Do "All Season Tires" count as snow tires?

[frankmorris]

This is less a question of "which tire is best for snow," and more of a question related to mountain areas where snow/mud tires are required. Do the stock JLU All Season Tires count as snow tires for those purposes?

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[Jeepmarkjl]

This is less a question of "which tire is best for snow," and more of a question related to mountain areas where snow/mud tires are required. Do the stock JLU All Season Tires count as snow tires for those purposes?

depends on where you live and what you consider "snow tire" The BFG KO2 is officially rated a snow tire because its got the 3 Peak seal on it - which is a tire industry rating and the rubber is different too. Just like the GY Duratrac. But the All Season ones on the Saraha could do OK in basic snow conditions but not great where I live in Chicago. I had a JLU Sahara with stock All season tires for a month before moving to a Rubicon with KO2s. The all seasons on the Sahara were poor in the Chicago snow. Whereas the KO2s were great.

 

[viper88]

This is less a question of "which tire is best for snow," and more of a question related to mountain areas where snow/mud tires are required. Do the stock JLU All Season Tires count as snow tires for those purposes?

No, all-season tires are a compromise for all seasons. I think the the best OEM tire option would probably be the Rubicon K02 tires. They have the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake on them which are rated for severe snow use.

https://tires.tirerack.com/tires/3 Peak Mountain Snowflake

 

[PavementWarrior]

This is less a question of "which tire is best for snow," and more of a question related to mountain areas where snow/mud tires are required. Do the stock JLU All Season Tires count as snow tires for those purposes?

Up in the Sierra's (CA) they have 3 levels of road conditions and tire requirements based on 2 or 4 wheel drive (m+S rating handles basic stuff):

Requirement One (R1): Chains or snow tread tires required. Snow tires must have a tread depth of 6/32" with a "M & S" imprint on the tire's sidewall.

Requirement Two (R2): Chains required on all vehicles except four-wheel drives or all-wheel drives with snow tread tires on all four wheels. NOTE: four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles must carry traction devices in chain control areas)

Requirement Three (R3): Chains are required on all vehicles, no exceptions.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist3/departments/mtce/tireschains.htm

Obviously you have to use your judgement, but checking what is legally required in your area is a good idea so you can atleast make though checkpoints (they have to check in mountains here or people die). You should atleast be good for R1 here if staying on the cautious side (check your tire for M+S stamp), and beyond that consider better tires and or chains, taking into account local conditions (I have to deal with super steep scary mountain slope so ice is scarier than normal)

 

[BlackRook]

Snow tires will always outperform all seasons in snow, barring extreme examples (super expensive all seasons vs bargain bin snow, and even then it'll be close). BUT snow tires will not be happy in the summer--hot roads will kill them in no time.

Your all seasons are fine for general snowy conditions and plowed roads, i.e. not the mountainous areas you're referencing. Snow tires will probably be required. However, as other posters mentioned, if you want one tire year round, you should try and score somebody's Rubicon take-offs. The K02s are pretty famously good in snow. Here's am example review:



The all terrain tires are still a compromise, but a better one for those tougher conditions.

 

[frankmorris]

Thanks everyone - so, I totally get it about quality and whether they'll work. My main question is whether they are technically considered snow tires for areas that may have a road block requiring snow tires.

Update: Hit send a bit too early and saw the other posts come through - thank you everyone.

Other than being able to legally pass roadblocks, my main concern is not being able to tackle difficult winter roads by choice, but rather being sure I'm covered if I get into am emergency (e.g., going on a road trip and heading down a hill with ice).

This is a side question, but related - I'm guessing having a set of chains would also be a good insurance policy. I may be about to post another thread, but for sake of simplicity, I'm immensely confused with buying snow chains - I've read reviews of the Alpine sports on this forum, and also read threads about how chains are not recommended for Saharas. Yet they may be necessary, even legal. So, any buying advice for a simple chain that will get me out of an infrequent bind? I can't find any way to actually order the Alpines, by the way, and other recommended products seem to be by random companies with no online ordering possible, or even reference of how to buy at all. Does anyone have any experience with a decent chain/cable bought off Amazon that fit and do the job when you find yourself in a bind?

