ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: Maiden Hell on October 29, 2004, 02:45:55 PM
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Bring on the snow mother f-ers!! I'm heading out tomorrow to buy my first set of snow tires! I'm sticking with stock size, 205/75R/15s. As soon as the weather forecast calls for snow, I'm slapping them on! Good thing I bought a second set of rims this past summer. Oh good times to come! ;D
(http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/images/NewTires/0031768_450_CC_17a1b.jpg)
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That picture shows the tire mounted on a 4-lug wheel, you know what that means? The tires are too damn small!! ;D
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I got a lovely set of stock size studded tires for winter driving. I bought them when I first bought my Tracker (5yrs ago) Don't think I ever be able to use them again.
(alot tooo small now ;D)
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I got a lovely set of stock size studded tires for winter driving. I bought them when I first bought my Tracker (5yrs ago) Don't think I ever be able to use them again.
(alot tooo small now ;D)
I drove around on stocker tires for a while... looked funny :)
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That picture shows the tire mounted on a 4-lug wheel, you know what that means? The tires are too damn small!! ;D
;D It's a sample picture. ;D
I also meant 205/70R/15. :P
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;D It's a sample picture. ;D
I also meant 205/70R/15. :P
Still too damn small!! ;D
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ok, i've never seen snow in real life before, and i'm interested in knowing what advantages a snow tyre has over normal tyres.
i know most snow tyres can be/are studded for more grip, but how does the tyre compound and tread differ? and why do most people get the skinny tyres for snow? are there also wide varieties? i saw pics in antarctica or greenland where the cruisers there have huge 44"s that are like 15"-20" wide. i think they are designed to flaot over everything, and its not like they have roads there either.
thanks for putting up with me.
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http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modules/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=29549
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ok, i've never seen snow in real life before, and i'm interested in knowing what advantages a snow tyre has over normal tyres.
i know most snow tyres can be/are studded for more grip, but how does the tyre compound and tread differ? and why do most people get the skinny tyres for snow? are there also wide varieties? i saw pics in antarctica or greenland where the cruisers there have huge 44"s that are like 15"-20" wide. i think they are designed to flaot over everything, and its not like they have roads there either.
thanks for putting up with me. ÂÂ
Well up here near Fargo ND we get a little bit of snow.
Actually Snow tires now are just a really soft rubber compound. No studs. Most states have outlawed studs because they tear up the roads. In my area I think (At least a few years ago it was true) Studded tires are leagal, but MN and ND have banned them. The one drawback to the soft tires is they will wear out really fast. I have never owned a set, I get a good set of all season type tires and go. After a good snow (12" or more) they generally don't get out to plow to my place for at least a day. So my Dodge is busting drifts for 2 miles to get to the main road.
As far as tire size is concerned, it depends on what you are going to do with them. If you are doing normal road driving and busting through some drifts, a tall skinny tire works best, less of a snowplow effect. Also for this weight is a big contributer, my samurai doesn't go through snow very well compared to my full sized dodge, weight is the key there too heavy to go on top and too light to plow through. If you want to get on top of the snow, like the greenland people you mentioned, yeah then a big fat low psi tire is good.
Gotta go. Its time to get the snowmobile out!!!
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Why snow tires and not a set of premium A/T's? Like the BFG or the Bridgestone Revo.
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im rollin on some 30 " good year AT/S's for the snow this year, and i cant wait to try out my gf's new trxus mt's in the snow, apperently they work awsome in it, hopefully i get a few good pics of snow runs, makes stuff a bit more of a challenge :P
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I want to buy a set of Trxus 31s but would like to get the 5.83 gears first.
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Every set of tyres I've had on my Vit have been marked M + S (mud and snow) from the low profile fatboy 255/60/15s to the BFG 33" MTs. That looks just like a road tyre to me ???
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Don't get a 205 size, get a 215 or
a 225, they will fit fine and look better
on the trucklet
Wild
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Don't get a 205 size, get a 215 or
a 225, they will fit fine and look better
on the trucklet
Wild
Too late brother, I already got them...205s.  Doesn't putting a bigger tire on the rims cause the speedo and odometer to change?
Why snow tires and not a set of premium A/T's?  Like the BFG or the Bridgestone Revo.
I can't really get those kind of tires cause they are much to expensive.  I decided to get these winter tires because they are much better in the brutal winter months and I drive quite alot every day.
I also realize that I have made a mistake with my purchase today...
I should have gotten 205/75R/15 instead of the 205/70R/15....
Will the extra 5 incraments make a differance?
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Too late brother, I already got them...205s. Doesn't putting a bigger tire on the rims cause the speedo and odometer to change?
The change with tires that much bigger would be miniscule...
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The change with tires that much bigger would be miniscule...
Really, eh? I will need new summer tires in about 2 years, so maybe I will go with bigger size. :)
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Bigger like 35" boggers, right ;D
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It won't make much difference, you're lowering your final gear ratio a bit so your speedo will be reading slightly higher than your actual speed...having said that with the stock tires it already reads slightly higher than your actual speed so it'll be another couple percent off or so....
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With and Auto Trans, on stock
gears and 235/75-15 tires my
speedo was 100% correct at 60
MPH when checked on a roadside
radar with a billboard readout
Wild
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Winters around the corner???? Its already here baby!
