AutoSock X-Series X40
Price: $43.0
Model X-Series X40 priced from $43.

If you hate tire chains, the Autosock is for you.

And if you live somewhere that it doesn’t snow enough to warrant winter tires. The Autosock is perfect for you.  In the event of a freak snow storm, you pull the Autosock out of the trunk where they are neatly folded away and install them in just a few minutes and you’re on your way. Just slide the Autosock over the tire, backed up a few feet, slide the rest over, and drive away.

How Fast Can You Drive With The Autosock?

You can’t drive over 35mph with them and you can’t drive on clean pavement either.  Tirerack recently started carrying the Autosock, so they don’t have any reviews at this time, but Amazon had a ton of them.  And everybody loves them.

Here Is What One User Said:

I decided to try out the Autosock after my pain in the ___ chains broke on a previous trip to Lake Tahoe. I drove my 2-wheel-drive Honda CR-V on a recent trip to Kirkwood, where Highway 88 was extremely icy. Once the signs read “Chains required,” I threw on my Autosock, which took about 1 minute as advertised. With them on, the roads no longer felt slippery, and helped me up the rest of the way without any trouble. They are definitely much easier to put on than chains, and come without the hassle and noise.

Should I Buy The Autosock?

If you only need chains once in a while.  Absolutely.

AutoSock X-Series X40

Return To Snow Tires From Autosock

Blizzak Snow Tires are available for both cars and light trucks. They’re made by Bridgestone.  BLIZZAK Studless Ice & Snow tires feature a patented MULTICELL compound that contains millions of microscopic pores to help grip ice without the use of studs. BLIZZAK Studless Ice & Snow tires have been shown to stop a vehicle traveling at only 30 miles per hour an average of 35 feet shorter on ice than popular all-season radials…a distance of about two car lengths!

Click Here To See Our Studded Snow Tire Review

Performance Winter / Blizzak Snow Tires

These are designed for the high performance sports car crowd. Tires with  RFT in the name mean they are run flat models.

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-18 Tire Price: $39.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-18 Tire priced from $39. These Blizzak Snow Tires are totally sweet. They pump the snow and water out like crazy and offer nice bite on ice. I have these on a Smart Fortwo and they look great. Tirerack review Dec. 08 2009	Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 Tire Price: $169.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 Tire priced from $169. Most of the time winter in IL was nasty this year, and I just want to say MONEY WELL SPENT!! Huge difference!! winter 2008/09 I was driving on factory summer(!) tires and I said NEVER AGAIN! This winter I was flying between AWD’s 4×4′s and SUV’s. Highly recommended!! Tirerack review – May 12 2010
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 Tire Price: $125.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 Tire priced from $125. The ride was what I would call normal, as if the summer sport tires where still on the car. - Tirerack review. April 5, 2010	Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 RFT Tire Price: $148.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 RFT Tire priced from $148. Overall, these Blizzak snow tires were a great investment, especially after driving past several Ford Mustangs wrapped around trees that were equipped with all season tires. Tirerack review March 14, 2010
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 RFT Tire Price: $143.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 RFT Tire priced from $143. On my chrysler 300 RWD(also the same as Charger and Magnum) I’ve tried a few others and while they were okay, these Blizzaks are awesome! Tirerack review June 2010	Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 RFT Tire Price: $143.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 RFT Tire priced from $143. Fantastic tire for Edmonton’s weather, due to low profile ride is a bit bumpy but responsiveness of the tires is great. Would purchase them again. Tirerack review January 2010

Passenger Car Studless Snow & Ice | Blizzak Snow Tires

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-50 RFT Tire Price: $125.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-50 RFT Tire priced from $125. I use this as the “only” tire I’ll use on my Sienna mini van with AWD – those vans rip thru tires – not sure why, but the dunlops that were on there, I’d be lucky to get 25000 out of them… so – I use blizzak’s all year round – i figure it can’t be any worse then what I’m getting out of the dunlops, and they are like 60 bucks cheaper per tire… Tirerack review May 2010	Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03 RFT Tire Price: $216.0 Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03 RFT Tire priced from $216. Not many reviews available, one guy hated them and one guy loved them. You’re on your own on this one.
Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03 Tire Price: $75.0 Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03 Tire priced from $75. I bought these tires about 4 years ago. I switch to them at thanksgiving and switch back to summer tires on tax day. If you own an Insight you know how light they are, and how they will try to switch ends on you at speeds above 45 on really icy roads on the stock all season tires. The Blizzick MZ03′s help keep you on the road in bad conditions. I highly suggest getting them if you own a compact or subcompact car. Tirerack review Sept. 2009	Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 Tire Price: $70.0 Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 Tire priced from $70. These Blizzak snow tires made all the difference last winter, it was night and day the difference they made. I put them on my wife’s Camry and she fills more comfortable driving in the snow now. Aug. 2010
Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 Tire Price: $82.0 Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 Tire priced from $82. Blizzak Snow Tires newest model is a 4th generation tire. Tirerack tested it and said it had very good ice traction and dry braking. But was kinda noisy.

