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Studded Snow Tires 78 Chinook


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I'm tryin to find a company that makes tires that can be studded for my chinook. 275/60. Anyone know of anything?

You've got me curious. Why? Wanting studs usually means you want better traction on ice. The usually means going with a thinner/smaller tire then used in good weather. That's the standard rule for any car or truck. Staying wide defeats your purpose (too much flotation). Something like a Cooper Discoverer M&S studded tire in 225/70-14" would suit your Chinook just fine. Just 1/2" smaller diameter and thinner. 1675 lb. rating per tires is more then enough for a Chinook rear. Or Mastercraft Glacier Grip II in 215/70-14" with 1" smaller diameter. 275/60-14" with studs would be kind of useless on ice and a bit dangerous on unfrozen wet-roads. Studs tend to make tires slips on wet pavement - especially when overly wide.

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I have 15 in wheels, my concern was with the weight and my clearance in my wheel wells. I stuck my hand I. There last night and I feel like I could afford to come up a couple in us without rubbin. I jus didn't know about going skinnier tires and hurtin the axels. I appreciate your help.

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Your rig came with 14 inch wheels so I don't think going smaller would hurt anything. Since there don't appear to be any winter studdable tires that big If that's what you need your going to have to go smaller. Just don't know how small you can go on those wheels. Pretty standard size tire is 235/75/15. Shouldn't have a problem finding a winter tire in that size.

Linda S

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Zack has the same rig as you and he runs 185r14 tires on his. Nope shouldn't matter. The only problem you have is the width of your wheels. Must be pretty wide and you need tires at least wide enough to fit. And tires with a big enough weight capacity.

Linda S

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What do you mean by "weight distribution?" A narrower tire puts more pressure against the ground per square inch of tire. That gives better traction in ice and snow.

A 235/70-15" tire will be the same approx. diameter as the 275/60-15" tire. Just a couple of inches narrower which is a good thing for driving on ice and snow. It will have less max weight capacity but I can't see how that's going to matter on a Chinook. I don't know what you have for wheels. Chinooks came new with optional L60-14" on the back with 8" wide wheels (I think). If you have non-stock 15" - with 275/60-15"s - then I assume your wheels are 7.5" to 9.5" wide. If so, the 235/70-15" studded snow tires will fit fine. Many companies make them. My two favorties for studded are the Firestone Winterforce UV and Cooper Weathermaster ST2.

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You're going down a rabbit hole here...I have an extremely long thread on a similar topic that pretty much went around in circles upon circles...but in the end I got the right info from JD and others on which wheels and tires are stock. But not really whether you'd be better off with the wider tires.

Your Chinook came stock with a much wider tire on the back. If you ask around here whether that was for good reason and should you keep it that way...good luck getting a satisfactory answer.

Chinook put stock 2wd Toyota pickup size tires on the all the pop-top Chinooks. But they put wide tires on the back of the Newport and Omega full-size models. To me...yes, there is a reason for this. Likely stability on the road, carrying the wider body of our campers. Probably to the detriment of the axles.

I took the wide tires off the back of mine, since I couldn't find them new in the right load range. Getting stock size tires for the back meant getting stock size wheels for the back, too. I haven't noticed a loss of stability on the road running the skinnier tires.

If you look at the Chinook label in the driver's side door, you'll see the recommended tire size from Chinook. They thought it should have wider tires in the back. But tires have changed..

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Also JD, what benefit do get from havin wider tires in the back? Why did the previous owner do this do you wonder?

I'm going to assume to get more weight carrying capacity without making the OD of the tire too high. Maybe the perceptioin of better handling? Wide-oval tires were big back then as a "sporty" option on many things. Chinook offered wide tires as a factory option with L60-14" tires in the rear (27.2" diameter). Standard was 7.50-14" (27" diameter).

Your truck was originally designed to have 27" tires in back for correct gearing and speedometer accuracy.. NOT 28" tires like you have now. So I assume your speedometer is a bit off and 1st gear and not a low as originally intended.

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Chinook put stock 2wd Toyota pickup size tires on the all the pop-top Chinooks.

Chinook offered wide tires and wheels as optional equipment on some of the pop-tops. The optional wider tires were D70-14" in front and L60-14" in back.

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out here in the west les shuab has studable 235 15 I run LT 235 15 tires on my 4wd xtra cab but they are shure a lot bigger then the 14 inch 195 75 I used to run on my 78 truck

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Where I live in NY - Firestone and Coopers are most popular for studded snows. They come in all the standard sizes and the correct diameter for a Chinook are easily found. Firestone Winterforce studded tire in 205/65-15" is the correct diameter if using 15" wheels.

