Tires to run all year in Alaska

I do about 1500 miles in the winter and maybe 8500 miles in the summer. Blizzacs are very good 10 ply winter tires but not good in the summer. I hear good things about Cooper Discover AT3 XLT. Could this be a good year round tire for me

 

Cooper Discoverer M+S is my All-time favorite for year round usage with lots of snow in the winter. They also perform well on any other slippery surface.

 

We don’t have dry snow like in the higher elevations. Ours is wet melts thaws and refreezes all winter it’s horrible. We live at sea level

 

Like mine at home in Switzerland, worst conditions for 4 months of the year.

That tire is sipped from factory and excellent for these weathers.
https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/cooper-discoverer-m+s-studdable/p/27420

 

I really like my Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT's as a year round tire here in Idaho.

 

That’s very good to know. You run then all year then

 

My winter driving is not very much anymore. I have changed tire twice a year for the last 22 years I need a tire that will go down the hiway in the summer but can still do a little winter

 

I have been really happy with the Falken Wildpeak AT3's on my Sequoia and know many people running them on our trucks with great results, really happy with them in snow and ice.

 

Those were my 2nd choice. I got a better deal on the Coopers.

 

I have been running Goodyear Wrangler Adventurer for the last 4 or 5 sets of tires. Some on my 01 and now on the 17 after the subpar transforce's wasted away which as far as I was concerned were crappy to begin with. I live in Colorado and drive 350 miles each way to the other end of the state to our property at least 15-20 times a year. I have to go over several mountain passes around 10k elevation to get there, hit dirt roads and is not uncommon for me to be in 4x4 for a couple hundred miles at a time in the winter due to snow conditions along the route. These have been some of if not the best tires I have ever run for the varied conditions I run into. Whether snow, slush, dirt, pavement wet or dry they perform well for me and my style of driving. They have 3 different skus for my size. I unfortunately use the more expensive sku it has one level of speed rating higher and the tread depth is a bit deeper than the others. Aside from that they appear to be the same tire (does the bit higher tread depth allow a higher speed rating or is there a bit of construction difference don't know). At one point in time this particular sku was touted as their prograde in this line but haven't seen anything about prograde for the last couple sets. Comes with 60k mileage warranty and I get close to that sometimes a bit more sometimes a bit less.

https://www.goodyear.com/en-US/tire...47&webProductId=2732&selectedSkuNbr=748108571


Aside from the above if these tires were to go away my next choice would be the Cooper Discoverer AT3's. They are cheaper and by most accounts have good reviews. I have considered switching to the at3's but figure if I am happy with what I am running why change.

 

Get Toyo's new AT111's the reviews are very favorable compared to the AT11's. When I got mine mounted at Discount they had a set of Falkens going back to the manufacturer for a construction defect. Stuff happens. I prefer a 3-ply sidewqall also on these heavy trucks plus employing southeast workers.

 

I personally wouldn’t run Toyo’s if they were free. Worst brand I’ve ever ran, and also the most expensive. Makes for a bad combo.

 

I'm the exact opposite in that case, I run the second set of Toyos now and trust them to hell and back. I've never had a tire that tolerated so much abuse as these. Milage, I don't care, but bring me back out of the boonies counts for me.

 

Ditto. My friend has logged easily over a thousand aired down miles on his Toyo AT11's in the Pacific Northwest of Baja. We're talking deep silt beds,sand,rocks with one small slow leak. He had it fixed out on the road at a llantera(tire shop) for $5.00. After five years of beatings he just traded them for another set. I had a set of 35's for years,sold them for $350 with 8/32" of tread left and bought some 285-75-17's. These things will outlast me.

 

I quit using Toyo years ago, so maybe their new stuff is better but I had more punctures and the worst tread wear with them… and not just one set. You know the old phrase of burn me once….

Dad had the same experience. All our rigs have Coopers now, and they produce nothing but smiles. I put a few hundred miles a year on them air down on some of the roughest roads in Idaho… really the only roads I’ve ever had flats on with any tire.

 

another vote for Falken Wildpeak AT3W

 

I'll stick my nose in here and say I have had nothing but good luck with Goodyear Wranglers. I always got a lot of wear out of them, and they were good to me off road and in inclement weather.

 

I've been running the Goodyear Wranglers on the shop plow/flatbed truck for years and they have been good. I'm also a fan of the Toyo open country tires, have had great performance with those and no problems with good wear. I get them siped when they install them.

 

Are you living in Anchorage? the Valley, on the Kenai Peninsula? I know growing up in Anchorage, I ran two sets, as I was traveling a lot in the winter. Summer set and winter set, I hate being stuck, loosing control on the road. You stated you live at sea level, I am just guessing. Besides not wanting to be stuck or in the ditch driving in bad weather with or with out the roads being plowed, My truck(car, SUV) is worth a great deal more than a set of rims and tires(hence have two sets of rims and tires for all the vehicles my wife, kids and self drive). Also you do not state what Model Ram you are running.
Currently I have a year round 4runner in Ninilchik on Hankook All season(really like this tire tread, but do not know if they have a size for my 3500) and my Stepfather with his plow truck (old ford 1 ton diesel)runs Toyo's AT-II year round, yes he will chain up when the snow is deep. Other wise These tires have served him well for many years, in Ninilchik, pushing a snow plow in the winter as well.
So, only 1500 miles a year, are you only in town? Never going out of town? Depending on if the roads are plowed?
So many Options one can choose. More information on your driving needs may help people offer up a recommendation.
the new Toyo AT III look pretty cool. I would try them if I needed a new set(I might try these next).
My 3500 has been on the road A lot this past year since I have bought them in August last year(close to 27k to date), All year long.
As for the Cooper's, I read and read on this forum and other forums on tires, I tried the Cooper AT3 XLT's and I find them OK, not great in the winter, especially on wet snow over a couple of inches. I will need 4 wheel drive in these conditions with and with out a load.
I do find these Coopers to be wonderful tires in Rain, dry snow, regular summer to 3 season tires. Tire wear is on track for it warranty of 50K miles(I never make this, I lived in a dirt road area, and tires with almost worn down depth do not work well on muddy roads)This is just my only experience with this model of tire. I do carry chains for any winter driving, and have been close to using the rear ones in a bad snow storm I did not want to stop in, then suddenly the road got better.
I have tried other sets of Coopers with mixed results. I typically go back to some tire brands, Michelin, Toyo, Goodyear(I have really really like the Duratrac in Winter, but have not tried them on a heavy truck).
I do not know If I could recommend the Coopers for Alaska. Maybe describe your uses better.

 

In town in winter not hillside. Huffman wife has Lexus. Truck is to haul camper in summer etc. work chores Must be 10 ply e rated for that. Just trying to get away from changing tires twice a year. Old and tired ran two sets for years