WINTER / SNOW LIGHT TRUCK/SUV TIRES

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 4X4 RFT Tire Price: $179.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 4X4 RFT Tire priced from $179. The Blizzak LM-25 4×4 RFT is Bridgestone’s Performance Winter/Snow Run-Flat tire designed to provide temporary self-supporting run-flat mobility in case a puncture allows complete air loss. Developed for the BMW X5 and Toyota RAV4, as well as Mercedes ML and R-Class vehicles, Blizzak LM-25 4×4 RFT tires are designed to allow drivers to maintain their vehicle’s sporty appearance while providing wintertime traction on cold, dry, wet and snow-covered roads.	Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 4X4 Tire Price: $124.0 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 4X4 Tire priced from $124. We experienced a few good snow falls this season and these Blizzak snow tires provided a very sure footed feeling on roads where no lanes were present. Suprising how well they did on shear ice where cars were being blown out of their lanes by the strong winds. Excelleent winter tire. Tirerack review Feb. 2009
Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 Tire Price: $96.0 Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 Tire priced from $96. I’ve used lots of different studless tires and Blizzaks are the best. When I got this Honda I was pleased to know that there was a Blizzak DM-V1 available in the odd size required. Tirerack review Dec. 2009	Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 Tire Price: $88.0 Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 Tire priced from $88. I have now driven on these Blizzak snow tires for 2 Minnesota Winters. Much to my surpise I’ll get a third season out these tires.  I will buy these again. Tirerack review March 2010
Bridgestone Blizzak W965 Tire Price: $139.0 Bridgestone Blizzak W965 Tire priced from $139. This tire greatly exceeded my expectations after three years of full time use it has worn extremely well. I am sure it would have easily done 5 winters instead of three full years like I did. On the hard snow so typical of cold Canadian winter days it excels and it has no problem cutting through the dry blowing snow so typical of Canadian Blizzards. Tirerack review  Aug. 2010

Return To Snow Tires From Blizzak Snow Tires

Snow tires both studded and studless are reviewed.   We also take a look at Spikes Spiders, tire chains, and the Autosock.

Studded Snow Tire Review.

Blizzak Stud-less winter tires

No sense in slip sliding around in the snow and ice when there are a lot of great winter tires available.  Our winter tire review includes every tire we could find available in North America.

How Many Snow Tires Should I Buy?

Make sure when buying winter tires you always get a set of 4 for maximum traction and the best handling.  That’s just not me saying that, every tire maker on the planet recommends you get a complete set. Reason being that if you have snow tires on one axle and non winter tires on the other, you’re going to have a lot more traction on one axle than the other and could cause a serious handling imbalance.

Today’s winter tires are better at providing ice and snow traction than ever before. The technology used to develop the tread designs and tread compounds has evolved beyond what you may have used previously.

What If My Vehicle Has Traction Control And Or ABS?

They’re great for preventing wheel slippage. But they won’t increase your vehicles traction. You might want to read that again. Only tires of different compounds will increase traction. That’s why you buy snow tires.

Who Makes The Best Snow Tires?

Bridgesone Blizzak, General, Nokian, Firestone, Goodyear and Pirelli all make snow tires.

In our top 5 Studded Snow Tires Review, we’re talking about passenger car studded snow tires.  The number 1 rated studded snow tire according to a number of European sources is the Nokian Hakkapellitta 5.   It’s not listed in the chart below because Tirerack doesn’t sell Nokian Tires.  But Discount Tire does.

See Stud-less winter tires here Click here to read more about snow tires

Studded Snow Tires Review Top 5

Though the Nokian Hakkapellitta 5 isn’t in Tirerack’s chart above, I’d rate it highly in the studded snow tire category based on multiple credible sources I’ve researched for this article.

