All weather vs Winter tire

[BigBluegen14]

I'll start by saying that I know the winter tire will always out perform the AT tire in Canadian winter conditions.

My question is by how much. I live in a suburb and 90% of my driving is commuting and such. The other 10% is weekend warrior light overlanding and perhaps towing down the road. My only worry is black ice or the 2-3 days there's freezing rain. Are AT tires just not as good as winters in those conditions or are they down right dangerous?

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[Pedaldude]

The performance difference between all-season and winter tires is significant. It all depends on which ones you are comparing and specific conditions but the difference can be as little as a few percent and over 10% difference in stopping distance from what I recall from scientific tests.

Here is an older highway study but it shows the methodology and performance results in detail:

https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/551.1.pdf

One of the problems with having more traction is drivers tend to compensate for it, so while you might stop ten feet shorter from 50mph with a better set of tires, you might also have been traveling 10mph faster.

 

[Icecoldak]

Yea trust me a dedicated winter tire will always KICK Asssss over a all weather tire!!!! I went to Blizzacks and OMG its a Huge diff!!!! its night and day difference!!!!!

 

[gtotco]

We live in Colorado and I’m running 3PMSF AT tires (Wrangler Duratracs). We get a lot of deep snow but not much ice and while they aren’t quite as good as the Blizzaks on our CR-V I think they hold their own. We have a cabin at 9500 with a very steep driveway and have never had issues getting up it in even 12” of snow with the Duratracs so they definitely perform at low speed in these conditions. I tend to be more conservative at speed because I don’t trust them as much even though I’ve never really lost traction on them at full speed.

We don’t have a garage or a good place to store tires so I went with these and they are fine. If we had space I would probably do dedicated snow tires for winter and run a lighter tire in summer because the Duratracs are not great ride quality IMHO, even though they do perform well enough in the snow.

TLDR - 3PMSF AT was fine for us last winter. No constraints I would probably go two sets of tires because there are compromises in both winter and summer using them.

 

[PB2021]

We always put Blizzaks on for winter. Might be able to get by most of the time but I would hate to get in an accident that might have been prevented with better traction. We buy second set of wheels with the tires so in essence you extend the life of the original all seasons. Did the same for the new F150. Went with Blizzak DMV2's and new Replika wheels in black which closely match the originals. Should cover us well here in Manitoba. Just waiting for my tire rebate.

 

[Kanuck]

Get a good set of winter tires. You will not be sorry. Manitoba winters are known for heavy snowfalls. I have a set of Goodyear Dura Tracs 265/70R/18's that I have had on my last two F 150's and they are set to go on this one in a few weeks. I do have to get the TPM's changed to the new style.

 

[BigBluegen14]

Get a good set of winter tires. You will not be sorry. Manitoba winters are known for heavy snowfalls. I have a set of Goodyear Dura Tracs 265/70R/18's that I have had on my last two F 150's and they are set to go on this one in a few weeks. I do have to get the TPM's changed to the new style.

This is my question though. Duratracs aren't winter tires, they're All terrain all weather tires. My debate is whether to get something like the duratracs or Falken Wildpeak AT3W and just run those 12 months with rotations.

 

[Kanuck]

This is my question though. Duratracs aren't winter tires, they're All terrain all weather tires. My debate is whether to get something like the duratracs or Falken Wildpeak AT3W and just run those 12 months with rotations.

The Duratracs are "SNOW FLAKE RATED" which is a winter tire. Big lugs as well as large stipends. Most "WINTER TIRES" are made out of a softer rubber. I hardly ever use 4WD with these tires but when I do it is because of the road being snow covered. I change over my tires because the Duratracs have a lot of road noise on dry pavement and I like my quiet when traveling. Biggest thing is drive according to the road conditions.

 

[BigBluegen14]

The Duratracs are "SNOW FLAKE RATED" which is a winter tire. Big lugs as well as large stipends. Most "WINTER TIRES" are made out of a softer rubber. I hardly ever use 4WD with these tires but when I do it is because of the road being snow covered. I change over my tires because the Duratracs have a lot of road noise on dry pavement and I like my quiet when traveling. Biggest thing is drive according to the road conditions.

The 3PSF rating means they are only 10% better than all season tires. A/T tires like the Duratracs are better than all seasons put not as grippy below 7 degrees as dedicated snow tires like Blizzaks or GG Arctics.

Though your confidence with a 3 peak A/T tire in the winter does give a point towards running Falkens or Open County AT3 12 months.

 

[Infotroll]

HAVE A LOOK WINTER TIRE

 

[Chewie]

I’ve had the duratracs on my old truck yet when I’ve been shopping recently online the tire sites say they don’t fit on my vehicle. I’m a little confused ?. Anyone else run into this? I’ve got a 157” wheel base crew cab lariat.

 

[bosro]

I hate swapping tires out.
I've run Duratracs year round on last 3 trucks.
For my needs....hunting and ice fishing/gravel driving in the colder months they perform exceptionally well.
In deep snow they have pulled me out of stuff I didn't think possible.
They are not great on pure ice,not even close to a winter tire.
However gravel kills soft winter tires.
So for me a Duratrac may sacrifice on the ice but excels other places.
If I did just city/pavement driving I'd probably put winter tires on....

 

[DaveK]

Following this thread - what are the thoughts on how suitable the Hankook AT2’s are in winter?

Doing a little research, it looks like this tire comes in two stock codes from Hankook. Both are described as all season, one has the 3PMSF logo, the other stock code doesn’t though the tires look identical on their website.

Wondering if its Canada/US marketing differences, or maybe the supply to OEM’s is non logo’d all season and 3PMSF logo’d are for retail?

My tires don’t have the logo. Thinking of giving it a go with the stock AT2 for this winter, reading a lot of mixed reviews good and bad and talking to other F150 owners. Wondering if anyone here has some input?

 

[Blinky]

I got the upgraded LT265/70R18 tires, which are the general grabber apt, from the factory (same ones on the HD Payload package). They have the 3pmsf. Going to try them this winter to see how they do this winter. Would like to do the Blizzak LT winter tire as I do go ice fishing, which sometimes requires a bit of mild off road, and it has a more aggressive tread than the normal Blizzak passenger tires.

 

[blind56]

Following this thread - what are the thoughts on how suitable the Hankook AT2’s are in winter?

Doing a little research, it looks like this tire comes in two stock codes from Hankook. Both are described as all season, one has the 3PMSF logo, the other stock code doesn’t though the tires look identical on their website.

Wondering if its Canada/US marketing differences, or maybe the supply to OEM’s is non logo’d all season and 3PMSF logo’d are for retail?

My tires don’t have the logo. Thinking of giving it a go with the stock AT2 for this winter, reading a lot of mixed reviews good and bad and talking to other F150 owners. Wondering if anyone here has some input?

Just here to say please reply back if you end up running the stock tires through the winter. Curious how they run as well, I got to the same answer as you when trying to find the differences. Might be that the retail/3PMS rated version has more silica in the compound but it's hard to tell. I wasn't impressed when wiggling the tread around so I ended up finding myself a decent used set of Blizzak's.

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