Swap the Nitto Ridge Grapplers for a Set of Snow Tires

The weather is almost perfect at the moment. Fall brings with it cooler temperatures, but nothing that calls for parkas and thermal socks. Sure, you have packed away your summer clothes and wear a sweater, but it’s really not bad outside.

Fall is a beautiful time of year, but winter is ready to make its entrance. Many parts of the country have already experienced some snow, your neck of the woods could be next.

In preparation for winter, you dust off the snow blower, have your radiator fluid checked and pull the electric blanket from the depths of the hall closet. But if you are shunning your tires, you are not as prepared for winter as you might think.

Back in the day, everyone would swap out their summer tires for snow tires. That is, until the late 1970s, when all-season tires were introduced. This was about the time when the bi-annual tire-changing ritual became seemingly obsolete.

Nobody questioned dropping this ritual, it was mighty convenient not having to swap out tires twice a year. But if you live in an area of the United States that suffers snowy winters, you might want to seriously consider snow tires. While your Nitto Ridge Grapplers from BB Wheels are perfect for your off-road adventures in the summer, snow tires might make more sense in the winter.

There might be some confusion, after all, many of you might think all-season means that these tires are good for spring, summer, fall AND winter. And, well, you are kind of right. You see, all-season tires perform pretty well in the winter, but for optimal performance in the snow, you need snow tires.

Consider this: Stick a Snickers, or Milky Way if that's your preference, in your freezer. At first, it’s all gooey and soft, but after a few hours it freezes and turns brittle and hard. The rubber used in an all-season tire is kind of like that Snickers, it gets hard and brittle when the temperature is cold. Once this happens, it loses much of its grip and traction.

It might be a huge inconvenience to buy snow tires for the winter, but there are compelling reasons to do so.

All-But-One-Season Tires

They may be called all-season tires, but all-but-one-season tires would be a more accurate description. All-season tires are really a compromise on several levels. For optimal performance, the road conditions need to be dry. That is, all-season tires perform best when the conditions are right. They do good enough in rainy or otherwise wet conditions, but asking them to perform well in snowy conditions is asking too much.

Why Snow Tires are Different

Winter tires are different from all-season tires in a number of ways. The rubber used in snow tires is different than the rubber used in all-season tires as it is formulated to stay flexible when the temperature gets cold. This maximizes the grip your vehicle has on the road. The tread of a snow tire is optimized for traction in the snow.

Extra slots are cut into the tire surface to provide edges that grab onto snow and hold it against the tire surface.

But I Drive an All-Wheel Drive Vehicle

So what? All-wheel drive systems do an awesome job in getting you moving in snowy and icy conditions, but it is the tires that help us steer and stop. The all-season tires on your SUV or crossover maximize efficiency and are quiet on the road, but at the expense of winter performance.

So if you wish to be well prepared this winter, you can start by ordering snow tires from BB Wheels.