I was going to say putting my ass in the driver seat was the first and best interior upgrade, but you make a great point about having the Mrs. in the passenger seat.
I put BFGoodrich Trail Terrain 265/70r18 on mine and haven't had any issues on dry/wet/snowy roads. The tires are 3 peak rated, and I do go up to Mammoth quite a bit. If you're in LA, you are probably hitting the Big Bear slopes, and would be fine on those windy roads. I should note, I did...
I've been using that style on my cars for many years, mostly driving up to Big Bear. I've never had a problem with them. Does your Ranger have 4WD, and Mud and Snow tires? The chain requirements up there right now are at R2, which means you won't need to use the chains if you're 4WD with Mud...
I went from 265/65r18 to 265/70r18, and bought an OEM wheel to accommodate the larger tire size for the spare. Now I do a 5-tire rotation. This size still fits under the bed.
40,485 miles. 2019 XLT FX4, bought new December 2019. The only mods so far: Eibach Pro-Truck Lift Stage 2, and taller tires (265/70r18 BFG Trail Terrain TA).