Hankook Tires

JimJa

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Think I've given my OEM FX4 tires a pretty good test (non-scientific) so far this winter so here's a little input.
- Miles on truck so far 8,000+
- Home: NW Wyoming
- 6 miles of gravel road to 2-lane highway. 100% snow covered/packed w/two feet of snow on the ground.

Comments: Late last week we received 12-14" on top of a foot of existing snow. The gravel road between the house and highway is 100% snow packed, slick in spots. All plowing is done by volunteers. The county gives no road assistance - winter or summer. To top it off, last week the front snow blower on my Kubota cab tractor died (never happens in your driveway right) so I had to drive about a mile through about 6-8" of snow. This is WY snow, light and dry, traction is totally different in the mid-west or eastern heavy moisture laden stuff. The time of day also makes a big difference in traction. Been cold (-11) and the snow squeaks underfoot. Great for traction in the morning. Afternoon (12 degrees) and after the sun has shown on the ground all day, traction is "iffy" and more caution is required. No problem with either and over-all traction was better than expected. A little slippage as was expected, but the hills (7-8% grade) were easy in 4x4. Have done a little driving on ice and traction is minimum, as expected, but grip better than than I thought.

Over-all for M&S tire I would rate these OEM Hankooks in winter as "very good." Not excellent and certainly not nearly as good as pure winter snow tire. They clean readily too. Quiet on the highway.

One thing well known is big lugged tires are NOT necessarily better for traction in snow than less aggressive tread patterned tires. The same is true for wide tire. You want a tire that can get down to where the traction is, and wide tires tend to "float" and do so without the grip of a narrower tire. Do your research for your needs.

Other experiences are welcome.
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Radioman

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Think I've given my OEM FX4 tires a pretty good test (non-scientific) so far this winter so here's a little input.
- Miles on truck so far 8,000+
- Home: NW Wyoming
- 6 miles of gravel road to 2-lane highway. 100% snow covered/packed w/two feet of snow on the ground.

Comments: Late last week we received 12-14" on top of a foot of existing snow. The gravel road between the house and highway is 100% snow packed, slick in spots. All plowing is done by volunteers. The county gives no road assistance - winter or summer. To top it off, last week the front snow blower on my Kubota cab tractor died (never happens in your driveway right) so I had to drive about a mile through about 6-8" of snow. This is WY snow, light and dry, traction is totally different in the mid-west or eastern heavy moisture laden stuff. The time of day also makes a big difference in traction. Been cold (-11) and the snow squeaks underfoot. Great for traction in the morning. Afternoon (12 degrees) and after the sun has shown on the ground all day, traction is "iffy" and more caution is required. No problem with either and over-all traction was better than expected. A little slippage as was expected, but the hills (7-8% grade) were easy in 4x4. Have done a little driving on ice and traction is minimum, as expected, but grip better than than I thought.

Over-all for M&S tire I would rate these OEM Hankooks in winter as "very good." Not excellent and certainly not nearly as good as pure winter snow tire. They clean readily too. Quiet on the highway.

One thing well known is big lugged tires are NOT necessarily better for traction in snow than less aggressive tread patterned tires. The same is true for wide tire. You want a tire that can get down to where the traction is, and wide tires tend to "float" and do so without the grip of a narrower tire. Do your research for your needs.

Other experiences are welcome.
Nice report of your experience with the tires in the winter. Thanks.
 

P. A. Schilke

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Think I've given my OEM FX4 tires a pretty good test (non-scientific) so far this winter so here's a little input.
- Miles on truck so far 8,000+
- Home: NW Wyoming
- 6 miles of gravel road to 2-lane highway. 100% snow covered/packed w/two feet of snow on the ground.

Comments: Late last week we received 12-14" on top of a foot of existing snow. The gravel road between the house and highway is 100% snow packed, slick in spots. All plowing is done by volunteers. The county gives no road assistance - winter or summer. To top it off, last week the front snow blower on my Kubota cab tractor died (never happens in your driveway right) so I had to drive about a mile through about 6-8" of snow. This is WY snow, light and dry, traction is totally different in the mid-west or eastern heavy moisture laden stuff. The time of day also makes a big difference in traction. Been cold (-11) and the snow squeaks underfoot. Great for traction in the morning. Afternoon (12 degrees) and after the sun has shown on the ground all day, traction is "iffy" and more caution is required. No problem with either and over-all traction was better than expected. A little slippage as was expected, but the hills (7-8% grade) were easy in 4x4. Have done a little driving on ice and traction is minimum, as expected, but grip better than than I thought.

