Am I the only silly person running winter tires on a Rubicon?

[MidMo]

Great looking tires and a smart choice! There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with equipping your vehicle for the environment you are driving in. Those tires may not be as flashy as a new steel bumper, suspension lift, or winch but they are purposely built to maximize your chances of getting to where you want to be.

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[Vedder]

Why'd I do it? I wanted to try it. I bought an extra set of wheels and got 5 studless Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2s in the stock 285/70R17 size.

So far they're good - noticeably grippier than the KO2s on Seattle's wet 40 degree polished-to-a-shine-by-studs streets. I'm heading to Montana next week, where I'll give them a real test.

They don't look as cool as the KO2s, though. No aggressive tread pattern on the sidewalls.

Is anyone else running these, or one of the few other 33"+ winter tires?

Great choice on the Hakka’s. Not a rubi but I’m running 32 inch DMV2’s. Been running dedicated winters in all of our vehicles for 28 years. Would run without them.

 

[pablo_max3045]

Great choice on the Hakka’s. Not a rubi but I’m running 32 inch DMV2’s. Been running dedicated winters in all of our vehicles for 28 years. Would run without them.

Assuming you mean would not run without them.
I will use those tires as well next winter. Then KO2s the rest of the time. KO2s are technically winter rated and therefore meet the legal requirements here for winter tires from November through March, but for icy conditions such as driving in the alps, or heavy rain, they are lacking compared to a real winter tire.
It is worth pointing out that the KO2s are only about 10$ less effective that the DMV2's when stopping and accelerating on snow. Of course, there is a bigger difference on Ice. If you live in an area where ice is rarely an issue, than the KO2 is fine.

I think that a lot of folks misunderstand snow traction and think it is good for your tire to throw the snow clear of the treads. In fact, snow traction is predicated on exactly the opposite happening. After all, there is only only thing that sticks to snow and that is snow. Snow/Ice tires work well because they can trap snow in them, which is what provides the grip.
Then of course the rubber compound is much softer as well, which helps a lot.

 

[GinjaNinja]

I've heard lots of great things about the BFG KO2 in snow. I can tell you that on Seattle's 35-40 degree, wet, and shiny non-snowy streets, the KO2s are not all that good. They're not dangerous, but provide noticeably less traction than the garbage Hankook all-seasons that came on my Sedona. I sure as hell am not going to put all seasons on a Rubicon, and figured I could improve its winter performance with winter tires while getting even better snow performance. So far I'm happy.

I live here as well and given the hype I was extremely disappointed with the performance of the KO2s. I went with what is a fairly unpopular tire nowadays (super swampier ssr) and I am BLOWN away with how much better they are here. Over two feet of snow for over a week recently and I was the only one driving around On wet roads they are way better than KO2s

 

[Vedder]

Assuming you mean would not run without them.
I will use those tires as well next winter. Then KO2s the rest of the time. KO2s are technically winter rated and therefore meet the legal requirements here for winter tires from November through March, but for icy conditions such as driving in the alps, or heavy rain, they are lacking compared to a real winter tire.
It is worth pointing out that the KO2s are only about 10$ less effective that the DMV2's when stopping and accelerating on snow. Of course, there is a bigger difference on Ice. If you live in an area where ice is rarely an issue, than the KO2 is fine.

I think that a lot of folks misunderstand snow traction and think it is good for your tire to throw the snow clear of the treads. In fact, snow traction is predicated on exactly the opposite happening. After all, there is only only thing that sticks to snow and that is snow. Snow/Ice tires work well because they can trap snow in them, which is what provides the grip.
Then of course the rubber compound is much softer as well, which helps a lot.

Who told you KO2’s are only 10 percent less effective?

 

[pablo_max3045]

Who told you KO2’s are only 10 percent less effective?

There are some online testing videos. The stopping and acceleration from 0-30/30-0 were about 10% worse with a K02 vs normal winter tire.
MT tires needed more than double the distances. Ice wasnt testing. Only compacted snow.
The KO2s let the snow stay locked in the treads, which lets you stop.

 

[JLURD]

There are some online testing videos. The stopping and acceleration from 0-30/30-0 were about 10% worse with a K02 vs normal winter tire.
MT tires needed more than double the distances. Ice wasnt testing. Only compacted snow.
The KO2s let the snow stay locked in the treads, which lets you stop.

Citation or it didn’t happen. Not to mention, all winter tires aren’t created equal.

ETA: Hakka LT2 has felt subjectively far more than a 10% improvement over the stock KO2.

 

[pablo_max3045]

Citation or it didn’t happen. Not to mention, all winter tires aren’t created equal.

ETA: Hakka LT2 has felt subjectively far more than a 10% improvement over the stock KO2.

https://news.pickuptrucks.com/2016/03/winter-tire-test-some-treads-are-better-than-others.html

 

[JLURD]

https://news.pickuptrucks.com/2016/03/winter-tire-test-some-treads-are-better-than-others.html

I’d be interested to see how the numbers change on mixed snow and ice. I noticed the KO2s seem to lose traction much more abruptly in such conditions compared to the snows I’ve run.

 

[pablo_max3045]

I’d be interested to see how the numbers change on mixed snow and ice. I noticed the KO2s seem to lose traction much more abruptly in such conditions compared to the snows I’ve run.

Good question. As I do not have to deal with snow very often, I still plan to use the K02 and use chains when needed should I go the alps for skiing.

 

[Young04]

Why'd I do it? I wanted to try it. I bought an extra set of wheels and got 5 studless Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2s in the stock 285/70R17 size.

So far they're good - noticeably grippier than the KO2s on Seattle's wet 40 degree polished-to-a-shine-by-studs streets. I'm heading to Montana next week, where I'll give them a real test.

They don't look as cool as the KO2s, though. No aggressive tread pattern on the sidewalls.

Is anyone else running these, or one of the few other 33"+ winter tires?

Hey there, digging up an old thread. I have a JLUR and am thinking I would run winter tires on my Jeep next winter. Are you still running the studdable Hakka LT2s without studs? Any issues with that? I guess if you want to be technical, they're different than a true studless tire, as you called them. I'm thinking I will put on the LT3s also without studs installed. I've run studded and studless tires before. Where I live (Massachusetts) I do not think the benefits of a studded tire outweigh the noise, lower dry traction, etc.

 

[JLURD]

Hey there, digging up an old thread. I have a JLUR and am thinking I would run winter tires on my Jeep next winter. Are you still running the studdable Hakka LT2s without studs? Any issues with that? I guess if you want to be technical, they're different than a true studless tire, as you called them. I'm thinking I will put on the LT3s also without studs installed. I've run studded and studless tires before. Where I live (Massachusetts) I do not think the benefits of a studded tire outweigh the noise, lower dry traction, etc.

There’s an argument either way where you live (I spent 26 years in that area). On the one hand you could get away with running studded snows from December through February and have a slight traction edge for the mixed precipitation storms y’all get like the one between Christmas and New Years through which I watched a dozen or so drivers try to abruptly leave this life for the next on the mass pike. If you travel to northern New England frequently maybe you’d extend that timeframe a hair but the winters out there are contracting. On the other hand, I’ve run studless Hakka R2s out there and have found that compound with silica impregnated in the rubber gets awfully close to the mixed precipitation and ice traction of studded snows, without the noise. If you go studless anything, definitely go with a tire using a silica-added compound.

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