Time to put on my small donuts for this one... Roads are clear, but damn it's cold!
steveo
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With and Auto Trans, on stock
gears and 235/75-15 tires my
speedo was 100% correct at 60
MPH when checked on a roadside
radar with a billboard readout
Wild
Oh yeah, that's cool man. :)
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Winters around the corner???? Its already here baby!
Time to put on my small donuts for this one... Roads are clear, but damn it's cold!
steveo
Dude the temp in Toronto yesterday was 20c. I felt kinda dumb buying winter tires on the warmest day of the year. :P
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Here's some info from experience on winter tires/etc.
I live in massachusetts and we get a real live winter every year with snow and ice on the roads. I live on a dirt road on a mountian and I drive 9 hours a day for a living and need to stay on a schedule.
real winter tires (like the bridgestone blizzak and similar models) are AMAZING on hard packed snow and on ice. They have a very soft compound and tons of siping, both of which help a lot, but there's more science to it than that. There are actually little cells in the compound that open up when they go over ice and grip the surface. In driving a Dodge Neon for 4 years of winter both with and without winter tires, I can tell you the difference is nothing short of incredible. I could drive through 2 foot snow drifts without spinning the tires at all when I had the winter tires on that car. Before the winter tires, when I just had All Seasons on it, it was terrble. You definintely don't want to run these tires in warmer weather, though, you would kill them completely in about 1 year if you did. The specialized compound is only applied to the outer layers of the tread, too, so once they get worn down about halfway they are nothing more than AT tires.
Mud Tires are great in deep snow but they suck on hard packed snow and ice. You can cut sipes into the tread blocks to help that effect (I have a groover/siper and have done this). You don't get any of the effect of the fancy winter-only tires, but the extra siping helps a lot.
AT Type tires (such as the BFG ATs) are really good in the snow, too. The tread design is open enough to self-clean pretty well (like a traditional snow tire) and there is enough siping from the factory to make them work well on hard packed snow and ice. A lot of this goodness fades when they get worn out though. Shallow tread is no good in deep snow and siping is less effective if there's no flex left in the tread blocks.
Studded tires are unquestionably the best on hard packed snow and ice. My wife had a set on a minivan and could go anyplace (including up our hill) anyone else could, even with 4wd. The tradeoffs are extra noise on dry roads and a slight decrease in dry roadd traction since you are skating on metal studs for parts of your contact surface! In massachusetts studded tires are legal for part of the year but must be removed for the warmer months.
A narrower tire helps in the snow, especially on light vehicles, because it concentrates more weight in a smaller area, simulating a heavier vehicle. Unless you are driving over glaciers and 30 foot snow drifts, you are better off letting gravity get you down onto the road surface as securely as possible.
Best winter tires in decreasing order of effectiveness:
Studded winter tires
Dedicated winter tires
AT type tires
MT tires with additional siping/grooving
All Season tires
I have run all of these variously on passenger cars, AWD passenger cars, 2wd trucks and 4wd trucks, so take this for what its worth. Knowing how to drive in winter conditions has a lot to do with it, too. :)
~daxe
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Wow man that is great info, thanks!
I only plan on running these tires as soon as the temp becomes sub-zero. I want these babies to last as long as possible.
Anyone know if the 70R will hurt me in anyway? They should have been 75R... ::)
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Great info Daxe
I know that Swampers don't do
well in the hardpack stuff, but I
didn't know about the specialised
winter tires, go figure, I live in
So. California, you know snow
capitol of the US :P
I think all they sell here are A/S
with M+S rateing, what a joke
that is.
Wild
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bridgestone blizzak
I run those little donuts in the winter and they rock. I live in a rig town and a lot of tires are tried out here. I mean everything. I ran some MTRs, but when the snow hit, some of the roads I was driving on were too dangerous. I got rid of those for an all season and wished that I had put on my blizzaks sooner. Not that I'm crazy or anything, but I can go the speed limit when its a skating rink if I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO. Cool tires. Our f450 has to run chains on the hills, and its slow moving. I actually feel 95% more safe in the zuke than the truck. That is until a semi plows into me... :o
steveo
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If I remember correctly the 70, or 75, refers to the height of your tire.
For example, a 205/70R15 means the tire is 205 centimeters wide and the height is 70 % of the width on 15" rim. A 205/75 means the tire is 75 % of the width, etc.
Check out the link below to see the exact differences.
J
http://ejelta.com/tiresize/index.html
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If I remember correctly the 70, or 75, refers to the height of your tire.
That number is the 'aspect ratio' of the tire. You are basically correct in that the 70 or 75 (or 60 or 55 or whatever) is the sidewall height expressed as a percentage of the first number which is the "section width" of the tire.
So a 205/75-15 sidewall is just a tiny bit taller than a 205/70-15 (~153 as opposed to ~143). The difference is indeed negligible.
Here is a little calc to show you speed diffferences between sizes of metric tires. Put the 205/75-15 in the stock part and the 205/70-15 in the aftermarket section, plug in a speed and click the button. It will show you your actual road speed and the difference from indicated speed as opposed to the stock sized tires.
http://neons.org/tire/
~daxe
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nevermind... I forgot to check the second page and the answer was given better than mine...LOL!
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Thanks guys... I sitll can't beleive I made such a bone head mistake, but what is done is done, plus they are only for winter use so no big deal.
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Well that will teach you to
buy tires before asking us
what you should get ;)
Wild
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Well that will teach you to
buy tires before asking us
what you should get ;)
Wild
Yep. Shoulda gone with the boggers ;D