the self-cleaning was so good that I really dug a hole for myself in no time at all (thank God for snatch straps). They're perfect for moderate trail riding, and will do everything else quite well too, including icy pavement.

 

i had some geolanders AT II or what ever they are called on my 97 z 71 I had. I must say they do really well on pavement. Rain they do well also, ride nice wear nice, deccently sticky so they do good on dry pavement. They flat out rock in the snow! I will say as an offroad tire they suck in the mud. Gota spin the crap outa them to try to get them to self clean. But for what I needed them for and a mostly road truck they did good. A friend in a S10 blazer that was kinda a pos and it was his first time out totally walked my ass playing around in a muddy area. I had to use 4 to get up a hill(barley did) and he just cruised up it in 2 like he was on pavement. I had a locker in the back and he had an open also. He was running swamper SSR's

I just bought a set of dunlop rover rt's(I think thats the ones, the ones that are supposed to be the best for the snow) because I am plowing with my truck and need a good tire for the snow that i can run 365. I only have 300 mile on em so I have no personal experience yet but if you go to tire rack.com they rate pretty well. They look pretty good and balanced with little weight and dunlop is made by goodyear so its an American tire.

I might have a chance to see how well theyt clean themselvs out this weekend at a friends property

 

I ran Dunlop ATs on my old jeep . They lasted forever and when aired down they flexed very good . Beleive it or not they were decent in light mud also . But in the mtns is where they did their best . Their not as good as the mtrs I run now but it was a good rocky trail tire .

 

Thanks guys.

I really appreciate all the input. Your first hand experience (or knowledge of others experiences) is the most useful information for me. THANKS!

In reply to:

I just bought a set of dunlop rover rt's(I think thats the ones, the ones that are supposed to be the best for the snow) because I am plowing with my truck and need a good tire for the snow that i can run 365. I only have 300 mile on em so I have no personal experience yet but if you go to tire rack.com they rate pretty well. They look pretty good and balanced with little weight and dunlop is made by goodyear so its an American tire.

I might have a chance to see how well theyt clean themselvs out this weekend at a friends property

[/ QUOTE ]

Pls let me know how they did in the mud when you are able to 'test' 'em out.

R/

 

have them sipped too, itll help out a lot