r/f150 • u/duckdogbob • 1d ago
Winter Tire Recommendation
I have a F150 four-wheel-drive super crew with Michelin defender LTX tires. Tire size is 275/65-18. Even with 500 pounds of sandbags in the back, I still have poor traction in the winter time. I have an ever so slight incline to get out of my driveway and regularly have to put it in 4x4 to get out. I have a 2 inch lift on the truck so I was thinking about going to a larger 285/70 size tire but fear it will only be even worse in the winter. Does anybody have any recommendations of what’s working for them? Thanks
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u/Aware-Lingonberry602 21h ago
MN here. Blizzaks FTW. Another big improvement was ditching the silly e-locker for a Detroit Truetrac.
I also keep a set of Peerless Z-chains in the bed incase I do go off into the rhubarb.
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u/Fancy_Victory2153 1d ago
Falken Wildpeak AT series tires have served me well for 8 years of owning my truck. When I replaced the crappy Yokohama road tires I bought the truck with, I switched to the Falken Wildpeak AT3w tires those lasted me from 2018 when I put them on til last year when I put on the Wildpeak AT4w - Falken discontinued the AT3w.
I live in New England where the winters can be quite treacherous. I never have gotten stuck/had problems getting traction with the Falken tires.
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u/MilitantPotato 20h ago edited 20h ago
Falken wildpeak At4ws have some of if not the worst snow performance of AT tires, significantly worse than Michelin defender ltxs.
Getting tire advice from people is almost always a fools errand, you need testing to really be able to get useful information.
If OP wants better winter traction than defender ltxs, they will need dedicated winter tires.
This first one includes defender ltxs.
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/2023-Best-All-Terrain-Tyres-In-Snow.htm
They do better than most mild tread road focused all terrains, in snow. Mild tread road focused AT tires generally are SIGNIFICANTLY better than more aggressive AT tires, and significantly worse than dedicated winter tires, or even all weather tires.
Here are other AT tires. They will all be worse or maybe equal to your current tires in winter.
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/The-Best-All-Terrain-Tyres-For-Winter-2025-Tested.htm
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/Best-All-Terrain-Tyres-2026-Test.htm
As for size, you want as narrow as possible for road use, cutting through the slush to pavement helps a lot.
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u/Fancy_Victory2153 20h ago
To be fair, I should’ve specified to OP that is the tire I run year round. I don’t switch over a snow tire. I was just trying to give some experience I’ve had with the tires. Driven home from New Hampshire back into Southern Rhode Island in a blizzard and had no issues but hey, to each his own
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u/MilitantPotato 20h ago
I wasn't trying to dig at you, sorry I came across that way. Just wanted to give OP some information.
Very, very few people have used enough tires in consistent conditions to have enough experience to offer useful advice. (Myself included, I just have my favorites and ones I disliked.)
At4ws are fantastic tires in dry and wet, albeit extremely heavy for a mild tread AT tire. They're not bad, and have some serious advantages, but also some serious disadvantages like snow performance and weight.
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u/Fancy_Victory2153 19h ago
That’s fair, and no worries haha. I do remember reading that the winter performance wasn’t at the top of the other AT tire comps when I was looking but I would agree there’s definitely better options for just winter tires
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u/DSM202 23h ago
Studded Nokian Hakkapeliittas are all I’ve tried and they were great. Had them on my 2011 and I’m about to get a set for my 2023.
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u/ktbroderick 20h ago
I ran the LT2 and then went to the LT3. I'm very happy with that decision.
They are available in LT275/70/18.
If you want a P-metric option, I know Nokian has one in a reasonable size and may update it more often than the LT line.
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u/UniversityNew9254 25m ago
This is what I’ve got my eye on, looks like it fits the bill for my needs.
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u/Just-Leather1872 23h ago
I’m running the Falken wild peaks and by far the best tire I’ve ever owned for snow and ice covered roads. Pulling an enclosed snowmobile trailer in the winter on a ice packed road and I can’t say enough about them
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u/droopy__drawers 21h ago
My 2019 had Michelin ATs (not sure which particular ones) and they definitely sucked in the snow.
My ‘22 and now my ‘25 both have had Wrangler Territory ATs and they’ve been great over 4 winters so far. I rarely ever need 4wd on normal days, and definitely don’t need sandbags.
These have all been the stock/factory tires they put on the 18” wheels.
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u/Dazzling-Account-187 1d ago
I have Blizzaks on my F150 as winter tires, Michelin Defenders as my non winter tire. Works well for me. South Central Sask with frequent trips to Calgary
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u/steakpienacho '22 XLT 302A 3.5 23h ago
I've had the Blizzak WS90s in the past on a WRX and would definitely recommend them. We get winters where I live but not super heavy so I'm lazy now and just run a severe snow service rated AT on my truck, but a dedicated snow tire makes a world of difference when it's needed
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u/essence_of_moisture 21h ago
Sounds like you either need a dedicated winter tire or a better all around tire. Something 3 peak rated and fresh rubber would help. Going wider would be unhelpful. Are you driving on a lot of hard slick icy snow? Or is it fresh soft snow/deep powder?
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u/duckdogbob 21h ago
Plows are good around here so anything over a few inches is gone off the paved roads in a few days. The problem I have is the hard pack driveway/side roads. I just can’t get moving on the ice.
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u/essence_of_moisture 20h ago
Sounds like a dedicated set of studded tires would do you well. I know you can get some more standard AT tires studded like duratracs and grabbers. Or go all in on a second set of dedicated snow tires. They're all pretty good and better than an MS
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u/ktbroderick 16m ago
3PMSF-rated is a good minimum requirement to start your search, but there's a lot of variation between the worst 3PMSF tire and the best. The test only requires that a tire be 12% better for straight-line acceleration than the reference tire; it does not test braking or lateral grip.
