Hello,

Today was my first chance to do some snow driving with my newly-acquired 2010 F-350 (v10 gas crew cab long bed srw). It's running BFG AT T/A K02 LT275/65/18E; the tires were installed June 2018 and have about 30k miles on them.

Only 4-5" snow, although it was slushy underneath mixed with gravel and maybe some ice too (early season storm with warm ground). In 4hi, the truck only *barely* made it up a short hilly section that other vehicles had earlier in the morning...the tires were just spinning and spinning and not getting any bite.

I've generally heard good things about these tires, but when I do hear people complaining about them it is usually about their snow performance.

Any recommendations/ideas on other E-rated tires for this F350 that could be run all year that would do better in snow--and sandy/silty mud, which is what we get on those roads when the snow melts?

Thanks for your time-

 

You might want to check out Bridgestone Dueler tires, ran them with fleet use , were pretty good in snow.

 

Hey thanks hanky for the recommendation. Should have mentioned that I'm running these at around 65PSI, and I had no weight in the back of the truck...I figured this beast was heavy enough. I'm coming from the mid-90s Toyota xtracab 4x4 that for all its other failings was like a goat in the snow. Maybe it was just a one-off this morning...sometimes the road conditions are "just right" to make things slick. But I know other folks made it up this hill without issues. In fact the wife's 2wd Altima with regular all-season tires nearly made it to the top before she gave up and backed down. So obviously not real excited when my rig is only doing slightly better than a 2wd sedan...something isn't right with that picture

 

I think you would be surprised on the improvement from just putting a few hundred pounds of weight in the bed.

 

I bet you're right. I guess I thought that the overall weight of this truck would make adding in the bed less important compared to half-ton trucks.

I'm guessing some of the tube sand in the bed over the axle is a good way to go? Any thoughts on about how many pounds would be a good match for a F350 crew cab/long bed like this?

 

Living in the land of snow I have never been impressed with BFG's snow performance. I have had excellent results with Cooper tires for towing and snow performance. Reasonably priced compared to other tires also. Check out the Cooper Discovery AT3's. I just put a set on my GMC 2500. I See folks come up here with BFG all terrains and they simply don't do well when we are knee deep in snow.

However try tube sand first as it may make a good enough difference for your purpose and save some money.

 

Hey thanks for the feedback on the Coopers. I haven't given Coopers the attention I probably should since I just don't hear as much about them. But the local service/truck center that services most of the serious farm/ranch truck users/abusers in this area swears by them, so they deserve a closer look.

As you say though the weight in the back solution makes the most sense to try first. I dug around a bit on this and not surprisingly--like everything else--lots of opinions on that (best material to use, how to secure it, amount of weight needed, where to locate it on the bed, etc.), but it looks like a good place to start would be at least 300-400 lbs directly over the rear axle. Either tube sand or maybe even just filing my own sandbags at the local rock yard with some of the same road gravel I use on my rural driveway makes the most sense (just dump it when the season is over).

 

Love the Toyo Open Country M/T tires. I have run them on all of my trucks and will be purchasing them for my 2019 F-350 when the stock tires wear out. They do great in the snow.

 

Hey thanks! Toyo is another line I don't have much experience with. But I've had a few friends over the years who ran them and swear by them. As an M/T tire how are they on pavement? Obviously it's always a tradeoff, but some M/T tires are godawful noisy and sketchy when get on the highway/pavement.

 

Not noisy at all compared to others. Drive well on pavement. I won't buy anything else due to great performance and long life. I had two sets on my RAM 2500. The size I had first was a little shorter and wider then the stock and they were a dream. When I put my second set on, I went back to the stock size and I didn't like it as much. Had a little sway to it. Sorry, I don't remember sizes. The tread wear in my opinion is awesome. Can't go wrong. Good luck on your choices.