Hello all,
I've been lurking around these forums for awhile but haven't posted much. I bought my H3 about a year ago and I'm in love with it!! I have a white 07 H3x - so it has the 18 inch rims. I've read the hundreds of posts about putting larger tires on without a lift and I have a question for those of you who have larger tires. How do those A/T or mud tires handle in the snow?? Everything I've ever heard about snow tires states the narrower the tire - the better. So going to a 305 or 315 concerns me a little. I have the stock 265 Duellers and they were pretty good last year but they're not aggressive enough for me.

I use it as a daily driver, I go out in every snow storm, and I'm looking to find some trails and take it off road. I'm in Orange County NY - about an hour from the city, so if anyone is in the area, let me know!

Also, I don't have the key for the spare lugnut and I'm trying to remove the spare. Any ideas on a way to get that off without having to go to the dealership??

Thanks!

 

I just bought an 09 and had the dealer install 305/70/16 Goodyear wrangler Duratracs and love them. We had our first inch of snow this morning and the tires were great. They really make the H3 look great. An 18" version would handle a little nicer than these 16's. Big lugs for mud and sipes for snow/ice.Goodluck!

Wish I had more power to get this thing sideways with less effort. I think I want to buy an alpha and do a head/cam package. Trick Flow's 455hp package would be perfect. And a 100 shot... and a 3500 stall.

 

Narrow = good snow tire is way old school.... and that is from an old guy too. The theory was a narrow tire would dig down through the snow (and/or snow pack) to traction.

So I ask you, how far down do your 265s have to dig down on the snow covered pavement? No very. You might if you were off road in snow, but those 265s are for crap off pavement anyways.

I have 305 MTZs (the Mickey Thompson MTZ is not truely a Mud tire, just a more aggressive AT) and they are awesome. I ran many many sets of BFG ATs on Chevy/GMC trucks over the years, the MTZs are better. Any 305/315 AT will be substantially better than the 265 street tries you have now.

I'll leave you with this, in the winter of 80/81 over the Xmas holidays, my built Silverado on 33x12.5 15R BFG ATs was the last wheeled vehicle to get in and out of the Pere Marquette State Forrest in MI. Two miles off the pavement, had to stop twice to get the snow that pile up on the hood from blocking my view out the windshield. I was trying to close out the archery deer season in a fantastic cedar swamp where I had seen a monster buck weeks before, but every Tom Dick and Charley snowmobiler kept stopping by my truck and yelling out in the woods to see if I was stuck. Should have left a note on the window, "This is called "parked" GTF outa here I'm trying to hunt!

Picture of the old girl from the summer of 81 to go with story time.

 

Simple: Turn off the StabiliTrac, no extra power needed.


Oh, and BTW, I can get you that same 50-75 HP boost with the h3 Alpha without ever messing with the heads, complete relaibility, and none of the headaches of roller rocker short life spans. I also do not believe their top end kit has an application for post 2005 Gen IV motors??

 

Share you secrets Doc!

 

I run a set of 35" DuraTracs and they are rated by Goodyear as 10/10 in the snow and they live up to that rating with flying colors. I actually look forward to the big snow storms.

The H3's are heavy enough that, unless you're driving through 3 feet of snow, you'll be able to dig down and get traction fairly easily. The key to winter tires is siping. If you look at Blizzaks, they have a crap load of sipes and big lugs to get traction in the snow.

I was torn on what tire to get, but in the end the decision was made by the weather where I live and the fact that I use my truck as a daily driver. I was thinking about going with the Mickey Thompson MTZ or the Cooper STT's, but ended up going with the DuraTracs, because of the fact that it's an AT tire with the looks of a mud tire.

 

i intended to post the following here, put it elsewhere,,so;

i dont have confidence in snow. im ok on sno roads but not in 6 inches. fat tires seem like sno boards,slide,dont steer, and especially slide sideways down a slope.

last yr in 07 with goodyr 265 i got too close to the slope in my back yard and struggled to move far enuf to avoid brush and trees. then ,a dummy, i got a run at it and it got worse. as i tried,i got closer to trees and parked for the nite and dug out in morn. i simply could not move without sliding sideways.

this yr in 10 h3 adv im not doing much better in 5-8 in. powder snow. im testing lock modes and r-f/r lockers. i find lockers dont do much and front locked wont steer much at all so i assume if im in sno over grass or weeds i will have trouble.

im really reluctant to try away from home with no help around.

btw,on a rainy trip,nov, i slid sideway briefly on a slo turn and also when braking when i would have felt safe in the 07. i think the lt285 bridgestones are not so sticky as the gdyr 265 which never slipped in 14 month i drove it,rain sno shine except in snow on grass

just for what its worth,YEARS ago my son had a intl scout with reg,thin tires,not snow. i could drive down a grassy slope with 8-10 inches and BACK UP , i never could stick that thing,noway!!

i cant do that in my hummer. good on road,,not off road.

 

Thanks, I like the look of the DuraTracs as well and I think I'm going to get those but for 18's they only have 295 and 325 - nothing in between. I don't think the 325's will fit the stock rim so I may have to go with the 33's. Either way I'm looking forward to some big storms this year!!

 

I agree with Doc... Nothing more to add than what jenready stated

As far as the factory spare removal, make sure the key isn't in the back door panel or with the jack, than got to your local auto parts store and ask them if they have a stripped lug nut removal socket... It will remove it you'll just need another lug nut... If they don't have it, I do and can send it and another OEM lug to ya if youd like... But it may cost ya a beer and some offroading with a Nutmegger lol

 

Thanks for the info and the offer! I would have gladly purchased some beer for it but since I was taking off the entire assembly to go for the clean look I just reached behind the rim and took off all the bolts to remove it in one piece. Now when I have some time I'll go get a kit or to the dealership to remove the spare from the assembly.