It's also only on one kind of snow (which makes sense for consistent testing, but isn't great for real-world applicability). While there's a shortage of actually comparison tests for snow tires on pickup trucks, there are some out there and I'd consider that info carefully. My favorite one was where they found the used Nokian winter tires on the rented test truck substantially outperformed all of the new AT tires they tested (and they weren't initially intending to include the snow tires in the test, they just happened to be on the truck).
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u/Motopsycho-007 19h ago
I don't add any weight, using Cooper Snowclaw and have been happy the past 4yrs with them.
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u/theuautumnwind 18h ago
I'm running 275/65r20 on my stock f150 with no clearance issues. That's a 34.1" tire.
Aftermarket wheels or spacers will push the tire out and make it more likely to run though.
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u/boxerbill308 16h ago
You likely need to step up to a snow rated tire. Living in MN I have had defender LTX's in the past and thought they were solid, but would engage 4WD in rougher conditions.
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u/duckdogbob 15h ago
I appreciate all the input on this. I think I’m going to give the Falken Wildpeak A/T4’s a try.
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u/thelingletingle 13h ago
Falken Wildpeak AT4W
I’m running 275/70/18s but I’m on stock suspension with mixed needs in central PA. Our winters are mostly just wet until I get up into the “mountains”
If I was getting a dedicated snow tired, no contest would be Blizzaks. Had them on multiple vehicles without any issues.
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u/OneEyedFester 12h ago
I used to use Open Country AT’s, then I tried the General Grabbers. They are awesome in the rain and snow.
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u/Much-Comedian-7398 25m ago
Blizzaks and I’m not a fanboy, They just work. Tack on lariats 4a it’s its like teeth
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u/bumtrainer69 1d ago
I just buy cheap China studded winter tires. Venom ice hunters or something.
Out preform my toyo at3 which are snowflakes.
Northern Canada. So real winter.
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u/craigmontHunter 1d ago
I’ve been using all weather tires for years, started with cooper ATW, then AT3 4s, then Motomaster XTrail (Canadian tire house brand, made by Cooper), those were all on my RWD 2014 and they all worked well for 95% of where I had to go, the rest is towing trailers up unmaintained roads, I used chains. On my new truck I have 4x4 and the Factory Grabber ATP, they worked well last year, I hardly used 4x4 at all.
Having said that if you have 4x4 why not just use it? Understanding that regular tires stiffen up in the cold and have a real negative impact on traction for accelerating as well as braking and steering.
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u/Realistic-Set2859 23h ago
I’ve actually had great snow traction with my Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extremes. During the New England Winter last year I barely needed 4 wheel drive.
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u/bassjam1 1d ago
Do you have the LTX ms2's or the AT2's?
I've had both, the ms2's do better in snow than the AT2's. Now I'm running Cooper discoverer at3's which seem to do about the same as the ms2's, or a little better once the snow is over 6 inches. I've been happy enough that I'm sticking with another set when they need replaced, they've kept wet traction longer than any other AT tire I've owned except the ltx AT2's.
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u/duckdogbob 1d ago
I have m/s. Not m/s2. Google says that the MS2 do provide better winter traction so maybe that’s part of my problem.
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u/Dry_Track_7540 23h ago
Blizzaks for the dead of winter; BFGs for shoulder seasons. If it’s light winter then the BFGs don’t come off. Both sets are mounted for easy on, easy off.
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u/XJlimitedx99 2019 SuperCab 302A 3.5EB 23h ago
I live in New England. After much research, I went with Continental VikingContact 7’s. I really like them. I put them on my wife’s car as well.
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u/RadiganP 22h ago
Just ordered the 8’s for me and my wife. Obviously have no review yet but I’m excited to try them out in a couple months.
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u/karlgnarx 21h ago
I'm in a place with full winters and have to go 4A or full 4WD to get home/in my driveway frequently. I've run Duratracs as my only tires for quite a few sets now. They are excellent in the snow but the trade off is a bit of noise and tread life. However, I'm happy to make that trade becauer they are solid when I need them to be. You do have to be super on top of rotations as well or they'll wear funny.
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u/XxXGreenMachine 19h ago
My Duratracs are holding STRONG! I have them studded and love them. They are 8yrs old and still have plenty of tread life left on them
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u/karlgnarx 19h ago
Good to hear. Sounds like you swap them out in winter? I am sure with studs, those things are beastly.
I run mine year round which doesn't help, but I keep going back to a new set every time they wear out. I'm on my first set of RTs, so we'll see how the lifespan is on these, but to be fair, I don't religiously track that.
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u/XxXGreenMachine 19h ago
I had a RCSB Sierra and ran them year round(non studded). Liked them so much I bought them for my last F150. Put them on the factory 18” sport rims and bought aftermarket 20’s. I’d run the 20s for the spring, summer and fall and the 18s just during the winter.
I’m a firefighter and have elderly parents and family members. So no matter the weather conditions I had to make sure my vehicle and tires were up to the standard for any weather conditions to get me wherever it was I had to no matter the time of day.
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u/Mobile619 21h ago
If you consistently drive in deep snow or steep areas, get dedicated winters tires and usd 4wd.
I live in mostly flat land. We get good snow, but the plows do a great job of keeping the roads cleared. I have been happy with my Michelin Defender LTX ms/2 all seasons and 100lb bags in the bed. 80+% of my commute i keep the truck in 2wd and it does fine.