winter tires all year?

[adkrover]

So I decided I wanted to give my truck (Series IIa 109) a little wider footprint on the earth and am looking at going to a 265/75 16 on 16x8 rims. I believe that will have about the same diameter as the 235/85 16 I'm currently running but with a little wider stance. My truck is based in the Adirondack mountains where there is snow 6 months out of the year and most of my miles are on sand and gravel roads or logging roads. My full size Chevy plow truck runs Cooper Discoverer M/S tires which I swear by. Best winter traction tire for a fullsize truck ever in my experience. The maker says they are also a suitable offroad tire and they do have a E load rating. Aside from increased wear during the summer highway miles, is there any good reason not to run them year round? My total summer highway miles are about 30 miles per week. Any comments on size? Thanks

[KevinNY]

You can run that tire on a 16x7 or even 16x6.5 no problem. For limited mileage I see no reason why not on the Cooper M+S.

[LaneRover]

Unless they are studded snow tires I see no reason not to run them year round. Especially with the length of your snow season the 30 miles a week in the summer and a lot of gravel and dirt roads.

Brent

[Terrys]

That wide a tire on a 2A will make it more likely not to track well, and puts more strain on every joint. It's just my opinion, but 235x85 is as wide as I think ought to be run on series trucks. It isn't just the rolling diameter, but the amount in contact with the ground that chews into the horsepower dept.

[Jim-ME]

IMHO tall and narrow is the way to go. The less rubber in contact with the ground will mean less rolling resistance and taller tires go down thru the snow and bite on solid ground. I'm not sure if they are still made but 255/85 R16s are nice and tall but not overly wide and will fit on a 6.5" wide rim.
Jim

[adkrover]

My truck does have a Robert Davis engine so it pulls nicely. I doubt the width of the tire will have that much of an effect on power. I am looking for new tire and wheel options because I am swapping out the axles for Toyota Fj60 axles and they have a different lug pattern so hence the new wheels and possibly tires. I currently am running 235/85 16's and while the tires look good,they are really not great in the snow so I want to get something with sipes for ice traction. The mountain roads I go on are all made from sand and when they get wet they get really soft so I need a wider contact to keep me from sinking. I agree that in snow, narrower is better because it puts more lb/sq ft down and better traction when there is something solid but in quicksand, there is no bottom. The wider contact could put more stress on the stearing I suppose but there seam to be a lot of people out there with wider tires. Does anyone know of steering failure caused by wider tires?

Maybe I will have to bite the bullet and get 235's for winter and 265's for summer. I'm just hoping to find a good compromise.

[gudjeon]

I'm with Jim on this one,

Tall and narrow is the way to go. I run M/S radials all year round in a 215/85-16. Steel reinforced from bead to bead. Green Gilbert goes through the snow like a Caribou even with all the undercarriage doing some plowing. It helps to have the 2.25 engine instead of the original 2 litre for this:rolleyes:
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d187/gudjeon/snowydayout08002.jpg