Best Jeep Tires for Winter and Snow

I had duratracs on my Tacoma here in Montana and they did so good that when I traded it in for my current F150 I bought another set of duratracs and so far this winter they have been great. Obviously that's a truck not a Jeep so not quite apples to apples comparison but I liked them enough to buy multiple sets.

With that said I have Cooper stt pros on my Jeep and they are far from what I would call good on snow packed icy roads. However they do better than KM2s or Trail grapplers I had on previous jeeps. No MT is gonna be great in snow really but if my Jeep was my DD I would put a set of duratracs on it in a heartbeat

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True! Some retread shops still used crushed walnuts in snow tires. Very similar deal with blizzaks and other studless snow tires as well but they call them microbits.


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I had studded duratracs until this fall (sold them with my TJ). While the traction was good, I flatted within 3 months... which was sort of a buzz kill for me. While I know it can happen to any tire, duratracs do not have a reputation for the strongest carcass, and my experience bore that out.

I think a great analog to the duratrac is the Cooper ST Maxx... except it has a stronger carcass. Since I don't want to spend the coin or have the hassle of a dedicated set of winter tires/wheels anymore, I am trying to decide between the ST Maxx and STT Pro. I'll have the center section of the Pro's well siped, and either tire will have Grip studs in the outer lugs. That will significantly elevate the performance of the STT Pros but I'm not sure whether it's enough. Some of the built jeeps around here have a similar setup with Procomp MT2's (which I just don't really like) and are quite happy.

I'm thinking of going the M/T route because there is a lot of slop to deal with in the summers around here. Along with deep snow performance, the M/T might be the better all around choice... if I can "elevate" winter performance to reasonable levels. I haven't made up my mind yet.

Speaking of Grip Studs, I rolled the dice this fall and bought 300 of them & I could not be happier. Performance has been identical in every way to the studs in my snow tires, and I haven't lost any that I can see. They took a pair of ambiguous looking Bridgestone A/T's to the same level of winter performance that my studded duratracs had. They are also wearing extremely well. The plan is to pull them out of my old tires & install them in whatever I get next. Since they are removable, I can just re-install next season and so on. Damage to the lugs appears to be negligible so I think I can do at least 3 rounds on the same tires, if not more. And regular studs rarely last more than 3 seasons anyway.
 
sm31 said:
I had studded duratracs until this fall (sold them with my TJ). While the traction was good, I flatted within 3 months... which was sort of a buzz kill for me. While I know it can happen to any tire, duratracs do not have a reputation for the strongest carcass, and my experience bore that out.

I think a great analog to the duratrac is the Cooper ST Maxx... except it has a stronger carcass. Since I don't want to spend the coin or have the hassle of a dedicated set of winter tires/wheels anymore, I am trying to decide between the ST Maxx and STT Pro. I'll have the center section of the Pro's well siped, and either tire will have Grip studs in the outer lugs. That will significantly elevate the performance of the STT Pros but I'm not sure whether it's enough. Some of the built jeeps around here have a similar setup with Procomp MT2's (which I just don't really like) and are quite happy.

I'm thinking of going the M/T route because there is a lot of slop to deal with in the summers around here. Along with deep snow performance, the M/T might be the better all around choice... if I can "elevate" winter performance to reasonable levels. I haven't made up my mind yet.

Speaking of Grip Studs, I rolled the dice this fall and bought 300 of them & I could not be happier. Performance has been identical in every way to the studs in my snow tires, and I haven't lost any that I can see. They took a pair of ambiguous looking Bridgestone A/T's to the same level of winter performance that my studded duratracs had. They are also wearing extremely well. The plan is to pull them out of my old tires & install them in whatever I get next. Since they are removable, I can just re-install next season and so on. Damage to the lugs appears to be negligible so I think I can do at least 3 rounds on the same tires, if not more. And regular studs rarely last more than 3 seasons anyway.
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I have both those cooper tires, STT Pro in a 35ish for summer and the ST Maxx in a 33ish with studs in winter.

This year there was a good bit of snow in Spokane and the Max’s were great, this is my 3rd winter with them and they’re great. I’ve run some trails on them and they work well in mud and slick surfaces off-road. I’ve done some light rocks as they have studs and they worked well there but I can’t speak to it as much on rock. Overall it’s a great tire with what I could consider a slightly more M/T tread than A/T.

The STT Pros are great tired, tough sidewalks and awesome traction in just about every terrain off asphalt. Last week I put the STT Pros back on as I’m currently on my way to Moab for a few days. After the switch it snowed again and they were pretty awful on ice/snow packed roads. I think siping and such would help but I think in your situation the ST Maxx may be the better option and using those grip studs you mentioned in the winter. Hope that helps.


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GTJeeper said:
The STT Pros are great tired, tough sidewalks and awesome traction in just about every terrain off asphalt. Last week I put the STT Pros back on as I’m currently on my way to Moab for a few days. After the switch it snowed again and they were pretty awful on ice/snow packed roads. I think siping and such would help but I think in your situation the ST Maxx may be the better option and using those grip studs you mentioned in the winter. Hope that helps.
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That helps alright!! This is exactly what I've been trying to confirm but had no first hand experiences to draw from! Wish you were local... if you're ever up this way I'll buy you a few rounds at Odd Man Rush. :) :beer:

Based on your comments, I guess the Maxx would be the wiser choice. I "wanted" the right choice to be the Pro's because I love the look & offroad performance but we put in a lot of winter road miles so it's probably just better to get that thought out of my head.
 
I have to agree that for a true dedicate winter tire, nothing beats Blizzak tires. I lived in Townsend Montana for two years, and the drive from Townsend to Helena was 31 miles. They do not get a lot of snow (believe it or not) but between the wind and freezing rain and Ice, I switched out my Duratrac tires for Blizzak tires, it was a night and day difference. With that being said, they are only good for pavement, definitely not good for any type of off-roading. The rubber on the blizzaks is very soft and the siphons are deep and a ton of them.
 

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