Over-all for M&S tire I would rate these OEM Hankooks in winter as "very good." Not excellent and certainly not nearly as good as pure winter snow tire. They clean readily too. Quiet on the highway.

One thing well known is big lugged tires are NOT necessarily better for traction in snow than less aggressive tread patterned tires. The same is true for wide tire. You want a tire that can get down to where the traction is, and wide tires tend to "float" and do so without the grip of a narrower tire. Do your research for your needs.

Other experiences are welcome.
Hi Jim,

Well said....we have found this out many years ago in our cold weather testing, but the tire manufactures to a degree do not want this info out as they want to sell the more aggressive tread patterns. We found out with off road racing that conditions are such you need several tread patterns for the environment. The Short Course folks had tire grooving irons to create more edges in mud than the blocked treads of some tires to gain traction and some resorted to shaving the tread. Big block treads work well in the dry rocky desert, but not always the snow which packs between the lugs and makes for a almost racing slick.. I really just smile at the tire choice bigger is better tires...There is so much more to tires.... It is so much more complex than tire size and brand, be it BFG, Cooper or who ever...

Thanks for sharing your sage advice!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired
 

Deleted member 1634

We've had a good smattering of winter conditions so far here as well, so I'll add some thoughts.

What they're good at: Fresh snow. We've had storms anywhere from a couple inches to 24" at a time, and these tires do really well when it comes to that. 2H in good for most things less than 6-8". 4H is plenty for anything above that. Haven't tried 4L, locking the diff, or snow mode. Haven't needed to.

What they're NOT good at: Ice, slush, loose/well trodden snow. Ice is a real balancing act to get around most times, even breaks loose trying to maintain speed sometimes. 4H helps with that a bit, but I don't want to drive in 4H all the time on patchy ice-hardpack-clear roads. As far as slush and well trodden snow, the tires just can't clear themselves well enough to maintain grip. I'm not sure if the tread isn't deep enough, or wide enough, or it's just the specific pattern design. I'm in agreement that more aggressive tires aren't necessarily better, but these ones need something different.

If all we got here was snow all the time and the roads were covered in hardpack for 8 months (like it was back in the UP of Michigan where I grew up) then these tires would be golden. But we don't get much snow here (only 80-100" a year), and it gets cold, so most of the winter is spent driving on icy patched roads for weeks on end between snows, which is one of the downfalls of this tire.

In the end, for me, I'll ride out this winter with these tires, but I'll make a change for next winter, whether it's a different tires all-together (either Wildpeaks or Duratracs), or a dedicated set of snow tires. That's been my experience.
 

VAMike

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I'm not sure if the tread isn't deep enough, or wide enough, or it's just the specific pattern design. I'm in agreement that more aggressive tires aren't necessarily better, but these ones need something different.
For ice it comes down to siping and compound. The siping on the hankooks doesn't seem all that bad, so the issue is probably that they just get hard when it's cold. If you get something that stays pliable on ice, it comes apart in a few thousand miles down south--so you never see really good ice tires as factory standard. If I lived further north then getting winter tires would be a no-brainer. In these parts, the weather is just too variable--it can hit 60 in January, even if it was 0 the week before, and most years we don't get all that much lasting snow. Makes it hard to justify special tires when realistically I can just not go out if the conditions are lousy, and it'll be gone by the afternoon.
 


HenryMac

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What they're NOT good at: Ice, slush, loose/well trodden snow.
A few years back when we were moving up to the mountains of Central Colorado we drove through a hellish hail storm. There was about 4" of hail on the road.

At the time we had our Tacoma 4x4, equipped with Hankook Dynapro AT M's, and we were pulling a trailer. The only vehicles moving through the hail were 4x4's and AWD's. Passenger cars were all pulled of onto the shoulder.

The Dynapro's worked great for us.

