Re: OT: Winter Tires for a truck

Posted by Hal/WA on November 22, 2006 at 18:31:44 from (66.45.175.118):

In Reply to: OT: Winter Tires for a truck posted by farmallman on November 21, 2006 at 13:16:06:

I haven't put snows on my 84 Ford F250 4x4, mostly because I seldom use it in the winter very much, and when I have, I have found that it will go very well in most conditions with the all seasons tires it has.

But I put studded snow tires on all of my cars. Not so much so they will GO in slick conditions, but so they will STOP when I need them to. The front wheel drive cars can get by with all season tires pretty well most times, but don't stop worth beans on wet ice. And I tried all season tires on a rear wheel drive car, and ended up buying studs within a month of snow coming.

Now I have heard that great improvements have been made on certain all season tires, and I have not tried any of those fairly expensive tires. But I notice that all the law enforcement agencies around here use studs on their patrol cars. Why? Easy, less accidents.

I live in a state where the majority of the population lives on the side of a mountain range where they very seldom have a need for snow tires. Every year there is talk of outlawing studded tires because they damage the road surface. Obviously, metal studs can and do cause some road damage. But since I live on the side of the state where often our temperatures are at or below 32 degrees during the winter, I hope that studs will continue to be legal. I believe they are needed and useful safety device that needs to be in use when you suddenly need them.

Recently we took a trip to Seattle. Over Snoqualmie Pass, it took us about 2 hours to go 3 miles. Why? Because people were trying to drive without good traction. Finally there was a sign that said that chains were required, and we found that the traffic jam was mostly because people were pulled over, trying to put on chains or cable chains. We didn't have any chains, but with our studded snowtires, we had no trouble going or stopping. I did worry about getting stopped for not having chains, but neither did lots of others.

On the way back, it was snowing heavily and lots of cars were having trouble. Near the summit, a semi that had not chained up had jackknifed. We were able to drive right by and stay out of everyone's way. Again, no trouble going or stopping. A lot slower than we usually travel, but much faster than our trip Westbound the day before.

If I was using a 2 wheel drive pickup every day, I would definitely get studs all the way around and also would put a bunch of weight in the back. I would also carry chains and plan to use them sometimes. On a 4x4, if I was planning to use it every day, I would get studs on it for the increased stopping ability.

As long as I can legally run them, I will put studs on anything I plan to use much. I would pay a bunch more for a studded tire "license", if need be, but I sure hope they don't take those useful safety devices away from me and many of the other drivers in Eastern Washington. I think they are worth it, at least for our usual winter driving conditions with the temperature right around freezing. Good luck!

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