Tire swap and snow driving

[NHRABill]

OK so I was in need of tires after noticing a small leak from one and general dry rot happening on pretty much all of them. My fuel mileage has been suffering as of late and I blamed it on the tires weather and winter gas.

So when choosing a replacement and being on a budget as always I was trying to get the best deal I could I originally planned on 2 new tires to replace the worst offenders of the 4 slightly used for a cool $150 Yes I checked the dates on the ires and used my own measuring tool knowing what the factory tread was from their website theere was only 3/32 of wear

Now here is the change I was running 265/70/17 goodyeah wrangler HT I made a slight change and bought the 255/70/17 General HT. I don't do much driving and when I do it is at low speeds one issue I was having was a problem trying to get into overdrive it will not engage till I hit close to 45mph.

I should have been more sientific about this and did a measurement prior to the change but I am hoping that the slight difference in tire height will allow me to reach 4th gear but I doubt it due to the extra tread I now have and the bald larger tires.

It will be a few weeks seen as we had almost 30" of snow and I have been playing taxi for the last few days taking several health care workers to the Hospital a few miles from my home. 4wd kills mileage but I rather my friend and neighbors get to work safe. Local streets finally plowed just a few momments ago.

Is anyone else cringing about what their mileage will be driving in snow?



Photo taken half way through storm another 12" fell on top of this I used my ecofriendly shovel and not a snowblower

[star_deceiver]

I lose about 5mpg with my studded winter tires. But they can crawl through mall parking lots and fly down the highway and around corners doing the speed limit/better with no issues. I have firestone winterforce, you can get better/$$$$ tires that give better mpg and better traction in certain circumstances but you shouldn't sacrifice traction on ice and snow to save an extra $2 at the pump!

[tecrench]

How much size difference? and does Tahoe have ABS?

[NHRABill]

I hear ya Star My wifes Cadillac SRX has nice new Nokian winter tires on it along with the AWD Her car would be the best in the snow and ice but the most expensive to fix. My el-cheapo Tahoe gets the job done just as nice just at a slower rate the General tires I bought were a nice highway pattern. I hope to have a set of nice winter tires on a 2nd set of rims for next year that would be the smart thing to do.

Do you run the winterforce all year or do a swap? I know you guys up north see mass amounts of snow in comparison I have family in Buffalo and see lots of winter tires running all year long up there ..

[NHRABill]

Originally Posted by tecrench

How much size difference? and does Tahoe have ABS?

The width is only 255 that is 10 mm less than the old set so slightly more narrow then you take that the tire height will also be adjusted because it is now 70% of the 255 not the 265 anymore.

and yes it has ABS 1995 it is the 1st year for the Tahoe and it came standard I believe my truck is a LT so it has some decent options.

[CapriRacer]

I am I reading this right that you replaced 2 tires on a 4X4?