Personally I like them better than BFG TKO's for all around daily driving. I was pleased when I saw Ford put them on the Ranger.
 

weasel1

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What they're NOT good at: Ice, slush, loose/well trodden snow...I'll ride out this winter with these tires, but I'll make a change for next winter...
I fully agree. Next winter it'll have a dedicated set of winter's. I'll most likely be putting on Hercules Avalanche Extremes on. Really good tire, cheap and are fantastic for the mixed crap I drive on. I have them on my Colorado and had them on my SUV.
 

Deleted member 1634

For ice it comes down to siping and compound. The siping on the hankooks doesn't seem all that bad, so the issue is probably that they just get hard when it's cold. If you get something that stays pliable on ice, it comes apart in a few thousand miles down south--so you never see really good ice tires as factory standard. If I lived further north then getting winter tires would be a no-brainer. In these parts, the weather is just too variable--it can hit 60 in January, even if it was 0 the week before, and most years we don't get all that much lasting snow. Makes it hard to justify special tires when realistically I can just not go out if the conditions are lousy, and it'll be gone by the afternoon.
Yeah, I understand about siping and rubber pliability. And obviously these aren't as good as dedicated snow tires. Those things are magic. I knew that going in. This winter was all about testing and gathering data. I don't like replacing something or adding something without any personal experience in using it. People have such subjective opinions on things, just the nature of everyone being different, so it's hard for me to take someone else's opinion or experience as the end all. Sure, I'll take it into account, but I don't make any decisions until I do my own testing. Just the way I am. Everyday I drive, I learn something more about this truck and these tires, to aid in my decisions in the future.

Also, the comment about tread pattern issues was more regarding churned up snow and slush, not ice. A different tread would allow the snow to be thrown out of the tread as the wheel spins, allowing it to grab again on the way round the next revolution. These end up holding onto the churned up snow, turning the tire smooth, which obviously doesn't help. At least in my experience.
 

Cali_Ranger

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Very good review!! I will give these a consideration once my OEM H/T's wear out..
 

T-Wrecks

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The Hankook Dynapro ATs are highly rated AT tires, which is why I put them on my 2012 Escape I was using as a truck for a for years. They worked great in all conditions. But due to alignment issues with a lift kit they cupped after 15k and became VERY noisy (like a semi). The obnoxious noise was one reason why I started thinking about a new Ranger! My buddy has put quite a few miles on them with his Tacoma and they are quiet so maybe that won't be an issue. I've also had Coopers, BFGs and General Grabber ATs, I think I liked the Generals the best. But with only 750 miles on my Ranger I still have time to think about it.
 

DavidR

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In the end, for me, I'll ride out this winter with these tires, but I'll make a change for next winter, whether it's a different tires all-together (either Wildpeaks or Duratracs), or a dedicated set of snow tires. That's been my experience.
My approach as well (though probably not snow tires out here). As the OP mentioned, I think they do okay for an M+S rated tire, but not as well as most three-peak-rated A/Ts. I'm also planning to replace them next year, though I might hang on to them and put them back on for a few more summers to get more use out of them.
 

Hounddog409

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My approach as well (though probably not snow tires out here). As the OP mentioned, I think they do okay for an M+S rated tire, but not as well as most three-peak-rated A/Ts. I'm also planning to replace them next year, though I might hang on to them and put them back on for a few more summers to get more use out of them.
The wildpeaks are the best tires in snow that i have owned. Better that BFG, better than duratracs.

But they are horrible for mpg's.

I have the Bridgestone's AT on my STX.

Not too happy with them in the snow/ice. Hope they wear fast.

Anyone have experience with the hancook at2's???? Would be intersted in comparison with the atm's.
 

JakeNB

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I live in NB Canada on the Bay of Fundy coast. We have lots of wet snow, freezing rain and ice. I bought a set of
Hankook - I Pike RW11 studded winter tires and put 275 pounds of traction sand in the back over the rear wheels. Hasn't snowed since I had them installed - but I'm ready!!
 

HenryMac

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I have the Bridgestone's AT on my STX. Not too happy with them in the snow/ice. Hope they wear fast.
:idea: Burnout, rotate, burnout, rotate, burnout, rotate, burnout, new tires. :shock:

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