 

[PavementWarrior]

Thanks everyone - so, I totally get it about quality and whether they'll work. My main question is whether they are technically considered snow tires for areas that may have a road block requiring snow tires.

check your local state laws like I posted for CA (and look for M+S stamp)

 

[frankmorris]

check your local state laws like I posted for CA (and look for M+S stamp)

Thank you PavementWarrior - Just ordered a 2019 a few weeks ago and don't have it yet so can't check the tires for the M+S stamp - do any 2018 Sahara owners with the stock All Season tires know if this stamp is present? Trying to prep in advance for a Colorado pickup of the Jeep in November/December and want to be prepared.

 

[BlackSaharaJLU]

Did you happen to order the cold weather package or the anti-spin rear differential? If so, it should come with the all terrain tires rather than the all season tires which are M + S rated but not 3 peak (mountain snowflake) rated. The all terrain tires should provide decent traction in light to moderate snow. Additionally, while the all season tires may also have the M + S rating, I would not rely on them in the winter unless you rarely encounter snow.

 

[WXman]

Most areas that block roads to vehicles unless they have "snow tires" use the "mountain snowflake symbol" on the sidewall of the tire as the criteria for whether you're allowed to pass or not.

This, to me, is funny considering that the "mountain snowflake" rating means nothing and has no testing, validation, or hard data to support it. There've even been articles written about how that symbol on a tire means nothing in the real world. It's basically a marketing scam. A tire maker will pay money to be able to brand their tire with that symbol for the purpose of trying to increase sales.

 

[BlackSaharaJLU]

Most areas that block roads to vehicles unless they have "snow tires" use the "mountain snowflake symbol" on the sidewall of the tire as the criteria for whether you're allowed to pass or not.

This, to me, is funny considering that the "mountain snowflake" rating means nothing and has no testing, validation, or hard data to support it. There've even been articles written about how that symbol on a tire means nothing in the real world. It's basically a marketing scam. A tire maker will pay money to be able to brand their tire with that symbol for the purpose of trying to increase sales.

I know what you mention is true for the M + S designation but I believe the mountain snowflake does have some testing (albeit only for straight line traction on medium packed snow surfaces). Here is an article that I found on tire rack about the subject.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

 

[frankmorris]

Did you happen to order the cold weather package or the anti-spin rear differential? If so, it should come with the all terrain tires rather than the all season tires which are M + S rated but not 3 peak (mountain snowflake) rated. The all terrain tires should provide decent traction in light to moderate snow. Additionally, while the all season tires may also have the M + S rating, I would not rely on them in the winter unless you rarely encounter snow.

Interestingly, I did order the cold weather package, but the dealer rep said we hadn't ordered the all terrain tires so they wouldn't ship with them. That said, that was just a casual comment to me, and when I looked at the build sheet I didn't see any mention of tires, so perhaps the all terrains will come with the jeep after all?

 

[XJrider]

Wow this is what this forum has come to? This is a jeep forum right?

 

[BlackSaharaJLU]

Interestingly, I did order the cold weather package, but the dealer rep said we hadn't ordered the all terrain tires so they wouldn't ship with them. That said, that was just a casual comment to me, and when I looked at the build sheet I didn't see any mention of tires, so perhaps the all terrains will come with the jeep after all?

Not sure what other options you ordered but the all terrain tires were listed near the bottom of page 7 on my build sheet. On the window sticker, you will see they are included in the cold weather group.

 

[frankmorris]

Thanks for this - I actually didn't do a 2019 build sheet online as they weren't available online when I ordered my 2019, so the dealer created one and sent me a one pager. No indication of tires selected...

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