Rochester, MN64 posts · joined Nov 20252020 Lincoln Aviator Reserve AWD
2020 Aviator Reserve AWD, Rochester Minnesota, so this is not a hypothetical for me. it came on 21 inch wheels with summer oriented all seasons and the first real snow of 2023 taught me exactly what those are worth, which is nothing. i slid through a stop sign at 8 mph in front of a cop who was kind enough to just shake his head.
so here is the question for the big SUV crowd. do you run winter tires on the factory 21s and 22s, or do you buy a second smaller wheel, usually an 18 or 20, mount winters on it, and swap twice a year. i have done one winter each way now and i have opinions but i want to hear the Escalade and Navigator people since you are all on 22s from the factory.
the case against buying a second set is that a 20 inch winter wheel and tire package for one of these is 1,400 to 2,000 dollars by the time you are done, and that is real money. the case for it is that winter tires in a 20 inch sidewall ride better, cost less per tire than the 22s, and you are not curbing a 1,100 dollar factory wheel in a snowbank in march.
gx460_reliablePatron#2
Boulder, CO38 posts · joined Nov 20252019 Lexus GX 460 Luxury
second set, every time, and it is not close once you have done the math over more than one winter.
a 22 inch winter tire is a specialty item and you pay for it, 350 to 450 a corner for the good ones. a 20 inch winter in the same quality is 200 to 260. you make back most of the cost of the second wheel set over two or three winters just in tire price, and your expensive summer wheels spend the salt season in the basement instead of getting pitted and corroded at the bead, which is a real thing that makes them leak later.
Boulder gets less snow than you but more ice, and the taller sidewall of a 20 is genuinely better on frost heaves and broken pavement. i would never run a 22 in winter by choice.
grand_wagoneer_ownerPatron#3
Greenwich, CT33 posts · joined Nov 20252022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Series II
i will take the other side just so it is argued honestly. i run dedicated winter tires on my factory 22s on the Grand Wagoneer and i am fine with it.
reasons. i do not have a garage with room for eight wheels and a tire machine fantasy, so a second set means a storage problem and two shop visits a year at 50 bucks a swap. the ride penalty on a 22 winter is real but these big trucks have so much sidewall air and seat cushion that i do not feel it the way a car guy would. and a quality 22 inch winter, yes it is 400 a corner, but i replace them every three or four winters, not every year.
if you track your curb strikes and you are hard on wheels, buy the second set. if you are a careful driver with no storage, winters on the factory wheel is not the crime this forum treats it as.
range_rover_riskPatron#4
Plano, TX41 posts · joined Nov 20252016 Range Rover HSE 5.0 SC, sold
the thing nobody has said yet and it matters more than the wheel size. check whether your SUV has staggered fitment, meaning wider tires on the rear than the front. a lot of the performance trims do. if it is staggered you cannot rotate front to back, so all four wear in place and you buy four at once more often, and your winter set has to be staggered too, which kills some of the cheaper package deals.
my old Range Rover was square, same size all four corners, and i did not appreciate how much simpler that made tire life until i helped a buddy shop winters for a staggered GLS 63 and every easy option disappeared.
Plano barely counts as winter but i drove the Range Rover to Colorado enough to have run winters on it. second set of 20s, square fitment, no regrets.
depreciation_mathPatron#5
Overland Park, KS44 posts · joined Nov 20252021 BMW X7 xDrive40i
the overlooked cost in the run winters on the 22s camp is the wheel itself, and i say this as the numbers guy.
a factory 22 on an Escalade or a Navigator is 1,000 to 1,400 dollars to replace if you crack one on a frozen pothole, and winter is when you crack one. the second wheel set is not only a tire strategy, it is insurance on your nice wheels. i treat the 1,600 dollar winter package as prepaying for one wheel i did not destroy. after that it is free.
run the all in number over four winters both ways and the second set usually wins by a few hundred dollars and a lot less aggravation, unless you genuinely have nowhere to store them.
winter_package_mustKeyholder#6
Rochester, MN64 posts · joined Nov 20252020 Lincoln Aviator Reserve AWD
this is the consensus i was hoping to get beaten into me. i ordered a 20 inch wheel package for the Aviator yesterday, square fitment thankfully, and mounted a set of proper winter tires rather than another round of all seasons pretending.
for anybody searching this later: i went with a dedicated winter compound, not an all weather with the mountain snowflake, because up here the difference on glare ice is the difference between stopping and the story i opened this thread with. you can read how the manufacturer rates its own winter lines at michelinman.com and it is worth understanding the compound you are buying instead of grabbing whatever the counter stocks.
air_suspension_costKeyholder#7
Bellevue, WA71 posts · joined Nov 20252017 Range Rover Sport HSE 3.0 SC
late to this but one technical note for the air suspension trucks specifically. when you swap to a smaller winter wheel, your overall tire diameter has to stay close to stock or the ride height sensors and the speedometer get unhappy, and on some of these the air system references wheel speed. a reputable tire shop will plus or minus size it correctly, but if you order online yourself, match the overall diameter within about 3 percent or you will be chasing a fake fault all winter.
learned that helping a neighbor with a Q7. he went two sizes too short on the winter setup and spent january convinced his air suspension was failing when it was just confused.
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