Winter/Summer Tires (traction/fuel economy)

[AtomJester]

I ordered a Big Bend (non-squatch). Would the factory tires be satisfactory for Michigan winters? If so, should I get a summer set (will mostly be daily driven, not doing any wild off-roading) with on-road treads in order to improve fuel economy? Or vice-versa, should the factory tires be the summer set and should I acquire a separate set for winters? Anyone else planning on doing a seasonal change?

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[ZackDanger]

As a general rule the stock BB tires will be fine for year-round.

That said, if you are interested or willing to seasonally swap tires, you should swap to winter tires when the time comes.

Aside from the tread differences that are designed for snow and slush, the rubber compounds used in winter specific tires are softer, so they remain soft and grippy in the colder months.

 

[66Fan]

Maths says no fuel savings will pays for tires. Griptions, yeah, they're worth it.

 

[AtomJester]

As a general rule the stock BB tires will be fine for year-round.

That said, if you are interested or willing to seasonally swap tires, you should swap to winter tires when the time comes.

Aside from the tread differences that are designed for snow and slush, the rubber compounds used in winter specific tires are softer, so they remain soft and grippy in the colder months.

Winter tires it is! I will likely put the stock tires on some steelies and put the winter tires on the stock wheels. Seems counter-intuitive, but I prefer the look of the steelies! The painted gray wheels can have the winter salt slushy.

 

[RiverRat001]

The swift-typing @ZackDanger AI bot strikes again

 

[BEM-S4]

I've been looking into winters apparently the DM V2 Blizzak is a good one for the Bronco, worth checking into.

 

[VelocityBrew]

Winter tires it is! I will likely put the stock tires on some steelies and put the winter tires on the stock wheels. Seems counter-intuitive, but I prefer the look of the steelies! The painted gray wheels can have the winter salt slushy.

Or you could just buy 3 Peak tires and have the best of both worlds. So many options in that category now. I loved my Yokohama G015's

 

[BlazinGTO]

Or you could just buy 3 Peak tires and have the best of both worlds. So many options in that category now. I loved my Yokohama G015's

Currently running those tires. They are great tires. I highly recommend them.

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

... Anyone else planning on doing a seasonal change?

I will be, but I'll probably wear the factory set down first.

Two sets of wheels and tires aren't going to be cheap, and the factory offering should be satisfactory in the meantime.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Winter tires it is! I will likely put the stock tires on some steelies and put the winter tires on the stock wheels. Seems counter-intuitive, but I prefer the look of the steelies! The painted gray wheels can have the winter salt slushy.

I use winter tires on factory wheels as a good excuse to get some sweet aftermarket wheels for the summer.

It's an easy sell since the wife is from the south...
Safety first, ya know!
Lol.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I will be, but I'll probably wear the factory set down first.

Two sets of wheels and tires aren't going to be cheap, and the factory offering should be satisfactory in the meantime.

Initial outlay is hard to take, but the tires last twice as long.
Plus, if you do like my post above, you have some sweet summer wheels!
When you do have to replace both sets, the buy is 6 months apart.


That plan works well for my 24k/yr commuter, not so much for the wife's 6k/yr garage queen, the tires get old and stiff before they wear out.

** Stampede, I'm sure you're already aware of this, I'm just putting it out there for those not familiar with running seasonals.

 

[toymaster]

Ahhh... Tires, I love the smell of new rubber in the morning.

I could go on forever on this subject but I will not, this time. I've got winter tires/rims for two of my vehicles but have the best all-season all-terrain tire known to man at this time on my trucks. The reason is simple, my wife needs all the assistance she can get in the winter and I feel better giving her that.

If you want the best tire for ALL conditions use the Copper ST maxx. The only draw back is the less mileage you get but you do get excellent winter, dirt, gravel, mud performance and do not have to mess with tire swapping.

If you want the best winter tires known to man then it is Nokian Hakkapeliitta. I have a set on the subaru and our explorer. You can literally stomp the gas on a sheet of ice and between the electronics of the AWD and the tires you just go straight like a bat out of hades.

With this information you may go forth and prosper, go with god. (pls read with sarcasm)

 

[AcesandEights]

As stated by @VelocityBrew , if you get a set of all-terrains that include the snowflake in the mountain rating, you have a really good compromise. My favorite tire for that is the BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2. You can run them year round and they will provide true all-terrain performance, including winter performance. It's probably the best compromise tire ever made in the history of putting rubber on wheels.

 

[PWillette]

IMO any mileage savings between summer & winter tires would be minimal. Cooper ST Maxx and Good Year Dura-Tracs have served me well year round.

 

[harpo]

Initial outlay is hard to take, but the tires last twice as long.
Plus, if you do like my post above, you have some sweet summer wheels!
When you do have to replace both sets, the buy is 6 months apart.


That plan works well for my 24k/yr commuter, not so much for the wife's 6k/yr garage queen, the tires get old and stiff before they wear out.

** Stampede, I'm sure you're already aware of this, I'm just putting it out there for those not familiar with running seasonals.

Yeah, with so much work from home, mileage on vehicles is wayyyyyy down.

My wife drives so little now that I'm feeling silly about putting her snow tires on for 500 miles of winter driving. Plus, if there was snow the car stayed in the garage....

Now I have to put the summer tires on, supposed to be high 70's here by Saturday.

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