Best wheels and tires for steep-grade snow? Lift?

Just bought a house up in the mountains (7,250 ft.), and there's a pretty steep (9%) grade on the 1/2-mile dirt road that leads to my house. What would you recommend for wheels and snow tires. Should I get a lift?

 

Goodyear duratracs are a good snow tire. Wheels won’t do much for you unless you get some with a headlock system and air down, which I don’t imagine you’ll be doing. Lift may help to not bottom out if you get a good amount of snow.

 

Is it just the 1/2 mile dirt road you're worried about? Chains.

 

Studded tires.

 

I think for dirt road with snow, A/Ts with 3peak mountain snow flake rating would be good.

However on trails I see only few (including myself and my buddy) with A/Ts with 3PMSF KO2S and the pros running all sort of M/Ts on well built rigs.

But I bet M/Ts would be worst on icy tarmac though.

 

Standard AT tire with chains. Unless you need to go through deep snow for more than a 1/2 mile. I'm betting you drive highway to local roads to the dirt road.

Ultimately, you just need the extra insurance for those times when the dirt road isn't plowed or is hard pack with ice. Chains. Keep it simple.

 

I live in a similar area (3800'), but not as high as you.

Goodyear DuraTracs or General Grabber 2 have served me well in deep snow. (see photo)

I would usually bottom out and stop, so a few extra inches might be good.

I also ran studded Hakka's for a while, but they were great on ice (maybe 4-5 days a winter), but not so much for heavy snow. The rock driveway just tore out a lot of the studs.

 

Here in CA we have certified Cal Trans chain installers. They are a joke. They lengthen almost every set of chains for ease of install. You would not believe the amount of body damage you see. I would not let them touch my chains. I have practiced enough to install them myself in under 10 minutes.

I'm using these ice breaker chains. I purchased them almost 25 years ago. I don't know if you can get them anymore. Guaranteed to grip. They also tear up the asphalt. I figure my tax dollars pay for the already crappy roads so safety is more important than road damage. I have sized mine to fit tight and no readjusting

 

How do your neighbors get around? Chains can be really good but also a bit of a pain to get on and off. Some of the newer styles of chains look interesting. Chains are often not supposed to be used after you get on the highway, an alert HP or other LEO might snag you with a ticket or at least a warning.
You could chain up and make a few passes on the driveaway to beat the fluff down and then go with good off-road tires. Snow season is always a challenge in the mountains.

 

I live in CO at 9,000’. We see a LOT of snow. All types - wet and heavy, soft and light and DEEP!! BFG’s have never let us down. I keep thinking I would go to another tire but I just don’t want to chance it. Yes, I air down for winter. In fact I am on this forum tonight to see what other tire options there are and still can’t convince myself to try a different one. Why mess with something I know works!