KM2's Terrifying in Winter Conditions

[coax]

For the price the Yokohama geolandar IT does well if you are not offroading much. They come in 285's and 315's. Mine have worn pretty well. If you make it up to Estes park and want to check them out let me know.

 

[Nay]

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

This is a good point - I am exceedingly careful in any MagCl conditions. I don't live in an area that uses it, but do go from snow traction to MagCl and you have to be very aware of it.

I would certainly go to an ice tire if conditions warranted, but then those tires are not what I want for deeper conditions. It drives me insane to see any snow clearing procedures that are essentially ice promoting.

Good cold packed powder has great traction and is tremendously fun to drive on - that this becomes an ever vanishing pleasure is yet another reason I want offroad tires so I can actually drive in the snow offroad in winter (such as Christmas tree cutting yesterday in a foot of fresh powder, what a great day).

Studded Duratracs are an ideal tire for CO right now. I will go that direction if they ever make a 37.

 

[9480]

I know what you guys mean about the m-c, I nearly lost control of my Subaru Wednesday when I came down from Estes Park. As soon as I got to Loveland, the streets were greased with it.
Now, about the KM2s. They are good in snow when fully siped. I had them on my Hilux and loved them.
On my 80 I'm running Nitto Terra Grapplers (285s) and they seem to work almost as well as a dedicated snow tire.

 

[darwink1]

Hmmmm... Now that Ive had the 80 in the snow with the siped 37" km2's Im seriously considering throwing the little 285 duratracks back on for the winter. The km2's slid around way more than the dt's and Im thinking they will only get worse when the temperature drops and real winter hits.

The only reason theyre still on there is me being stupid and not being able to bring myself to swap the 37s for 285s. They just look so right you know?

D

 

[72RatCamaro]

I never had any issue with my KM2s on my 60 in the snow. Haven't tested my ATs on the 80 yet

 

[1911]

I've never had any problems with the KM2's on my 40 in snow, though with a short-wheel base truck like that I drive pretty slow and carefully in the snow anyway. The last big snow storm I drove through in the Navajo Nation left all kinds of other cars and trucks including some big 4WD's off the road and some upside down, but I never had any problem moving or stopping at all.

 

[SUMOTOY]

I've never had any problems with the KM2's on my 40 in snow, though with a short-wheel base truck like that I drive pretty slow and carefully in the snow anyway. The last big snow storm I drove through in the Navajo Nation left all kinds of other cars and trucks including some big 4WD's off the road and some upside down, but I never had any problem moving or stopping at all.

This KM2 thread kinda reminds me of Motorcyclist Rule, there are those that have been down, and those that will. I put my first bike down when I was 17... KM2's are good tires in snow. The problem with them is on slick stuff, they will turn a truck sideways with no warning - with the driver 'driving to conditions' as he sees them. Until that butt-pucker moment happens, it's tough to relate to the OP. *When* it happens, your best hope it's only your jeans that need replacement.

Down (MC) and sideways (KM2) - btdt

Scott J
94 FZJ80 Supercharged - Blizzack DMV1

 

[Walking Eagle]

*except TrXus to satisfy Nay.

Mickey Thompson MTZ's rock in snow and ice

 

[drom68]

Wow, I was pleased with all 3 sets of km2s ive had in the snow. They suck on ice, but what mt doesn't.
Good thing I only need em for snow when I want to snow wheel.

I had similar results. I hit some serious ice in PA a couple of years ago and EVERYONE was sliding around, go figure....

During snowmagedon in DC, the KM2s were great, I pulled many vehicles out of the ditch and never got stuck myself.

 

[Romer]

I run the BFG AT KO's on the two 4runners and my daughters 80. They perform well in the snow

I have had the Cooper STT's and Toyo MT and even though the tread looks almost identical, the Toyo's performed much better. I did get them siped before installing and that helps a lot.

Just bought tires for the new truck and decided to go with the TOYO MT's and have been real happy with them in the snow and packed road conditions.

Tires make a big difference but so does driving style. I think with most any tire on ice if you hit the brakes you will have the tendancy to slide. When I am driving on icy roads, Ileave plenty of room and downshift to let the engine brake and keep downshifting till its not pratical and then use the brakes. This makes a huge difference in driving in this kind of weather. ABS also sucks (IMOP) on ice and engine braking gets around that.