My KM2's aren't siped and have chunked from playing in the rocks. Might as well sipe them.
KM2's Terrifying in Winter Conditions
- Thread starter kbahus
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Suppose it also depends on who sipes them, how deep, and what pattern. Now that I really think about it most the chunking on the mt was probably due to the fact they were siped all the way to the out lugs. Where as some sipping is done more towards the center. Dunno, just some observations.
Unless one is considerably aired down, siping to the tire edge isn't going to help much anyway. That's the area of the tire that has the least contact area vs tire diameter. I'd bet it does tend to promote chunking, though, so agree that if you sipe, keep it in the center of the tread.
BTW, if you want a good tire that works well in snow and all around on the highway, you can stick with the factory fitted Michelin LTXs. That's what was on it when we first bought the truck, took it to Canada over the holidays. No off-roading, but lots of snow travel and those Michelins really clung to the pavement through all types of snow. Very happy with the Michelin performance, but most of us wouldn't take them on the trail, I'm certain.
BTW, if you want a good tire that works well in snow and all around on the highway, you can stick with the factory fitted Michelin LTXs. That's what was on it when we first bought the truck, took it to Canada over the holidays. No off-roading, but lots of snow travel and those Michelins really clung to the pavement through all types of snow. Very happy with the Michelin performance, but most of us wouldn't take them on the trail, I'm certain.
*except TrXus to satisfy Nay.
*And Duratrac
We had really bad ice in my neighborhood yesterday. I pulled a Subaru out of a really deep ditch, and people were sliding right through intersections.
And I even got some slip out of my Trxus
I've read the same thing about the Michelins. But just not enough like you said for trail use.
EDIT: when I first bought my LC had the stockers on it, took it tahoe that first winter, ex took it colorado, horribley bald and still performed great.
X2
Just like to add that: any sudden moves, not just panic stops, but any move to change direction or velocity could cause loss of control. That is one reason most folks have trouble with ABS. The comments usually include "I just don't feel safe because it seems like I can't stop as fast as I need to!"
After you get the rig moving, the name of the game in driving in the snow is maintaining control. And when your steering tires are locked up, you will loose control. Same results when you swerve to avoid something, or you round a corner at too great a speed. Once those tires that control your direction lose adhesion, momentum is controlling your vehicle. And than it's just a matter of how fast you were traveling to determine the results.
I think if you keep that in mind, you can adjust to whatever performance your tires are giving you, as Mike said. The older I get, the more I realize that once the slick road season hits, the more my rear end puckers and my driving style is affected. To ignore the obvious and continue my summer time driving style, will surely end in disaster.
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They are radial.
I had them on my last truck and they where fantastic. Back then they did not cost much compared to BFG, Toyo, GY and so on. I sold that truck with those tires on, when I started looking for tires for me 80 I wanted the truxus MT again but the supply was very poor (back ordered for months) and the price has jumped up 60+%.
I went with the Good Year Duratracks (315/75R16) and have been extremely happy with them. If I go for a more aggressive tire again (37") it will be the Truxus MT without question.
*for Nay...
They stuck like butta all day
This storm was a bit unusual - it has been warm and so the ground, which in my neck of the woods is often frozen by now, was still warm. The air that came in was very cold (we were under 20 degrees all day at my house). So you have warm ground and really cold temps turning snow into ice in a hurry, with light powder on top to really grease the skids. Not good.
People with dedicated winter tires were having major problems in some places, as in "I just put on new winter tires and it was all I could do to get my kids to school".
You wanted studs yesterday. I wouldn't be comparing the KM2's to anything else purely based on yesterday, but they do suck because they have to suck. It's in the design.
Here is the gig. Trxus are very soft. They wear a lot faster than a dedicated 'winter tire'. Soft compounds, all things being equal, do not 'freeze' in cold temps and lose their traction capability. This is an area were a rock tire can heavily outperform an 'all terrain', because the AT is engineered for longer tread life, and longer tread life and snow performance are mutually exclusive. You will trade one to get the other.
Next - the 12.5" wide Trxus only has something like 9.2" tread width. The outer lugs curve up at street pressure. This provides a narrowed contact patch and maximizes the heavier and wide siping in the center tread. Take a look at your favorite 12.5" AT with its wider contact patch and then try to find this much siped area. The Duratrac is the only tire on the market that is even trying, IMO.
