I have Grabbers on my S10 Blazer (car we use when working on other cars). They don't do so well on ice and packed snow. I drove to Denver two days after the blizzard in 2007 (maybe 2006). Anyway, I wasn't fish-tailing or anything but I could tell they weren't grabbing that well.
They do well in most everything else. I haven't rotated them in 3 years and they are wearing very well. I'd buy them again.
My guess with ice and packed snow is your tire pressure was too high.
The first time I had these out in the snow and ice, I didn't drop the tire pressure at all, and they weren't super great. The side wall is relatively stiff for the tire size and only being a 2 ply wall. I've run these at 14 PSI at freeway speeds for an extended period of time without them heating up, wouldn't recommend it but I didn't feel like I was in the danger zone or anything.
For snowy season I wouldn't run them anything higher than about 20 PSI even on the freeway. If you're going slower than freeway speeds, probably more around 16-18 PSI. For crawling or really slick conditions, I'd drop them as low as you feel comfortable with (and then a few PSI more
).
Those numbers are all on the conservative side, I wouldn't hesitate to run 18 PSI on the freeway for example.
I might be being rather dumb but it doesn't seem that I can buy AT2s in the standard 80 tyre size?
What is the closest I can get to the standard size of 275/70 R16 without messing up my speedo or ruining the gearing on the car.
The original size tire on the 80's is an odd size, and not many tires come in that size. 275/70R16 amounts to 31.15748038". The 265/75R16 comes very close at 31.9".
In my experience, the actual tire size will be slightly larger than the tire size listed. For example, 265/75R16 translates to 31.64960635", but the actual tire size is .3" larger. So the 265/75 is actually closer to the 275/70 than it might otherwise seem. Still larger, but close enough that I doubt you'll be more than 1 MPH off.
I might have to go with BFGs but all my offroad driving is going to be either mud/gravel/forest/sand, I've been told by someone who does a lot of offroading that BFGs are good but AT2 Grabbers are a little better.
The tires on the
truck are the BFG style by Treadwright. Basically the exact same tread.
I'm happy with them for her rig (which is 99% street queen), but the pattern is tighter and more closed than the Grabbers. I prefer the more open style and wider gaps for off road.
I do like the kedge mix for the Treadwrights though. The walnut shells and ground glass makes them feel "grippier" when I'm running my hand across them. I haven't really noticed a difference on road, but it's hard to compare when you're comparing two different tires.