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Despite living in the Great White North, I've never felt the need to install studded tires on any of my vehicles, especially with the advent of 'ice tires' (as opposed to 'snow tires').

Me either. Lived in Rochester until I was 27 and I never had studded snow tires nor did my family when I was growing up.

Linda S

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Despite living in the Great White North, I've never felt the need to install studded tires on any of my vehicles, especially with the advent of 'ice tires' (as opposed to 'snow tires').

Many people using studded tires where I live IF they have rear wheel drive vehicles. That's central New York. I also still use tire chains now and then. So does out local UPS truck. Problem is the studded tires are only legal part of the year. My daughter just got a ticket for driving with studs last week. She hadn't gotten around to putting her summer tires back on. She's got a front-wheel drive Toyota Echo and has studs on all four wheels. The "studless tires" with the soft tread compound work great on ice. Sometimes as good or better then studs. Often short-lived though. That initial layer of "soft tread" is thin and once you get X amount of miles on the tires - they lose their grip advantage. Nothing "uncommon" about studded car tires where I am. In the cities yes.

There have been many controlled studies done on snow tires comparing "studless" to "studded" tires. Both have proven advantages and disadvantages. In some areas near me -certain roads to not allow ANY cars or trucks unless they have studded tires or chains during the winter. If you get caught with "all season" or "studless" - you get a ticket.

One study:

The study pitted studded, all-season, and winter studless tires against one another in three conditions: packed snow, ice and wet pavement.

All-season tires performed competently overall, but didn’t do well on icy roads. On snow, the studded and studless winter models performed equally, although the studless models did better when cornering. Studless models were more expensive and wore faster than regular models, but maintained their effectiveness longer than studs.

On icy roads at temperatures close to freezing, studded tires ranked best, but had the longest list of downsides, too. They wear quickly on bare pavement, don’t perform any better on snow-packed roads, and cause road ruts and dust.

Alaska University Transportation Center in Fairbanks

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Another test/comparison done by Consumer Reports.

By the way - I've lived in rural hilly areas of central New York and northern Vermont for over 40 years. Studded tires have always been common where I've been - but less so now due to front wheel drive cars and the soft-compound studless varities. I'm sure there are people who think they are uncommon because most of their driving is on well maintained winter roads that get salted, plowed, and aren't real steep - especially near cities. Not the case here. Same goes for areas in northern Michigan. Many of the roads in Presque Isle County in Michigan stay ice covered all winter and the towns just cut grooves in the ice for traction. Many people here use studs - especially with rear wheel drive pickup trucks.

Putting studded, studless winter tires to the test

Most winter tires are what we call studless, that is, there's no provision for installing metal studs to enhance grip on icy roads. Based on our past testing, studded models do indeed grip well on ice, but they do not always out-perform studless models, which have more advanced winter tread compounds that stay pliable in the cold.

This year we tested four conventional studdable models, including the Firestone Winterforce, General Altimax Arctic, Hankook Winter I*Pike, and Uniroyal Tiger Paw Ice & Snow II. We call them "studdable" since they all come without studs, but you can usually have studs installed by the retailer at an extra cost. We also tested the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7, a tire from this latest group that comes studded right from the factory.

For studded tires, our testing is limited to snow traction, ice braking, ride, and hydroplaning resistance. We don't do braking and handling tests since the studs could damage the tire and our test track.

The Nokian proved to have excellent snow traction and the shortest stops on ice of any winter tire—even slightly better than the impressive studless Michelin X-ice Xi3. While ride compliance was impressive, there was no escaping the tire noise on cleared pavement.

You may have never heard Nokian, a Finland-based company that has been manufacturing winter tires since 1934, but this tire is the best choice if you need uncompromising winter grip, routinely encounter icy conditions, and are willing to accept the noise. (The name refers to warriors from Finland that fought during the Middle Ages.) But for many drivers, we feel there are better choices.

Our ratings detail the findings in numerous test areas, enabling you to quickly research the best balance of characteristics for your needs. If you're considering studs, consult your state's Department of Transportation for possible tire restrictions.

And if you're looking to buy winter tires, do it before the roads get slippery. By then, local tire inventory may be limited.

See our tire buying advice and Ratings.

—Gene Petersen

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out in Washington state I have a dodge stratus sedan which in winter wears 4 hankook W409 studed tires which of all the studed tires I have used since 1975 . I am very very pleased with their performance on ice and snow I live in eastern wash where we get winter. they were bought at LES shaub. AS JD says certain roads we have many mtn passes here where traction tires or chains are required not all season tires. BY the way the size I have is 205 65 15.

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