My 2004 Disco S came with factory 16" wheels which I just replace with a great set of 18" Hurricane's with Geolandar tires. I live in Seattle and am wondering if the 18" tires are good on the snow and ice or should I keep the 16" wheels and mount them on regular A/T tires or studded tires for winter?
How does the weight of the Disco handle on snow and ice with or without studs?

 

Which Geolander tire?
And once we know what Geolander you have, are you asking if that tire is good in snow, or are you asking if 18" tires are as good in snow as 16"?

 

Usually because of the tread designs that are available on the the 16" tires, they will be better in the snow, 18's tend to float on top of the snow and not get the traction you may wish you had.

 

Personally I'd put a street only tire (maybe a mild a/t) on the 18's, stock sized and a more aggressive a/t or m/t slightly bigger than stock on the 16's.

 

I have the Geolandar H/T tires. I was going to sell the stock 16" wheels but it sounds like I would be better off keeping them and buying a good A/T tire for winter?
What is a good tire for this purpose and should I stud them?

 

You will be fine with the 18"s if you had a more aggressive tread pattern.
The highway tread design on the Yoko's is pretty non aggressive, it is made to be quiet and smooth.
If you are going to keep the 16"s then just get a set of snow tires mounted on them.
Blizzak's are my personal favorite, but the Cooper M&S is also a snow tire and Wal-Mart sell's a tire called Wintermark.
No studding is needed, in fact it is illegal in most states.
Studs are only needed if you drive 100% of the time on ice, you will be driving 70% of the time on dry/wet roads. (they have snow plows there I am pretty sure)
Once the first snow hits put the snow tires on the truck, once the snow melts put the summer tires back on.
You can do this yourself in your driveway once you have the snow tires mounted on your rims.

 

The problem with Blizzaks is that the special rubber compound only goes down for 50% of the tread depth.
On Nokian, and some other winter specific tires, it's 100% of the depth.

 

hey, i am in kirkland,wa

look at my pics from this past winter and see what a rover on 18" wheels and tires will do in the snow and mountains.

rememeber this past winter we has 2 weeks solid of ice on roads (a lot of the seattle area) many of those days i was out driving around simply to see what the rover would not do. i never got stuck or failed to get where i was going.

just remember that the driver is 75% of the equation when driving on snow and ice. the vehicle has its limits,,, its the idiot people we see in the ditches and pinballing off of other cars who go beyond their driving limits and push past the vehicles limits.


i will also mention my tire make (falken st/z 04's) not the best tire in the world for off road driving or snow driving. but they were added free of charge when i asked to seller to replace the worn stock tires. i never used or needed chains or cables. all i did was air down the tires and went.

 

and dont stud your tires PLEASE!!!!!

roads around here are F'ed up enough as it is from asshats driving into june with their studded tires.

 

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the info! I am going to keep the 18" wheels for all around and sell the 16" rims.