Author Topic: Need Some Winter Tires for the Suburban (Read 2765 times)

HeliDriver · « **on:** September 06, 2007, 11:31:13 pm »

Well, not yet (thank God), but I guess it's about time to start thinking about it...

Anyway, size is P265/70R17. I hate Q-rated tires with a passion, so I want to stay away from those. No, I don't plan on driving over 160 km/h with the beast, I just hate squishy sidewalls and the poor handling, elimination of steering feel, and general sloppiness that come with them - even on a truck.

So far, I'm leaning towards the following:

Toyo Open Country G-O2 Plus
Hankook Dynapro i*Pike RW07
Firestone Winterforce

All are S-rated (which may or may not make a huge difference

), and range in price from around $230 for the Toyos, to around $130 for the Winterforces. Even on All-Terrains, the Suburban is pretty good in the snow, so I'm thinking that even something cheap like the Winterforces should be more than good enough. $130 at TireTrends seems like a steal for these tires.

Any thoughts? And Morty, I don't see the Toyos or Hankooks on your website, but since you sell those brands, I'm assuming you can get them for me?

random006 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 06, 2007, 11:49:06 pm »

Quote from: SiRCivic on September 06, 2007, 11:31:13 pm

Well, not yet (thank God), but I guess it's about time to start thinking about it...

Anyway, size is P265/70R17. I hate Q-rated tires with a passion, so I want to stay away from those. No, I don't plan on driving over 160 km/h with the beast, I just hate squishy sidewalls and the poor handling, elimination of steering feel, and general sloppiness that come with them - even on a truck.

So far, I'm leaning towards the following:

Toyo Open Country G-O2 Plus
Hankook Dynapro i*Pike RW07
Firestone Winterforce

All are S-rated (which may or may not make a huge difference ), and range in price from around $230 for the Toyos, to around $130 for the Winterforces. Even on All-Terrains, the Suburban is pretty good in the snow, so I'm thinking that even something cheap like the Winterforces should be more than good enough. $130 at TireTrends seems like a steal for these tires.

Any thoughts? And Morty, I don't see the Toyos or Hankooks on your website, but since you sell those brands, I'm assuming you can get them for me?

I did a search on 1010 Tires and came up with that same list, more or less. Additions were Blizzak and Michelin X-Ice, which are Q-rated and out of your consideration.

Can you drop a size to R16 without too much difficulty or danger? If so, I'd like to suggest the Yokohama Geolandar I/T+. It's a 'T' rated tire and handles well in all conditions. I've done ice, cold&dry, snow (lots of it), slush, high speed and so on.

Morty, any comments?

HeliDriver · « **Reply #2 on:** September 06, 2007, 11:57:33 pm »

Quote from: random006 on September 06, 2007, 11:49:06 pm

...Can you drop a size to R16 without too much difficulty or danger? If so, I'd like to suggest the Yokohama Geolandar I/T+. It's a 'T' rated tire and handles well in all conditions. I've done ice, cold&dry, snow (lots of it), slush, high speed and so on.

...

Ahh... the Yokos.

We had two sets of those on the Xterra, and loved them to death. Actually, the first set were just the I/Ts; I actually preferred those to the I/T plusses that we got next. The originals seemed to have better winter traction. Go figure...

Hmm, good point about going to 16s. The 3/4 tons come stock with 16" wheels, so 16s may just work. Then again, even the base half-ton comes with 17s standard, so maybe there are some clearance issues?

Anyway, not sure whether it's something I want to pursue. 17" take-offs are pretty cheap on ebay, and if 16" rims exist for this application, I'm guessing they're probably multi-fits.

Besides, I'd like to keep the same overall diameter, so a taller sidewall would just add more squishyness. Good suggestion, though.

morty · « **Reply #3 on:** September 07, 2007, 05:21:18 pm »

We are still working on updating all of our winter products. So, if it isn't there yet...don't sweat it should be soon.

What year is the Suburban....If you can downsize you will get more squirm and will have to buy wheels as well. Toyo and Bridgestone are the only companies that offers LT options in this size. They will be more expensive than the Winterforce, but a lot stiffer. There won't be a huge difference between the S and th Q as far as squirm. Some, but am concerned that of you think the Q was too soft that you will feel the same about the S-Rated. The LT's are significantly more...$100/tire range. However, there wont be as much squirm in a 8 or 10 ply tire.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #4 on:** September 07, 2007, 05:35:38 pm »

Thanks, Morty. The Suburban is an '07 1500 (half-ton).

