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Driving in snow with 12.50s

word302

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I would much rather drive my wife's civic with snow tires than my Jeep in the snow. 4x4s drive great in the snow. Stopping? Not so much.
 

Columbus104

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Usually if it snows I just stay home. But sometimes you end up driving in it.
I always crawl. It’s the other idiots on the road that scare me more.
Where's the fun in that? I get the "other idiots" comment but too much fun to find an open patch of untouched snow, put it in 4H, floor it, and turn the wheel. The Jeep is made for this, it knows what to do.

I also always carry a pair of tow straps from offroading, so I've pulled 5 stuck cars out of the snow so far this winter. Helps to feed my hero complex :captain:
 

@OUTDOORTREE

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Where's the fun in that? I get the "other idiots" comment but too much fun to find an open patch of untouched snow, put it in 4H, floor it, and turn the wheel. The Jeep is made for this, it knows what to do.

I also always carry a pair of tow straps from offroading, so I've pulled 5 stuck cars out of the snow so far this winter. Helps to feed my hero complex :captain:
My hero complex has gotten stronger with all these movies also! I love wheeling in the snow and pulling people out also. I have a 4 acre pasture that is looking rough right now because everytime it snows I have to do donuts on the way home from work.
 

Chemy350

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I grew up in Boston and learned to drive my Trans AM at the time... rear wheel drive and had to put sandbags in the trunk to have a decent shot at a small hill... where I'm going with this is, contrary to what some are saying on this thread, you would actually be better off, for snow driving, with a narrow tire, not a wide one. The reason is the wide tire sits on top of the snow if you will, and the thinner tire will cut through the snow and rest on the ground. You most likely don't want to put thinner tires on for the winter but that is tour best bet for the greatest traction.
 

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mwilk012

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They're called flotation size for a reason. Wide tires are designed for this purpose.
 
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SpringsJL

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Which tire are you running?

In my experience, tire brand/type matters more than width. I've run some that were downright scary and wanted to hydroplane in a heartbeat, and others that are rock solid in foul weather.

Tires like the BFG KO2, General ATX, etc. that don't have circumferential channels to allow water to evacuate quickly are particularly bad. Tires with higher voids and open channels that can push water out fast tend to stay planted on the road better, especially if they have siping.
Yep the KO2s, thanks for the info jeepers!

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LincolnSixAlpha

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When driving in the snow today hit some slushy spots and Jeep started to float on top of slush to one direction. Is this normal for wider tires mine being 35s 12.50. Bit scary was going same speed as everyone else. First Jeep here..
Yes indeed.. For snow, you'd really want to have narrow tires, believe it or not. The same could be said, to a lesser degree, for water on the highway when dealing with hydroplaning, though weight can overcome that to some degree better on water, vs snow.
 

Renegade

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In deep snow, skinny tires can often cut through for traction, while wide tires will push snow in front of the tire. I’ve broken a driveshaft spinning tires this way. In packed snow, you can stay on top. The more biting surfaces the better in these conditions. Another factor on icy surfaces is pressure (exerted on the ice, not air in the tire). Pressure lowers the freezing point of water (and conversely, raises the boiling point for your radiator’s operation, but that’s another conversation). This is why heavy vehicles bite better in frozen surfaces. The snow/ice surface actually melts slightly under the points of pressure of the tire, forming ridges around the tread. This gives the tire a bit of lateral traction.
 

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Tunesoul

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It is more about the tire type (mud, at, snow, ect.) and the tire pattern than the tire width.
 

Flip888

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That is why I think thin tires are better. They're lighter, usually cheaper, and they're less likely to hydroplane. People say they're not the best for deep snow or mud, but if that was the case then why are tractor tires almost always super tall and thin?
 

mwilk012

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That is why I think thin tires are better. They're lighter, usually cheaper, and they're less likely to hydroplane. People say they're not the best for deep snow or mud, but if that was the case then why are tractor tires almost always super tall and thin?
Tractor tires are tall so that the body of the tractor doesn't smash all of your crops, and as far as thin, they're only thin compared to the body of the tractor. They're still about 2 feet wide.
 

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as noted narrower is better for going as well as stopping + most all terrain are NOT snow-winter rated + get hard under 45 degrees. so for best winter traction narrower real winter-snow tires are best. an xtra setup is best, get narrower snow tires on narrower rims but maintain the same OD using a higher sidewall. while working construction driving my econo jet aka vw jetta i ran 4 narrow snow tires + passed many struggling SUV's using poor tires aka all season BUT winter!!
 

xtraham

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My experience is that a narrower tire will cut through the snow better that a wider tire. I'm running 255/75/17 Duratracs on my JL Sport, and they do tend to float a bit in wet/slushy road situations. My ROT is that it doesn't matter what you have for tires, K02's or 4 round bagels, when the roads have snow or are wet, slow down.
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