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I'm also towing with an Expedition. 8K pound Cougar 25RDS. Using 275x70x18 BFG KO2's on stock FX4 wheels. 10 ply E rated for towing and air them up to 70 psi to help take some of the sway due to having independent rear suspension. Daily driving I run 42 to 44 psi and the Expedition rolls great at that pressure. Handles great in the rain with AWD mode. They are quiet and no big hit in the fuel mileage vs the stock Michelin Primacy P rated tires. Have about 15K miles on them and no signs of wear. Nice rig you have and good luck with your decision.
I am in Utah near Park City so I see some snow. Duratracs are the undisputed king of snow traction all terrains. I've had 4 sets and one of them replaced a set of Blizzak DM-V2's on my Jeep and i never felt like I lost too much. They really were good. Road noise was not bad at all, my current KO2's are louder. The downsides are they need to be rotated religiously and they seem to be a little soft, and I ran a little higher pressure as a result.
I now have two sets of KO2's, one on my F150 and one on my GX460. I have not been impressed with their snow performance at all and so I run Blizzaks on the Lexus in the winter and they are night and day better. I wont be buying another set because they just kind of seem to be pretty meh in most respects.
I have heard really good things about the Michelins in the snow and my dad runs them on his Expedition and seems pretty happy
It's worth noting that 3PMSF testing only requires a 10% improvement over the reference tire in straight-line acceleration. Horizontal control isn't measured, nor is braking.
My personal experience is limited to one set of 3PMSF-rated AT tires (and those were okay in deep, dry snow but terrifying with packed snow or ice involved), because I don't have the budget to test a lot, but if you dig around there are some tests out there that compare 3PMSF-rated AT tires to actual snow tires. All of the ones I've seen concluded that the AT tires weren't as good as the actual winter tires on packed snow and ice, with a significant variation within the AT class as to how much worse. 3PMSF-rated AT tires—particularly the upper end of the class in the snow—certainly work for a lot of people, but I find that the feedback and control from true snow tires is worth the hassle of swapping. Everyone is certainly going to be different in use case and conditions—I'd be more inclined to give running one set of AT tires year-round another shot if I lived in Colorado than here in New England—but it's also really, really difficult to get good data on pickup-sized winter tires (there aren't a lot of places running comparison tests).
Thanks so much for the note! I think I'm going to give the AT's a try this year, and if need be, get dedicated snow for next season. Appreciate your insight.
Falken Wildpeak AT3W or Cooper AT3. Cooper makes 3 or 4 different versions of their AT3 tire, so choose accordingly based on your needs. If you search online, I think TireRack did a bunch of all terrain tire testing. I live in the PNW so rain is our biggest issue (we only get a little bit of snow and ice where I'm at), but the Cooper's were rated the highest for wet weather traction. I ran the Falken's for 98k miles and just recently switched over to the Cooper AT3 XLT so I haven't had them in the rain/snow/ice yet.
I'm not a big fan of the BFG KO2's. Their wet weather traction wasn't very good. The original BFG KO's I had years ago were great, but the KO2's were disappointing and the reviews I've read online seem to back that up.
EDIT: it looks like the Cooper AT3 4S might be a good fit for you
Thanks so much for the note. I ended up going with the Falken Wildpeak's, but appreciate your feedback!
I'm also towing with an Expedition. 8K pound Cougar 25RDS. Using 275x70x18 BFG KO2's on stock FX4 wheels. 10 ply E rated for towing and air them up to 70 psi to help take some of the sway due to having independent rear suspension. Daily driving I run 42 to 44 psi and the Expedition rolls great at that pressure. Handles great in the rain with AWD mode. They are quiet and no big hit in the fuel mileage vs the stock Michelin Primacy P rated tires. Have about 15K miles on them and no signs of wear. Nice rig you have and good luck with your decision.
Thanks for the note and your insight. You have a good looking set up too - love the black rims! Impressive the Exhibition can tow that much. I had a 4Runner previously and was very disappointed to find the tow capacity was only 5k.
Thanks for the note and your insight. You have a good looking set up too - love the black rims! Impressive the Exhibition can tow that much. I had a 4Runner previously and was very disappointed to find the tow capacity was only 5k.
Thanks! Rated to tow 9200 lbs with the max towing package. Wheels are painted Magnetic to match the vehicle. Only hiccup is the hitch weight of over 1100 lbs. Other than heavy sidewinds it tows fairly well.
Duratracs are the undisputed king of snow traction all terrains. I've had 4 sets and one of them replaced a set of Blizzak DM-V2's on my Jeep and i never felt like I lost too much. They really were good. Road noise was not bad at all, my current KO2's are louder. The downsides are they need to be rotated religiously and they seem to be a little soft, and I ran a little higher pressure as a result.
Love my duratracs in the snow, the siping is great and cleans out the lugs easily so nothing is ever snowpacked.
I've towed a trailer and jeep (6.2k) and our small 1500 lb trailer through the Colorado mountains multiple times and daily drive (40 miles a day) with my duratracs. At 43k miles they're still at 8/32nds and I rotate every 5k. My only complaint on this set (this is my 3rd set of duratracs over the years) is they seem to cup easily. I first noticed and put on new shocks and the cupping seemed to subside. Just recently started up again and I went and had the tires balanced and it seems to be wearing a bit more even again.
Lots of good sugestions but I will add another Nokian, a Finnish tire company some say invented snow tires, is now making tires in Dayton Tennessee. In particular their AT all weather 3 peak rated Outpost. These are going on my son's 2019 XLT,
beefier and more aggressive than the Rotiva AT I have used the last 2 years. My Rotiva's are quiet with excellent handling and braking in cold wet weather. Near the winter grip of my old Hakkapellitta's, what I consider the best winter specific tire made. KM
x2 on the 3 peak mountain snowflake. If you can't do or don't want dedicated winter tires I would get these. When I am due for new tires, I am going to look for XL rated tires with the 3 peak mountain snowflake.
I have Nokian winter tires and am very pleased with them. I was considering Nokian all-seasons for my wife's CX-5, but I refuse to buy anything made in Russia. To Nokian's credit, they have sold off all of their operations in Russia. This is a pretty big deal, since 80% of their tires in 2021 were made in Russia. Good for them for having integrity.
07-30-2023, 04:29 PM
