Roads are terrible

[chipj29]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Sorry to see the truck wiped out, but Big Blue needed some snow tires. Always amazes me that people think all season tires means Winter tires. It does not.
The roads were horrendous all day today. I have never seen them this bad. RT 109 looks like it might have had one pass done on it today as there was no snow bank on the side of the road at all at 4pm on my way home from work. Side streets in Wolfeboro were terrible. This wet type snow is very dangerous as can be seen by the condition of poor old Big Blue. That wet layer under the snow is like ice. Even with my 4x4 drive it was slick and I could feel my truck, (with snow tires) slipping around under me. Slow speeds, can make all the difference between getting there....or not. Sadly I think there were many Big Blues today.....

So what you are saying is that snow tires were needed, even though in your truck with snow tires you were slipping and sliding. Yeah, OK.

BTW, you can tell by the pic that those are not snow tires?

[BroadHopper]

I have those Jumbo mud mothers. It doesn't matter what you are dancing with, no tires can stop on ice!

I do despise people with bald tires. That is really asking for trouble!

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

I have those Jumbo mud mothers. It doesn't matter what you are dancing with, no tires can stop on ice!

I do despise people with bald tires. That is really asking for trouble!

I had the Toyo MT and I'll never buy Toyo tires again. Great traction in the snow but noisy and terrible wear. I rotate every 3-4 regardless of what the manufacturer says, more rotation mean longer life and that is a fact.
But what also become a problem was fuel economy, so I went with a narrower tire that keeps my stock height. Less rolling resistance, better traction in the snow and ice.
I just put a set of Firestone Transforce tires on the plow truck and they are as good as the Toyo MT's ever were for plowing.
Anyone looking in this area, Stratum tire beat everyone's price.

[BroadHopper]

Are great for commercial tires and the commercial account can't be beat. Belknap Tire been around for eons and they usually match anyone's prices including Tire Warehouse. The 'Quick Lube' next to Irwin's will also beat anyone's prices. Billy Salta who owns 'Quick Lube' sold Salta Tire to Stratham.

I have the UniRoyal's. I bought them several years ago and the company got out of the mud tires business. Since the truck gets 13 mpg anyway, I see no difference in the mpg. The truck came from the factory with the off road package. I did not do any modification. The truck was built in 1998 and I notice truck manufacturers no longer offer off road packages.

So the truck is a keeper for my off roading adventures.

[dpg]

I beg to differ "all season" tires means just that, all season. They are (supposed) to be decent in the winter. Are there better out there for snow, sure there are but their supposed to be a "general" all around tire for N.E. driving. Personally I like Blizzaks for winter driving but also quite loud on the particular vehicle we have them on (Accord.) The Accord gives back a lot of road noise but the Blizzaks make it even worse.

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by dpg

I beg to differ "all season" tires means just that, all season. They are (supposed) to be decent in the winter. Are there better out there for snow, sure there are but their supposed to be a "general" all around tire for N.E. driving. Personally I like Blizzaks for winter driving but also quite loud on the particular vehicle we have them on (Accord.) The Accord gives back a lot of road noise but the Blizzaks make it even worse.

BH Belknap tire is about $25 higher then anyone else is and that is per tire.
Greg lost my business years ago due to his piss poor attitude and misleading practices.
Stratum tire may not have it in stock but I believe they can get most anything. The Xterra sure isn't a commercial vehicle and neither are Michelin AT tires.

dpg I agree, my wife ran Blizzaks on her Rave 4 and they also made a lot of road noise, but so do the factory tires on there now, Michelin's will quiet that right down when the time comes.
I would much rather spend the money on a snow tire for the winter, we have not found an all season tire yet that I really like.
But I'll say this if they wear good then those Transforce tires I got for the truck will be all I ever get.

[mikea]

Pinched from another thread!

http://americantracktruck.com/

who needs snow tires???

[BroadHopper]

I have yet to find a decent all season New England tire. Take a look at BFG Traction T/A, they give pretty decent traction in the winter although the tire is expensive.

Blizzak are great winters but they wear fast. the Nokian Hakkapeliita, I believe are better tires. No one stock them up here so I had to get them at Maynard's in Nashua.

The Michelin MXM4 is probably the worst all season tire I have ever had. They were standard on Mazda6 5 door and it's wet traction was dismal.