Finally - a great deal of winter performance is about lateral traction, and the swamper lines are all designed around this - look a the center groove and overall design and compare to a tire like the KM2 that has almost no lateral traction in the design (but will pull forward like little else on the radial market).
Trxus is well designed to be an excellent winter tire, and it is...to a point.
There is a difference between 'icy' and 'ice'. In Colorado, we get icy all the time, but it is icy hardpack. So it is bumpy, with patchy snow/ice spots, and that soft MT with a tight center lug design and narrow tread patch with lots of siping is very good in these conditions.
Ice (not icy), which we see very infrequently, as in smooth ice, black ice, is going to be a problem for all tires that aren't studded or chained, but here in a studless tire you really need very tight tread, ice designed compounds, specific siping designs, etc. These are only found in 'ice tires', which is the direction many winter tires, including the Blizzak WS-70, are heading.
Even a siped MT is not particularly useful in this condition, although AT's are categorically useless. I see 'icy' all the time. I see powder all the time. I see a lot of deep snow...in my driveway. I see very little ice - I can count maybe 3 times in 13 years that I would consider 'ice' the way you get it on the coasts. And so my tires are perfect. Except for their price and keeping the damn things balanced. And I don't daily drive or I would wear them out far too quickly to be viable.
So there is your Trxus love one more time.
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With all due respect, I suspect once the Magnesium Chloride debacle gets settled in CO, your ice will be the same as the coasts, or Chicago. That said, my scariest on-road ice driving experiences are in NE/CO Mag Chloride soaked roads during the winter months. M-C works great in the conditions it's designed for. When those conditions change too quickly, the 'ice rink' is as bad, or worse with Mag Chloride applications underfoot.
M-C is usually applied before a storm, this helps spread and bed the de-icer when the snow hits. If applied during the day, it works well before that storm, but then the temps drop to below 16 degrees, and the M-C refreezes. If Coloradans are lucky, the storm has not kept those trucks too busy, because below 16F, a modified (low freeze point) M-C needs to be reapplied. Below 12F, it's back to the good old days: sand or coal. I travel to Denver, then up to the high country at the peak of this fluctuating temp activity, and have experienced some of the worst Mag-Chloride-induced black ice of my lifetime. Quite relieved to have my Blizzacks on, but have done some pretty creative driving avoiding others not so well equipped. My longtime CO buddies have since educated me well on the Mag Chloride issue vs black ice.
It appears CO has the additional problem that several municipalities are not buying into the benefits of M-C (groundwater and dead tree concerns), and have banned it all-together. Which means those not so 'local' could find themselves well-tractioned, then suddenly not. And god forbid any driver finds themselves without full extra bottles of washer fluid, cuz when that M-C cocktail slop hits the windshield, it needs to be cleared immediately or it isn't the tires that will kill you, it's the fact you can't see.
IMO, any states that use Magnesium Chloride as their primary de-icing agent are exactly the places that will benefit the most from good ice tires. CO again is lucky that studs in winter are allowed. Not in many midwestern and lowland states, which dictates the 'ice' compound tire as the natural choice.
FYI, the 80 Bizzack application is the DMV1, the WS70 is considered an automotive application series.
Cheers and my .02
Scott J
94 FZJ80 Supercharged DMV1 Blizzacks
- Thread starter
- #71
I can't stand the mag chloride they use, back in the day the sand/gravel method seemed to work much better. The mag chloride is slick as snot when they first put it down too.
So I have been thinking and if anyone local wants to trade some Duratracs for KM2's I would be interested. I would also go for some Interco's too. I would be interested in 285's, 305's, or 315's but think I would prefer to go back to 285's or 305's. I can provide free installation in Loveland. The KM2's are used and not mint but have a lot of tread left.
So I have been thinking and if anyone local wants to trade some Duratracs for KM2's I would be interested. I would also go for some Interco's too. I would be interested in 285's, 305's, or 315's but think I would prefer to go back to 285's or 305's. I can provide free installation in Loveland. The KM2's are used and not mint but have a lot of tread left.
