Maybe you guys can help me out,I know you guys have some tough winter’s. looking for a designated Winter tire that will except studs. Driving mainly paved local roads some highway. Vehicle is a 2005 F250 4x4 with17 inch rims. Thanks.

Accept studs? Studded winter tires come with the studs installed. Just beware that unless you're roads are covered with ice the entire winter, the studs are pretty much shot after one winter. I'm not convinced studs are any better than the best studless winter tires i.e. blizzaks and nokians. And studs only help up to a point, that's when you break out the chains.

I was not aware that manufacture ship their tires with studs already installed. I plan on installing my own studs, Grip Studs # 1400 they are tough studs:) I will only put about 3000 miles on it in a winter they should last me a few seasons. I use Blizzaks on my car, Don’t know how there E rated tires are, I believe W956. I’ll look into the Nokian, if need be I would put my chains on, but a pain in the azz.

The best tire I have found is the Toyo M 55.

They are ready for studs.

I run Blizzack W965 on the same rig you have. Studless though. A lot of the 2wd commercial vans run them around here. I'm happy with them.

We used the studless nokian tires a couple winter's. They were ok, we went back to studs this year on the wife's CR-V! She didn't feel the studless worked as well, especially climbing the hills getting to our house! I just run good tires load range e and have them siped at the time of purchase, on my Duramax!

There are lots of tires up here that do not come studded but can be. Some guys do it at home. No question in my mind that studs are way better than anything else. We run them on our personal trucks and ambulances. A set of winter tires will last on average 3 winters depending on how much driving you do of course. Our roads are not always ice covered either. Right now my studded tires are on and I can see green grass in the yard. Roads are patchy tough.

Jim,ThoseToyo M55 look like a stout tire, Definitely going on the list. Tkinak, I am seriously looking into those W965’s I love my W 80’s. What type of tire pressure do you run in them? Are they sensitive to tire pressure given road conditions? Thanks for all the responses, some great information.

If I may jump in here, I have read how good the M 55s are, how are they in snow and ice without the studs are do you suggest studding them regardless.

I ran a few sets of Toyo M55s on a quad cab long bed SRW Duramax. They wore pretty well and were great on gravel roads. I ran them at 55 psi front and 65psi rear. The truck weighed 9,300lbs. with tools, transfer tank, racks, etc., before adding cargo, or tongue weight. This truck frequently has a 16,000lb. GVW trailer behind it. They'd be unstoppable studded. I ran them without studs all over PA, NY, and New England. I switched to Michelin AT2 Defenders and/or LTX M&S Defenders. The Michelins wear like iron, are great in the snow, and more comfortable and quiet on the highway. I'm on gravel quite a bit. I prefer the LTX M&S Defenders over the AT2. They seem to wear much better.

If my driving didn't involve as much 50+mph pavement, I'd still be running the M55.

We run Cooper STMAXX both at work and on our personal rigs with great results. I’ve been getting them siped but they are also studdable. A buddy of mine just put a set on last week and had them siped and studded and said they are amazing. My next winter set will be both siped and studded.

Blizzaks

There was a study done in Oregon on studs vs the winter soft rubber tires with out ...studs 300% more traction.

I've driven tens of thousands of miles in AK with good studded tires, and the best studless winter tires. In some conditions, the studless do better, but with melting ice, studded are far superior. Also, studless tires are soft, and after the first season or so, aren't half the tire they were when new.

On my personal rigs, I run Hakka 8's.

And, as I'm sure you are aware, when we get the 'Pineapple Express' with rain after mucho cold, I want steel/carbide grabbing that wet, slick, ice.

Yup, the ONLY time Studless do better is with black ice, where there isn't enough ice for the carbide to dig into. On thick ice, when very cold, studless is nearly as good as studs, but not better.

Hey guys, wanted to give you an update on my Search for Designated snow tires. I change things up to a different vehicle, I have 05 access cab Tacoma this is the vehicle I went with. Tires I went with are Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2 studded 235/85/16 tall and skinny. A bitch to get in that size, will have them in two weeks, Will see if I made the right choice :-)want to thank everybody for their Input.

Sanbags! Myself and my brother have had Toyata's, definately put six or eight in the bed. Those things are so light in the rear they swap ends pretty easy. And you can sand your driveway.

It's tough once they freeze!

I put about 200# of sand bags in my Taco every winter. Big difference.

It is a little Squirrley in the ass,Having E rated tires doesn’t help any I’ll pick up eight sandbags from work. I’ll try them over the rear wheels. Picked up my steel rims off of craigslist today next week get the tires put on.

You'll be happy with the studded Hakk's. Great tire made greater with studs......IMO.

Jeff

Not cheap, I think they will work out well for me. Definitely going to sandbag the ass.All tires mentioned are top-tier, Will see if I made the right choice :-) thanks again for all the advice.

If your in PA and your pulling them off for the summer I love my Cooper STT. on my Cherokee Sport. Studded would be unbelievable. Then you have all bases covered for the mud and the snow, with bite in the ice when you have that. Had many sets of brigdestone, and good year. Seem to go back to Cooper.
Studs are noisy and not easy on the tire, but THE answer on bad ice.
Two wheel drive toyota in VT passed me in my old 4x4 SR5 with a nice rain thick frozen on the gravel way back in the 80's. It was the local sherif going to get a young lady from NY out of the woods after her car piled off the road. We used his truck to pull her out when we finally got up there slipping and sliding. His studded RWD 4 tire set went right over it.
My F 250 has Coopers work tires. Good ware and take the load. No Studs. Just weight in the Bed when needed. Much prefer the Jeep in bad road conditions.
Remember, its not the going part in the winter that matters. Its the stopping. For both you and the other cars. Got wiped out last year in an ice storm when a nice lady locked her cars tires and took out my front end. Made the best of the hit by angling away as she came at me, but still had a hell of a time with her insurance on the rework of my daily driver. Drive supper defensive during the bad stuff.