BR, I haven't been the Belknap tire since Wiggins left, so it may be true that things went downhill. Wiggins ran a tight ship. The family business has since move its tire contract to Northeast Tire in Belmont.

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

I have yet to find a decent all season New England tire. Take a look at BFG Traction T/A, they give pretty decent traction in the winter although the tire is expensive.

Blizzak are great winters but they wear fast. the Nokian Hakkapeliita, I believe are better tires. No one stock them up here so I had to get them at Maynard's in Nashua.

The Michelin MXM4 is probably the worst all season tire I have ever had. They were standard on Mazda6 5 door and it's wet traction was dismal.

BR, I haven't been the Belknap tire since Wiggins left, so it may be true that things went downhill. Wiggins ran a tight ship. The family business has since move its tire contract to Northeast Tire in Belmont.

I have heard good things about Northeast Tire but unfortunately when I was in the market I forgot about them.
As for the Blizzak snows, they are a snow tire and ALL snow tires do very poor in the wear category. The Michelin A/T's have a 50K warranty so I'm hoping they live up to it, although I do not plan on having the vehicle for another 50K.

[Lakesrider]

Originally Posted by chipj29

So what you are saying is that snow tires were needed, even though in your truck with snow tires you were slipping and sliding. Yeah, OK.

BTW, you can tell by the pic that those are not snow tires?

Are they snows? If so I apologize. But my statement is the same. What I was saying, and I wasn't trying to be nasty or mean, is that it was not a good day to be out on the road with anything less than snow tires. I just meant that if he had snows on it might have helped him a bit to not get in that situation. Sorry if you took it the wrong way. I feel very badly about his truck. I like my truck as well and would hate for that to happen to it or anyone's vehicle.
All season tires are a huge compromise in design. No they are NOT meant to be a snow tire. you can see this in the numerous accidents reported on the news. Do some reading on how well all season tires do in snow and most are not that good. Around here our roads are plowed so they are not really coated in snow. They are coated in packed down snow/slush which does not react as well as pure un-driven on snow. you need to know how a snow tire works to compare them to a real snow tire. Like I said even with my tires I was not that sure footed. That type of wet snow is treacherous. I can only imagine how people with summer tires or worn down all season tires were doing. Matter of fact I had to follow a few going up the hill on South Main Street in Wolfeboro during the storm. They couldn't even negotiate that small hill without using up 5 gallons of gas getting up the hill with their tires spinning at 80mph.

Al I was saying in my reply is that good winter tires help.

[Waterbaby]

......... a vehicle that is good in all weather. My Highlander is great in snow, rain, dry, even ice -- whatever the weather throws at me. (Although I will admit, driving on ice like we had down here in SE NH last January is sketchy at best, had to drive very slowly). My son's '02 Front Wheel Drive Grand Prix also is very tight on the road, can get through nearly everything......... My husband's 4WD Yukon, on the other hand - not so great. Pickups are never great in snow from my experience, no matter what the tires - I've had a few trucks. Anyway, stay safe on the roads!

[chipj29]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Are they snows? If so I apologize. But my statement is the same. What I was saying, and I wasn't trying to be nasty or mean, is that it was not a good day to be out on the road with anything less than snow tires. I just meant that if he had snows on it might have helped him a bit to not get in that situation. Sorry if you took it the wrong way. I feel very badly about his truck. I like my truck as well and would hate for that to happen to it or anyone's vehicle.
All season tires are a huge compromise in design. No they are NOT meant to be a snow tire. you can see this in the numerous accidents reported on the news. Do some reading on how well all season tires do in snow and most are not that good. Around here our roads are plowed so they are not really coated in snow. They are coated in packed down snow/slush which does not react as well as pure un-driven on snow. you need to know how a snow tire works to compare them to a real snow tire. Like I said even with my tires I was not that sure footed. That type of wet snow is treacherous. I can only imagine how people with summer tires or worn down all season tires were doing. Matter of fact I had to follow a few going up the hill on South Main Street in Wolfeboro during the storm. They couldn't even negotiate that small hill without using up 5 gallons of gas getting up the hill with their tires spinning at 80mph.

Al I was saying in my reply is that good winter tires help.

Thanks. My point was that you basically said that not having snows caused the accident, then later in the post you said that you have snows and were still slipping and sliding.

No, the tires are not snow tires. But in this cause, I doubt they would have prevented the accident.