I'd rather not go with LTs this time. They were great on the Xterra (stiff sidewalls and no squirm), but it would be a shame to ruin the Suburban's luxurious ride with a stiff truck tire. The Xterra was already pretty rough around the edges, so a truck tire suited it fine.

Hmm... tough choice... to go with LTs that I know will ride too stiff, or go with S-rated P-metrics that I suspect will be a little squishy...

morty · « **Reply #5 on:** September 07, 2007, 06:09:25 pm »

I have an 07 Yukon. It was squishy, but now that it is lowered and has 24" it rides just right. All personal preference. It will be a little softer than now...but if you like the ride then the LT will probably be stiffer. Just drive a little slower and it wont be quite so bad! $100/corner is a big difference. Winterforce has been a popular choice and gotten excellent feed back.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #6 on:** September 07, 2007, 08:45:05 pm »

07 Yukon, nice!

I put some 17", T-rated Pirelli Scorpion ATRs on our truck when it was new, but otherwise, it is bone stock. With the 24 inchers and the lowered suspension, I'd imagine yours is a much sportier ride. I've got the Civic for days when I'm feeling sporty, so I'm pretty happy to keep the Suburban stock, and enjoy that cushy, limo-like ride.

Anyway, I think I'm leaning towards the Winterforces. Seems like a great deal, but maybe the Hankooks won't be that much more expensive?

I guess I can put up with a little extra squishyness: I just hope I don't lose too much steering feel. The new rack and pinion box on these trucks is really superior to the older models, and I'd hate to lose too much of that to the softer tires. $:-\$

airbalancer · « **Reply #7 on:** September 08, 2007, 07:36:02 am »

Quote from: morty on September 07, 2007, 06:09:25 pm

I have an 07 Yukon. It was squishy, but now that it is lowered and has 24" it rides just right. All personal preference. It will be a little softer than now...but if you like the ride then the LT will probably be stiffer. Just drive a little slower and it wont be quite so bad! $100/corner is a big difference. Winterforce has been a popular choice and gotten excellent feed back.

Where the pictures ?!!!
Remember there are some of us who like big gas eater on the forum

morty · « **Reply #8 on:** September 12, 2007, 01:48:07 am »

Winterforce are a very good option. Tire is capable and pricing is right.

Yah..like the Yukon. Needed something to tow our cargo/car trailer and wanted it to be roomy and fun to drive. It was a little soft, so I lowered it with Eibach springs and installed 24". Problem solved. Looks great to...not so much fender gap. Even the wife commented on how much better it looked lowered. Don't get that very often.

I will work on the pics...it is thristy, but required for work. I was hoping with the variable displacement the fuel economy would be better. It isn't!

mrthompson · « **Reply #9 on:** September 12, 2007, 09:44:07 am »

I put a set of Winterforce tires on my wife's old Cavalier a few years back. They worked well in most conditions. They were a bit noisy, but otherwise a good buy IMO.

I'm not sure if they are available in the size you require, but I have had even better luck with Uniroyal's Tiger Paw Ice & Snow. It is a relatively quiet and smooth tire, which is surprising given the 'old school' looking tread pattern. The Uniroyals are comparable in price to the Winterforce. My '00 Focus and the wife's '99 Caravan are shod with the Uniroyals.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #10 on:** September 17, 2007, 02:33:44 pm »

The deal has just been done!

Tiretrends happened to have a set of GM take-off steelies in stock, so I decided to go with those instead of dealing with the hassle of buying cheap alloys off ebay.

That also means one-stop-shopping for me, rather than getting wheels, tire pressure sensors, and tires from different sources, then paying to have them mounted locally.

It was a toss-up between the Winterforces and the Hankooks, but I decided to go with the Hankooks. Not much feedback on them yet, but I'm curious to give them a try.

Total damage was less than $1,400, all-in. That's a few hundred less than I was expecting to pay, so I'm pretty happy. Saw some of the steelies on a Suburban last week, and they look pretty good, too. I'll post some pics once I get them on the truck.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #11 on:** September 30, 2007, 03:59:59 pm »

Still probably a month away from putting them on the truck, but here's a couple of pics of the wheels/tires as they currently sit in the garage.

