What's a good ski-rig tire?

[@dam]

My 235/75 R15 BFGoodrich T/A KO's on my '95 XJ sport are getting pretty old. I've also never been exactly happy with them in the snow (roads with a hard-packed layer of snow and ice on them)

My Jeep now is pretty much just used on ski trips/snow days in the winter, and on a few mountain bike and camping trips in the summer.

This usually involves a long highway drive followed by some critical windy-road snow driving at the end in the winter, or a little light off-roading at the end in the summer.

Consequently, I don't want anything too awfully noisy (exhausting after a long day of skiing), or too bad at handling in the summer...but I do want something that's better in the snow than what I have now. Less expensive than the KO's would be nice, too. The KO's are actually surprisingly good for the dry-road portion and a little off-roading in the summer, but they just get too hard to grip the ice in the winter.

I haven't ruled out new KO's, and possibly get them siped, but I'm looking for some suggestions for something more suitable. Since the car doesn't get driven that much anymore tread life isn't all that important.

 

[BrokenSockets]

What size are you running?

 

[ARB-XJ]

Price is going to probably be a issue for getting a good snow tire, but IMO i love MT Baja MTZ's, they preformed flawlessly in the snow for me

 

[Milford Cubicle II]

Perelli Scorpion ATR's or Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revos

Both are dead silent on the highway and I was very impressed with how they handled light to heavy snow. But I would say the Scorpions got better ice/packed snow traction (they have a much smaller footprint) but they didn't compromise dry traction either so it was kind of a win-win. Both are great tires though.

 

[@dam]

edited- I'm 100% stock. Currently running 235/75 R15

 

[lazyxj]

My 235/75 R15 BFGoodrich T/A KO's on my '95 XJ sport are getting pretty old. I've also never been exactly happy with them in the snow (roads with a hard-packed layer of snow and ice on them)

I have worn out two sets of Bridgestone Revos and currently most of the way through a set of BFG KOs. The Revos worked better for me in the snow and on the road and they quieter, when new. Neither the Revos or KOs will work as well as a dedicated winter snow tire.
The KOs are not bad and they do have snowflake on the side so they are a certified S&M tire. Off-road, both of them perform about the same IMO.
I would still run Revos if they were available in 33 X 10.50s.

Since you have not included any information about location, or anything else, in your profile, it's a little tougher to give advice not knowing if you live in the snow belt or do snow only on weekends, like we do here in SoCal.
Why not go RED and include some information about youself and your Cherokee in your profile?

 

[BrokenSockets]

If this is for Ski country, and you are all stock, I would say get some real dedicated winter snow/ice tires. Maybe Hankook W409's or Michelin X-Ice?

I know the Firestone Winterforce are cheap ( less than $70 each on tirerack.com) but may be crappy - I don't really know anything about them performance-wise.

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

x2 on the Revo's Or Either of the new Good/years Duratrac/Kevlars..

 

[ERock62]

I have Hercules Terra Trac AT's. They are cheap and quiet on the road and work well in the snow I have driven on.

 

[@dam]

Thanks. I'm in New Mexico, so skiing is a 3-3.5 hour drive up to Taos...1/3 freeway, 2/3 highway, which is rough and windy in spots. Most of the time the road is dry...except on the occasional powder day where it can be snowy the whole way up. Most often it's cold and dry the whole way up, and icy patches the last 10 miles.

This is our extra car used for skiing, mountain biking, and camping, so I really don't want two sets of wheels and tires. For summer...or even local driving before I hit the snow, the snow tires don't perform well. Noisy, poor cornering and braking, etc.

 

[Crawler]

These are awesome...

http://www.offroaders.com/reviewbox/showproduct.php?product=681

 

[BrokenSockets]

Where you live is a big factor - The B.C. Interior or Nevada? You say you will be doing highway driving to get there - will the highways also be snow and ice covered for most of the winter (like they are here)?

 

[BrokenSockets]

Well, forget the dedicated winter tire then, especially if you only want to buy one set for year round use.

If you lived up north, it would make more sense.

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

First off where do you live/ski? I've used the KOs and they are the best snow tire I have ever used on my own rig. You are not going to get much better unless you go to a tire designed specifically for the snow.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...R5DMV1XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

[cruiser54]

Don't overlook the Kumho KL78. Excellent in snow, sporty handling in the dry. Read the reviews on www.tirerack.com. Inexpensive , too, about $85 per tire in your size.