Almost Lost It! New Tires?

I've heard bad things about both. I had the Dunlops. I'm not sure if they differed by trim, region, or just whatever they were putting on that day.

 

yeah earlier this week we got hit with ice then snow in ohio... while i made it home fine with my 22 4runner (i grew up in dakotas so snow and ice is just normal spring weather lol) my GF made it into a ditch with her suv (she drives insane all the time anyways)... while i was sitting on the side of the road with her waiting on a tow truck to winch her out (ditch was steep v about 3 ft deep and no way to drive out with her little rogue) i decided to back up a little further down away from the intersection... the 4runner literally slid sideways into a ditch (i didnt even have foot on the gas, entire vehicle just went right off the icy road into ditch like someone shoved it)... well the stock dunlops in about a foot of snow with icy grass and leaves underneath was not a winning combo... i ended up getting it out of the ditch with 4lo, ATRAC and spinning tires enough (before using atrac) to get it down to some solid frozen dirt... once i hit the frozen dirt and engaged 4lo and atrac i managed to lurch out ... overally if i had my Falken Wildpeaks (sitting in the garage waiting for my black TRD rims.. arghh) on the 4runner i dont think i would have had even slid sideways much less needed to "dig" my way down to frozen earth to walk out of the snowy ditch...

those wildpeaks are getting mounted as this weekend on the factory rims...

 

I treat all oem tires on new vehicles as nothing more than the bare minimum the manufacturer needed to get the car from the factory to the lot.

I change them out ASAP with quality tires that fit what I intend to use the car for.

If you do it when the car is brand new, you can usually get some good money for the oem ones.

When I bought my 4R earlier this year, I sold the Duelers for $600 and paid $1200 for KO2s. Nice upgrade for $600.

Jason

 

Me on Hakkapeliittas the other guy was not
https://youtu.be/Ss_K8Val4fM

 

That was almost a good save... Almost!

 

AT tires and sheet ice don't mix very well even with the 3 Peak symbol. The driveways here and the dirt roads are totally covered with ice. My next door neighbor has Duratracs on his 4WD truck and he hasn't been able to switch to his winter tires because of health issues. I had to get my tractor and help since he got stuck on the ice twice today on his driveway. He couldn't move even on a slight upward incline. It's no sweat with Blizzaks. I'm going to get his winter tires over to my garage and have him try to bring his truck over so I can swap tires for him. It's fun handling 100lb+ tires/wheels and torquing 32 lug nuts to 165 ft-bs.

 

Mine came with the Dueler HT as well. They were fine in the dry, never really even had a problem with them in the rain, but they were totally trash in winter conditions.

To the OP, remember that just because you have a "real" four-wheel drive vehicle, doesn't mean that's going to be super good in the snow, as you discovered. Your previous AWD cars are going to be superior on snowy covered roads, unless there's two feet of it. My previous vehicle was a Volvo Cross-Country wagon, and that was far better in snowy and icy conditions on road than my 4R. I think the advantage of the 4R is that if I DO slide off the road, I have a better chance of driving myself back on to it.

Also, for kicks and giggles look up the YouTube video of Jeep death wobble. I'm sure your moment was a clencher, but you definitely would have been going home to change your shorts if you had death wobble. I had it once in my old lifted ZJ, and I literally feared for my life.

I can totally see though how you would call it that an a skateboard, and actually I've experienced something similar on a bicycle with weird geometry at high speed.

Here's the video. I shudder remembering having that at highway speed on an s curve, and I was only on 31" tires.

https://youtu.be/ncTgYl7P_TE

 

Yes I do love my LTX Defender M/S's. They don't get the 3PMSF rating but they did get the top winter rating within Discount Tire (for all season tires). They are a huge upgrade from the stock Dunlops in all conditions (great street tires) and they have impressive "bite" in winter.

 

I have the Firestone Destination Xt and they are nice. They look good but still ride extremely well. Have heard a ton of reviews about how well they do in the snow/ice too. Definitely worth looking into.

 

Yeah, that's a little crazier than the "death wobble" I experienced! Honestly, I didn't even know it was a thing outside of my slang usage of the term from back in the day, haha.

 

Even a moose was sliding on my driveway. Looks like a cat did OK though.

 

Interesting experiences and awesome input. Mine came with the Bridgestone Dueler HT. Couple weeks ago about lost it all. 30mph maybe, a very slight left bend, very slight crest/bump to a flat plateau of the bridge and all hell broke loose. Light acceleration at best. Was bridge frozen? Maybe nothing else was up to that poi t but it was wet and cold and 4:30am. Ass end broke free headed sideways tract control kicks on saves my ass which was shit stained.

The struggle is real with stock tires. Appreciate alls input and experiences to draw upon a change..

So something im struggling with is when to put it in 4hi and not for normal road driving in winter with intermittent conditions. Roads being a mix of conditions due to plowing, cars driving, crews salting and such. Therefore periods of just pavement not slick which definitely occur at intersections as the crews focus on keeping those cleared.
Im paranoid as hell of dickn up something on the 4R by driving it and turning on these intermittent paved areas and such.

My commute has sections up to 60mph which will be snowy and slick and straight. Ok then?

Prior vehicle was AWD

am i being overly concerned? Should i be throwing it in and out of 4Hi gear?

 

You have a great excuse to get another set of wheels and put good winter tires on them. Cheaper than getting in a wreck and a lot less hassle.

 

if you have condition like that, i would put it 4 hi. Try to remember to put it back to 2wd if conditions get grippier to avoid binding the center diff.

it wont solve all you traction prob, but it will help keep the back end in check when accelerating

 

Once you get decent tires on the vehicle it will feel much more secure even in 2WD. In mixed conditions with clear intersections as you describe I would be in 2WD since you don't need 4WD to get the vehicle moving when the intersection is clear...but if the road after the intersection was slick enough I might pop in back into 4WD. In the winter I mainly use 4WD on snow/ice covered roads and in deep snow...or just to get the vehicle moving at a slick intersection. If the road is partially clear I'm in 2WD. I live in a lake-effect snow area and on some days I end up switching between 4H and 2H quite a few times.

 

Yep new tires clearly a must do..
So yeah i guess in and out of 4hi itll be. Which hey that’s part if the joy of this vehicle and interacting with it!