Recommendation for tires?? Transforce HTs worthless in snow

[zogg]

I bought a new 2013 ram 2500 2wd. Truck performs flawlessly and the Firestone Transforce HT tires are pretty decent-quiet, smooth, good traction on dry and even wet roads.

However, we had our 1st snow of about 3-5 inches last week. It was a wet heavy snow.

I got about 15 feet out of the garage and I could not move the truck. Growing up in Buffalo, I have a pretty good idea of how to drive in snow. Nothing worked. No matter what I did the wheels just spun. Traction control and anti-spin were working, but not the tires.

I do have about 300 pounds over the rear axle for traction.

I have owned a lot of 4x2 trucks and never was so stuck, even in Buffalo. These tires are coming off asap.

I am looking at going toward a less aggressive A/T tire, like a Geolander or Firestone Destination A/T, as I dont want something that hums loud or destroy my gas mileage.

Any recommendations for all of my expert colleagues??? thanks in advance
Dave

[zogg]

JustLabs wrote:
In an area that gets frequent snow,I'd buy a second set of wheels and a set of actual winter tires.

Thats a good idea....i will look into it immediately!

[JustLabs]

In an area that gets frequent snow,I'd buy a second set of wheels and a set of actual winter tires.

[john_bet]

I put HT's on in Sept. and am happy so far. We had a bunch of snow last weekend. I agree with the warm tires. Had same problem even with the Michelins when warm, cold they worked real well.

[S_more_campers]

BF Goodrich AT KO provides fantastic traction, is available with a commercial rating and looks good doing it.

[BurbMan]

Nooo....OP has the Transforce HT, not the AT.

[MinnCamper]

Transforce AT's have worked for me in snowy MINNESOTA.

[Gdetrailer]

greenenvy1 wrote:
I second the Firestone TransForce ATs. Just put 6 on last week before heading out for 8200 km roadtrip. Lots of snow and they handled it well. I was towing for half these miles. ROad noise did not seem much more that the TransForce HTs IMHO.

Umm.. OPs truck CAME with Firestone Transforce ATs and is not happy with how they perform in snow....

[greenenvy1]

I second the Firestone TransForce ATs. Just put 6 on last week before heading out for 8200 km roadtrip. Lots of snow and they handled it well. I was towing for half these miles. ROad noise did not seem much more that the TransForce HTs IMHO.

[Gdetrailer]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
Why not put on a pair of good old fashioned snow tires in the back like we did in the "old days" when none of us had 4wd trucks? Take them off in the Spring and put the others back on and wait for the next season. it always worked for me. Can't see a reason to replace some tires you are otherwise satisfied with..

B.O.

DING, DING, DING! We have a winner!

THIS IS your best bet by far, "all season" and even "all terrain (A/T)" tires simply are not good choices when it comes to 4x2 and winter driving.

The tires you seek will have optional "stud" holes (you DON'T "need" the studs unless you are really planning a lot of icy driving). True winter tires have a more open tread design, big lugs and the compounds it is made from are a bit softer than other tires.

I have been using winter tires for many years and I am a believer in them. I commute 100 miles per day and have only had a few times over the last 15yrs which I decided the roads were just too bad to go to work. Not all winter tires are noisy, in fact you will find them LESS noisy than A/T types (I don't notice much if any more noise after putting the winters on).

The only major draw back is getting them switched for each major season, right now tire shops are charging $30 for changing/balancing TWO tires. So you would be spending $60 per year for the change outs, you might want to consider buying two additional rims and have the winter tires mounted on those rims.

[time2roll]

WyoTraveler wrote:
Moving your PU out of a warm garage into 3" of snow isn't a good test on tire tread. Park it outside over night and then see if does better. Warm tires probably melted that snow into a slushy ice.

+1 this is not Buffalo snow. We get so much of this in CA the highway patrol requires chains. Then the cold climate people laugh at us because we don't know how to drive in the "snow".

Otherwise I recommend GY Wrangler Silent Armor.

[45Ricochet]

Well you make a good point about 2wd vs 4wd :B Don't see to many 2wd trucks running around here in winter. Now would be a great time to get a second set of wheels and put your new winter tires on them. I run 2 sets of wheels on both vehicles which are both 4wd or all wheel drive.

[B_O__Plenty]

Why not put on a pair of good old fashioned snow tires in the back like we did in the "old days" when none of us had 4wd trucks? Take them off in the Spring and put the others back on and wait for the next season. it always worked for me. Can't see a reason to replace some tires you are otherwise satisfied with..

B.O.

[Itching2go]

therink wrote:
I agree the Transforce HT tires are worthless in snow. I had a set. Transforce also makes a AT tread tire as well. We have a set on a work truck and they do ok up here in Rochester NY.

X2. I replaced our old Transforce HT's with AT's on our 2wd Chevy 2500 HD and was surprised as to the improvements in traction without adding a lot of 'singing' on dry freeways. Now driving a 4wd 3500 D/A and went back to HT's as the need for traction wasn't as great with the additional weight and 4wd. Drove it a lot over the past few days on un-plowed roads after getting dumped on with 8 inches of snow. Nary a slip or slide. But if 2wd, I'd definitely stick with AT's over any brand HT for winter driving, although I'm a fan of Transforce tires as they offer a great bang for the buck.

[WyoTraveler]

Moving your PU out of a warm garage into 3" of snow isn't a good test on tire tread. Park it outside over night and then see if does better. Warm tires probably melted that snow into a slushy ice.