I'm pretty optimistic about the Hankooks. Sure, they may not have quite the mega traction of the Japanese multicell/micro-bubble/walnut shell wonder-tires, but I think they'll be more than good enough for my purposes. I like the solid center tread and the larger tread blocks - hopefully that'll help make for a smoother, less squishy ride on bare pavement.

I'll be heading to Victoria and back with the truck sometime in November, so hopefully that will give me a chance to give them a workout in all manner of road conditions. I'll report back in case anybody's interested.

airbalancer · « **Reply #12 on:** September 30, 2007, 04:51:56 pm »

Nice
and not black steelies

HeliDriver · « **Reply #13 on:** September 30, 2007, 06:44:54 pm »

Quote from: airbalancer on September 30, 2007, 04:51:56 pm

Nice
and not black steelies

Yeah, the GM steelies don't look too bad. Chrome would have been nicer, but the silver paint is OK.

I really wanted another set of OE alloys (they're cheap on ebay - even with the shipping), but it was just too convenient to get everything from one source.

morty · « **Reply #14 on:** October 04, 2007, 01:17:21 am »

Looking forward to the report....

safristi · « **Reply #15 on:** October 05, 2007, 12:05:49 pm »

..somehow tha Pics make them look Bloated/overinflated..Fish_eye lens? or is somefing else FISHY??!! could be an optical illusion..that's wot all the girls tell me!!!

...solid looking set_up..ya should have NO EXCUSES being late fer WERK...

HeliDriver · « **Reply #16 on:** October 05, 2007, 01:30:51 pm »

Quote from: safristi on October 05, 2007, 12:05:49 pm

..somehow tha Pics make them look Bloated/overinflated..Fish_eye lens? or is somefing else FISHY??!! could be an optical illusion..that's wot all the girls tell me!!! ...solid looking set_up..ya should have NO EXCUSES being late fer WERK...

Hadn't noticed that, but now that you mention it, the pictures do look a little odd.

I think it's just because I had to use the widest-angle setting on the lens. The garage is so crammed with junk that I had to take the picture from up close.

Tires are 265/70R17 on a 7.5" rim, so there is just a little bit of sidewall bulge, but nothing extreme.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #17 on:** December 06, 2007, 01:40:13 am »

Well, we've had the tires on the truck for almost a month now, and put over a thousand kms on them in varying conditions, so I guess it's time for a report. I gave an initial impression in another thread ( http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/index.php/topic,55115.msg453372.html#msg453372 ), but the tires had less than 100 kms on them at the time, so that was probably a bit premature.

Anyway, I'm very happy with them on bare pavement. They're just as quiet as the Scorpion ATRs that we run in the summer, and only a tiny bit sloppier as far as handling goes.

As for snow performance, it's been snowing here since Sunday, with some freezing rain thrown in on Monday night for good measure. The roads are pretty bad, needless to say, and I've been sliding around quite a bit in my Civic with its fairly worn Yokohama IG-10s.

Just for fun, I took the Suburban out for a spin today, to see how it compared. I put it in 2WD, switched off the Stabilitrac, and set out to discover the tires’ limits.

Overall, I was pretty impressed. It took a huge dose of throttle to break the rear end loose in places where I had to gently feather the throttle & clutch just to get moving in the Civic.

Straight-line braking coming up to some snowy stop signs was impressive, too. Even cornering, where I felt the tires were weakest initially, was very good. I came into a few snowy corners pretty quickly, expecting some initial understeer, but the tires bit harder than I anticipated and pulled the truck right through.

The truck is my wife’s daily driver, and so far she says she’s happy with the tires. She’s not blown away by them like she was with our first set of Geolandars, but she says they are better than she thought they were going to be (she wasn’t too crazy about me buying a set of “no-name” Korean tires).

Of course, at nearly three tons, the Suburban is going to have a traction advantage no matter what tires you put on it. I can’t say how much better it would have been with a set of Blizzaks or Hakkas, but I’m happy enough with how it performs on the Hankooks.

Oh, and here’s some pictures too. I’m really liking the look of the steelies. Makes it look more truck-like to my eyes.

1TSX · « **Reply #18 on:** December 06, 2007, 01:42:43 am »

Massive truck!

mrthompson · « **Reply #19 on:** December 06, 2007, 08:37:22 am »

Lookin' good. Those steelies suit the vehicle better than the typical black ones