Differences To Look For In New Off-Road Tires

Why Not All Off-Road Tires Are Created Equal

Coming into the colder months here in North America means that traveling by automobile becomes a little more treacherous, especially for those of us in areas that rarely go above 45 degrees Fahrenheit during winter. A tire's compound starts to lose its traction once the ambient temperature drops under this point, and for this reason, it's important to know which tires are best suited for winter traveling - today, we'll show you how the most winter-ready tires are constructed, and how you can make sure that you've got all the performance you need to handle snow, cold temperatures, and everything else that the end of the year brings our way.

Table Of Contents

-How Cold Weather Affects Tire Composition

-What Are The Best Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake Rated Tires?

-What Are The Best Dedicated Winter Tires For Your Off-Roader?

-Should You Have Separate Tires For Winter and Summer?

How Cold Weather Affects Tire Composition

The physical change we mentioned above is called a "glass transition" and, simply put, this is the temperature at which a tire gets harder due to the molecules within the rubber compound mixture starting to move less freely.

This is why all-season tires are not actually all-season tires, as they become brittle and lose some of their traction when it's under 45 degrees. However, all-weather tires, all-terrain tires, or hybrid tires that feature the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake Symbol (3PMSF) have a special blend of polymers that are specifically designed to perform well even in freezing temperatures.

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What Are The Best Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake Rated Tires?

A few of the best tires that we've seen work really well for truck, SUVs, 4x4s, and all-wheel drive vehicles that feature the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake rating are top models like the Kenda Klever AT2, BFGoodrich KO2, Mickey Thompson Baja Boss All-Terrain, Falken Wildpeak AT3W, and Milestar Patagonia Hybrid XT.

All of these tires not only feature the 3PMSF rating, but they all have a large amount of siping with plenty of snow and water evacuation channels. These are all multi-purpose on and of-road tires that can be run year-round, but just be aware that these are not dedicated winter tires, so you'll get some added traction in the winter months with these, but they're still not gonna perform as well as dedicated winter tires will.

What Are The Best Dedicated Winter Tires For Your Off-Roader?

If dedicated winter tires are what you're looking for specifically, then a few great tires to check out are the Cooper Discoverer Snow Claw, Bridgestone Blizzak, Firestone WinterForce, and Toyo Open Country WLT1.

Another important point to mention about the different blends of compounds is that a true Winter Blend compound, like the tires we just mentioned, are not gonna perform well in warmer temperatures. That's because the tire compound will become too soft and the tire itself will essentially just melt away - basically, the rubber will melt away from the tire as you accelerate, corner, brake, or pretty much anything else.

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Should You Have Separate Tires For Winter and Summer?

This is why it's important to have a set of all-season or all-weather tires for the warmer months, and store away your dedicated winter tires for the summer. It's the best solution for maintaining the best traction throughout the entire year, but it's also the most costly, seeing as you'll have to purchase two sets of tires.

On top of that, most people who do it that way will also purchase an additional set of wheels or rims to mount the winter tires on - that way, they can avoid the additional costs and hassles of having to swap the tires off the wheels and back on again a couple times a year. It's also the reason as to why tire manufacturers are working so diligently on bridging the gap between an all-season and a dedicated winter tire by having a blend of compound that meets the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake performance certification.

Obviously, it's more beneficial to tire brands to sell us two sets of tires - one for summer and one for winter - but the issue is that rarely does anybody do that anymore. Don't get us wrong, though - there are still a lot of safety-conscious folks out there who aren't taking any chances when it comes to winter driving on ice or in blizzards, and they want that extra traction with dedicated winter tires. It's even the law in places like Canada, where in Quebec you legally need to run winter tires from December 1 to March 15, and in British Columbia those tires need to be at least Mud Plus Snow rated or Three Peak Mountain Snowflake Rated.

Read More: Emergency Response Gear To Carry In Your Off-Roader During Winter

Shop All-Weather Tires For Your Off-Roader At TrailBuilt Off-Road

Even with all this, the large majority of us would rather just save that extra money, run one set of tires year round, and do our best to drive safely in crappy weather, and the tire manufacturers are well aware of this. That's why they're continuously working on new blends of compounds and improving tire tread designs in order to be working towards safer and safer tires for all of us, one that you'll be able to run at any point in the calendar year.

Make sure to head over to our store and grab the set of all-weather or winter tires that best suits your off-roader, and we can get your build set up right for the upcoming season. Free mounting and balancing are available when you package your new wheels and tires together, so if you've been in the market for a great set of tires, now is the perfect time. We'll see you out on the trails!