9.00 x 20 Tires, good in snow?

[General Mcgregor]

Hi I'm new to the site so my apologies if this subject has been discussed before. I'm a 20 year old New Hampshireite and I just bought a 1972 M35A2C in the spring. It's been a great rig all summer, I drove it almost every day for a couple months while the transmission was installed on my pickup. It's a real head turner and it has made me really popular among the local off-road enthusiasts. The winter is fast approaching and I've been wondering if I should risk my big Deuce on the snowy New England roads. My friend says the 9.00 x 20 tires should work great! (as long as I'm going straight) Another guy I know said they are thin enough to hold traction but wasn't sure weather or not the tread would be good in snow. And a third guy said I should get chains! I am a voulenteer Firefighter and I would like the peace of mind knowing that if a blizzard or ice storm hits I can use the Deuce for reliable disaster transportation. Has anybody tested these tires in the snow? How do they perform?

 

[hndrsonj]

I don't like NDCC's in the snow.

 

[AceHigh]

NDT means No Darned Traction.

 

[ODdave]

not great in the snow (be carefull when turning) they do good for what they are on a sraight away. Chains shure would be sweet. i wish i could fit them on mine

 

[Heavysteven]

I lowered the tire pressure on mine and they did extremely well.

 

[General Mcgregor]

What would you recomend for a running psi??

 

[JasonS]

I couldn't get out of the driveway with my 900s. I lowered the air pressure until I had substantial squat and drove right out. Be careful when airing them back up. Keep your body parts out of the path of the lock ring.

 

[ctmustang]

Until the snow gets packed on the road they will do ok at around 20-25 psi but I'll never do it again. I wouldn't even do it with chains! If you end up in the ditch imagine how hard it will be to get it out or $$$$$$$$$$$! And why take the chance of smashing into somebody else it just isn't worth it. Just my thoughts but everybody has to go their own way!

CT

 

[General Mcgregor]

Does anybody know a good alternative for the NDCC's??

 

[dragonwagon]

I intend to do some home siping on the stock tire , probable some groving too . The difference between a good and bad snow tire is the number of small notches and grooves to catch on the snow .

No gurantee that this will take the tire to great or even good but ill make a post about it after we have snow in Mi. Take some photos , show what i did and how it did or didnt work . Iv had very good luck with this on agressive off road tires ran on my regular off road Jimmy .

 

[hndrsonj]

My best guess would be firestone 831's.

 

[dittle]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLzhRJcjJwk&feature=related[/media]
I would say that if you chain it you should have no worries

 

[Gunner0311]

My son has been sayaing he would like to experiment with siping some of
the stock 900x20 tires, but we were unsure what size cuts we should be
making?? He is going to use our GMC M207 as his "snow storm driver"
this winter and we already know that the stock tires will slide like crazy
on slick pavement.

My experience with fire trucks during winter months in deep snow was
very favorable however. We never aired down the tires on any of the trucks,
and they performed in the deep snow very well.

 

[Gravel]

Saw this thread yesterday when poking around with the same question as the op.. Thinking about combining this with siping.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/46633-9-00-x-20-snow-tread.html

 

[cleb]

I ran NDT's on my M35A2 in Idaho for a winter. I drove mostly on compact snow and ice. It was slick, but I didn't feel unsafe. Just anticipate stops and turns a LOT sooner, and go slow. Stay away from sidehill operation, things get scary fast. Chains will help.

 

[General Mcgregor]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLzhRJcjJwk&feature=related[/media]
I would say that if you chain it you should have no worries

Thanks for the video! I think I'm gonna chain them. To be honest I dont even want to attempt altering the tire tread, unless I have a sufficent ammount of spares incase I screw up...

 

[Josh]

Another thing to do, is put between 1000-2000lbs of gravel/sand in the bed of the truck. Helps the tires get traction, and you have an abrasive so if ya do have issues, you can shovel some under the tires.

 

[rlwm211]

I did a little snow and ice deuce driving last winter and was very cautious at the outset and more so after the roads got slushy. I decided afterwards that the deuce is capable in the snow, and that I would rather take my 3/4 ton suburban 4x4 with the aggressive mud and snows any day of the week if I need to get out and about.

Adding weight will help, but will add stopping distance as well.

Chains are a must in a MUST GO situation.

Otherwise, use your head, use something else if you can. Save your MV from the salt.

Just my two cents

RL

 

[hndrsonj]

My son has been sayaing he would like to experiment with siping some of the stock 900x20 tires, but we were unsure what size cuts we should be making??

Cranetruck wrote either an article in MVM (or maybe it was a thread here) that totally covered this. Anyone have it?

 

[doghead]

Found this http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/5965-ndcc-tire-siping.html and several other threads, when I did a general search for "siping"!