snow tires

[cookiedough]

WOW, is all I can say never had a set and totally amazed at braking and cornering without slidding all over the place have only used mediocre all season tires previously.  Takeoff is awesome as well with very minimal slippage not spinning tires hardly at all either.  Wife wanted a set on her FWD SUV with crappy stock Kumho tires slipping and slidding all over the place even when new.  Well worth the 690 price for 18" bridgestone blizzaks used but like new with 12/32" tread left under 2,000 miles used OEM was 14/32" tread when new plus new steel black rims got as well mounted/balanced/ and put on our FWD SUV vs. having to go buy new tires would've cost me 1100 bucks.  Gotta love craigslist!

[chrise2469]

That's a good price for four blizzaks mounted on steelies.

Once you've used real snow tires, you can see how an all-season is really only a 3 season tire.  Swap them back when the temps stay above 44F. 

Drive safe.

[98 T]

3 seasons ago I go Blizzaks for my Honda Mini-van... changed my world of winter driving.  I got a set of steel rims from Honda for $200 and wouldn't you know, you have to get a different lug nut! (another $75 for 20 lug nuts)... now I can wait right up until the last minute before our first big snow storm of the season and change out my wheels in 35 minutes or so...

Rides like it's a 4wheel drive in the snow!!

They're not cheap, but neither is an accident  because you couldn't stop in time.

[Thulsa Doom]

Agreed - snow tires are key.
Just in case anyone is interested. Last year I bought new tires for my truck. I bought BF Goodrich All Terrain TA/KO in size 265/75-16. Here's the thing: they're available in both 'S' and 'Q' rating. The 'S' has the snowflake severe snow rating, the 'Q' does not. So if that kind of thing matters to you as it does to me, make sure to do your research and get the best tire for your needs.

[cookiedough]

Question for those using black steel rims:  The 18" rims did not come with a center hole cap/cover to cover up the hole in the middle exposing the middle probably why the rims were only 75 bucks each and no lug nuts provided so used my existing SUV OEM lug nuts.   The front tires in the center have a star/lock nut system in the middle held on by a very heavy duty cotter pin while the backs just have a big hole thru the center is all.  Should I see if these rims (of course made in china) you can get a center cap/cover to cover up the middle to avoid rust and corrosion in WI winters being on 4 months is all?  Maybe just spraying some wd-40 1-2 times per month all over would be good enough?

[big d]

i always put snows on our cars. if you order from tire rack you can order steel rims for @ $45 and have the tires mounted and balanced for free. also all necessary lug nuts are included at no extra charge. p.s. they are mounted, balanced and inflated ready to put on the vehicle...

[cookiedough]

i always put snows on our cars. if you order from tire rack you can order steel rims for @ $45 and have the tires mounted and balanced for free. also all necessary lug nuts are included at no extra charge. p.s. they are mounted, balanced and inflated ready to put on the vehicle...

I tried tire rack and discount tire both for steel rims or even alloy rims.  Both did not have 18" steel rims for my SUV for whatever reason I don't know, only alloy being around 120 bucks on up.  I even priced out tirerack.com for 17" steelies they did have in stock if I bought 17" snow tires and price was still 75 bucks each but did include the center cap cover and lug nuts.  75 dollar steelies is better than 120 for alloys. Now our SUV looks tough and rugged like a police vehicle.   Tire rack for free mounting and balancing is o.k. deal but it only cost me at my local tire shop in town 14 total for balancing all 4 tires and 16 total to mount tires on steel rims so for the 30 bucks it cost me plus 6 bucks for valve stems total is still a heck of a lot cheaper than paying for the shipping charges to deliver them from tirerack to my house.