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VFRMAN
SILVER Star
No complaints from my siped 315 KM2's. I live in ND/MN so we're frozen half of the year. 
Past 3 wnters have been nuts for snow and ice too. Lot of frozen lake/deep snow driving and I couldn't be happier. Never ran anything else though to compare to other the the stock LTX's and the last pair of BFG A/T's.
Past 3 wnters have been nuts for snow and ice too. Lot of frozen lake/deep snow driving and I couldn't be happier. Never ran anything else though to compare to other the the stock LTX's and the last pair of BFG A/T's.
Too bad you aren't closer. (don't have duratracs, but still want some km2's)
The came highly reccommended
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4 LT285/75R-16 Firestone Winterforce LT E
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1 Tire registration card -retail In Stock N/C N/C
4 Winter Tire Carbide Tip Metal Studding Service In Stock $15.00 $60.00
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4 LT285/75R-16 Firestone Winterforce LT E
Download Warranty Brochure PDF In Stock $165.00 $660.00
1 BS/FS Warranty Packet In Stock N/C N/C
1 Tire registration card -retail In Stock N/C N/C
4 Winter Tire Carbide Tip Metal Studding Service In Stock $15.00 $60.00
Some products above selected for the following vehicle(s):
Vehicle: 94 Toyota Land Cruiser
Shipping: $90.96
Order Total Including Shipping: $810.96
Tech Center
Every tire requires a break-in period for optimum performance. Read more.
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Duratrac
Once you go Duratrac you'll never go back! IMHO
Once you go Duratrac you'll never go back! IMHO
I'll add to this personal preferences, I grabbed some siped KM2's and really like them so far.
Kbab,
How'd they work now that you siped further across?
As for chunking, you are going to tear a tire by what you putting them thru and the benefit for is, I look at it like ripstop, the siping stops from ripping huge chunks, keeps it contained. My AT's were replaced because I chunked them out before I wore them out (not siped)
Kbab,
How'd they work now that you siped further across?
As for chunking, you are going to tear a tire by what you putting them thru and the benefit for is, I look at it like ripstop, the siping stops from ripping huge chunks, keeps it contained. My AT's were replaced because I chunked them out before I wore them out (not siped)
I have had the same issues on snow/ ice covered roads and even just plain wet roads with all the 'mud terrains' ive ran. I ended up siping a set of 40" mtrs(old style) and it made an incredible difference in wet road traction( even on the rubicon when caught in a rainstorm on the granite slabs).
Mud terrains obviously arent the best for snow/ice/rain covered pavement
Mud terrains obviously arent the best for snow/ice/rain covered pavement
I have run a lot of different mudders over the years, some better than others in the snow but there is no substitute for a good snow tire, These do great on ice and packed snow and still do better than my mudders wheeling in the deep stuff,
- Thread starter
- #79
What tires are those?
I went up to Estes Park yesterday for a Christmas party and the roads were snow covered but not icy. To my surprise I felt like I had a decent amount of grip and never got the pucker factor, however I was driving much slower than I would have liked to. I am currently watching craigslist for some bfg a/t's or similar for cheap that I can swap out. I don't go wheeling in the winter and have to dd the truck so I would love to get some better performance/mileage out of it during this time. I will likely drop down to a 265/75 lol. If I had some cash laying around I would get gears and stick with the KM2's but marriage and life has all but cancelled spending big bucks on the truck.
I went up to Estes Park yesterday for a Christmas party and the roads were snow covered but not icy. To my surprise I felt like I had a decent amount of grip and never got the pucker factor, however I was driving much slower than I would have liked to. I am currently watching craigslist for some bfg a/t's or similar for cheap that I can swap out. I don't go wheeling in the winter and have to dd the truck so I would love to get some better performance/mileage out of it during this time. I will likely drop down to a 265/75 lol. If I had some cash laying around I would get gears and stick with the KM2's but marriage and life has all but cancelled spending big bucks on the truck.
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Wintercat radial SST. awsome winter tire, the only down fall is they dont come in large sizes 33 35 37 etc, I have to run a smaller size but well worth the traction, I am still looking for a comparible winter tire in larger sizes. another nice thing is these are a 10 ply rated tire.
