Tires and Snow...

[jasonsch]

This is probably a bit boring but what the hell...
My 1985 2wd Suburban needed rear tires.
The fellow at the tire repair place had fixed a leak on the sidewalls of my old tires 3 different
times - and the last time said, "I wouldn't leave town with the tires..."
It wasn't that long ago I put new front tires on it, and the rears were very old.
Still had good tread - but I don't travel very far - sidewalls were basically rotten.

So, I decided since I was planning on doing a lot more hunting with this
suburban, I needed something with a little more "grip"...

I studied up on some tires with an "aggressive" tread and settled on a couple different brands.
I asked my tire repair guy, and he could get me one of them - so I had him order them for me.
This is what they lool like:

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Yes!! Just what I wanted!! (-: RWL are still cool aren't they?? (-:
I didn't want a huge wide tall tire - Just a replacement with a rough knobby tread.

Of course - now that those babies were on there, I wondered how well they would work in the mud and snow...
Well, yesterday, I had my chance to find out how they work in snow!!

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That ain't the greatest picture I know...
But, it snowed and blowed all night and most of yesterday morning.
It was also a good workout for my new Red Top Optima battery as it was cold as hell too!!
Anyway - I'd say we had close to a foot of snow and some nice drifts...
The wife wanted to go to the store - So I fired my suburban up and let it run until the heater was nice and warm.
The we loaded up and headed out...

And - I was very impressed!!

Snow up to the running-boards was no problem at all...
There was a drift right where we leave the drive-way that slowed us down.
Had to "back-and-fourth-it" a couple of times...
When the rears tires would spin a bit - I could feel they had dug down to the ground.
The drift did stop me - bit I was never stuck. (-:

And driving down the unplowed roads we did encounter snow deep enough for us to "drag-bottom"...
But, if I got a little speed up, the suburban plowed right through that stuff too!!
The front wheels were more like "rudders" in that stuff though.
So I had to start my turns early!!

Anyway, for a big old heavy wheezing 305 powered 2wd suburban - I couldn't have been happier with it!!
It started right up and the choke & fast idle worked like it should (I put a 2 barrel carburetor
on it this summer) & the heater is a hot as can be. Even put new windshield wiper blades on it a few weeks ago...
I could see where I was going!! (-:
And I swear it starts easier and runs better with that weird looking Optima Red Top battery!!
I used to buy the cheapest battery I could find - won't be doing that anymore...

Anyway, with the new knobby tires on the back, it plowed through the snow just as well as some of the smaller 4wd vehicles I saw.
And that was just exactly what I was hoping for!! The tires worked great!! (-:

Now - if could just find some time to go hunting...

 

[Stepside Billy]

Nothing like getting the right tires for what you need especially for snow. I was told that lugs that size would not be good in snow. Glad they work for you!

 

[89Suburban]

These 2WD Burbs will surprise the hell out of you and others what kind of snow it will go through.

 

[CSFJ]

Nothing like getting the right tires for what you need especially for snow. I was told that lugs that size would not be good in snow. Glad they work for you!

Think of deep snow as white mud. I ran super swampers on my jeep for the last 4 or 5 years that i had it. Granted, they were a handful in normal winter driving, but when it dropped 12 -15" in one winter storm, holy hell, that thing was unstoppable. And the tires I had were used, with less than half tread.

 

[Stepside Billy]

These 2WD Burbs will surprise the hell out of you and others what kind of snow it will go through.

OH I know. Growing up my family had a 1977 Suburban, 305, 3 in the tree. Then a 1979, 350, auto. Both 2wd. I still remember the first time I was playing in snow with the '79. Pulled onto a main road and got her a little sideways. Lot a weight being tossed around!!

 

[Georgeb]

I had a set of BFG trailmakers on the back of Ol' Butterscotch for two years. Those tires rocked in the snow. I did have a bit of added weight in the back as well. I also had good luck with the oldschool wranglers but it looks like the tread depth id less these days. I think the general grabber AT2s are on my list for the next set of tires I buy. Although I had good luck with a set od Bridgestone dueller ATs on the envoy.

 

[bucket]

Good ol fashioned snow tires work well too, but they are hard to find now. Heck, they might not even exist at all anymore. There are "winter" tires but those basically just have a bunch of siping.

 

[Georgeb]

Good ol fashioned snow tires work well too, but they are hard to find now. Heck, they might not even exist at all anymore. There are "winter" tires but those basically just have a bunch of siping.

Ahh the good old Firestone Town and Country snow tires!

 

[Stepside Billy]

I really liked the BFG A/Ts I ran a few years back for snow. I had them on a '79 GMC 2500, 4x4. Before I had them I had to drive home from work in 4wd during a snow storm. After I got them on drove home in 2wd until I got to a steep hill. Put her in 4wd and started passing stuck cars!

 

[adamj]

Nice writeup! what size tires are those? Do you have an open diff?

 

[CSFJ]

I really liked the BFG A/Ts I ran a few years back for snow. I had them on a '79 GMC 2500, 4x4. Before I had them I had to drive home from work in 4wd during a snow storm. After I got them on drove home in 2wd until I got to a steep hill. Put her in 4wd and started passing stuck cars!

I think the BFG AT's will end up on my '88 come springtime. I was looking at the General Grabber AT's, but the BFG's rate a lot higher for snow traction, at least on the tire rack website.

 

[morrow07]

I have had 6 sets of General Grabber at 2's. I Drive through Tahoe a couple months out of the year during the heavy snow season, and in my opinion having on both tires, the generals are much better in the snow.

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[CSFJ]

I have had 6 sets of General Grabber at 2's. I Drive through Tahoe a couple months out of the year during the heavy snow season, and in my opinion having on both tires, the generals are much better in the snow.

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Interesting. I initially wanted the generals, but found out they weren't even rated for heavy snow. I'll keep what you said in mind though, since I'll be getting a set of 5 (spare is beyond needing replacement), and tire rack wants $170 per for the BFG's before shipping.

 

[morrow07]

They also have provisions for studs as well. They are a great tire

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[CSFJ]

They also have provisions for studs as well. They are a great tire

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unfortunately, Michigan won't let us use tire studs. Not sure why, our roads can't get much worse, lol.