The Nokian Hakkapellitta 5 is engineered for the most extreme snow and ice conditions. This is a tire I would buy if I lived somewhere that has a very harsh winter.  My wife lived 27 years in Fairbanks Alaska and said this tire would be right at home there.

Nokian Tyres is the largest tire manufacturer in the Nordic countries and has been making tires for over 70 years.  Made in Finland, you know they had to have figured out how to make a good snow tire with snow and ice 6 months out the year.

Here is what one reviewer over at eopinions had to say about the Nokian’s:

I am as pleased as I can be with Nokians. I took a chance on a product I never heard of before and it turned out to be one of the best purchase decisions I’ve ever made.

There were many other reviewers who have nothing but praise for the Nokian Hakkapellitta 5. Consumer Reports said: “A very good choice for severe winter conditions. It should be studded where icy conditions are common.”

In 2009 Tirerack went to Sweden to test snow tires with and without studs.  Here are the results.

The General Altimax Arctic

General Altimax Arctic Tire
with studs was the top rated tire. Without studs the General was the second highest rated tire.  This is the same snow tire as the Gislaved NordFrost 3 which is known as a very good snow tire.

People who recently bought this tire all had positive feed back such as this:

I live in New England and I must say these are the best tires I have ever owned in my 25 years of driving in snow! I was leading a convoy of family heading south on 395 in a blizzard with 4×4 suv trucks behind me and these tires gave me confidence to drive with no problems getting me to my destination. My family was impressed that my front wheel drive Pontiac Vibe lead the pack without slipping! I recommend anyone to buy the tires if they are going almost anywhere in snow.

If you order the General Altimax Arctic’s, make sure as with any snow tire you order a set of 4 for the best performance.

The Pirelli Winter Carving

You can’t discount the the Pirelli studded snow tire as an excellent choice based on user feedback at Tirerack.  Nothing but glowing comments about how good traction was with studs.

Pirelli Winter Carving Tire

The Firestone Winterforce

“Better than an all season, but not up to the quality of Blizzak’s.” That’s one comment.  “Best cheap snow tire bar none. Got mine studded. My lightweight FWD hatch will drive through 8″ of snow like it’s not there.”  Was another.

Priced less than some of the other studded snow tires, the Firestone Winterforce will get you by if you’re on a beer budget with champagne taste like most folks.

Firestone Winterforce Tire

The Goodyear Ultra Grip

The Ultra Grip was not in the above test group of tires.  The tire got 99 percent positive reviews from what I’ve been able to find.

Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice Tire

Studded Snow Tires Review Video

Studded Snow Tires Review | Our Choice

Which studded snow tires would I buy? If I lived where studded tires are prohibited I’d go with the General Altimax Arctic without studs.

Based on the research I’ve done, for a passenger car snow tire, I’d go with the The General Altimax Arctic or the Nokian Hakkapellitta 5.  These are the 2 studded snow tires I would consider.  Feel free to add to our Studded Snow Tires Review  below by posting a comment.

My Pro Comp Xterrain  Tire Review is a mixture of my own experience with this tire and reviews from other folks who’ve owned Xterrain’s.

The Pro Comp Xterrain tire is available in sizes from 31×10.50R-15 to 35×13.50R-20  with a 3 ply sidewall. And load ranges C to E.
The tread pattern is designed to be quieter at high way speeds. Which I find to be true based on my own experience. I’ve aligned a lot of trucks with these tires and they’re pretty quiet on the test drive afterward.

This tire is geared towards rock crawling with its 3ply sidewall. They tend to hold up pretty well on lava flows here in Hawaii and lava tears the crap out of most tires here.

In the first year they are quiet, as they get more miles on them they can be pretty noisy on heavy trucks. But they do quite well on lighter trucks.  You have to keep them rotated for sure.

Other users report they’re not too good in the thick gummy mud though just the mild. Don’t buy this tire if mud is your thing.  You’ll be more happy with the  Pro Comp Xtreme Mud Terrain Radial instead.

Pro Comp Xterrain Tire Review Video

Even though they are a rock crawling tire, a lot of people said they did real well in moderate to light mud with them.

Based on user feedback, heavier trucks tend to have wear problems. Light trucks don’t. From my experience I would agree with this. Like I said, you got to keep them rotated and the alignment has to be right.

A couple of guys said they wore pretty fast.  I tend to think this is more of an issue on heavier trucks.  One guy with a jeep said he got 55000 mile out of them.  Rock crawling tires tend to be soft, so no surprise to me you’re not going to get a lot of miles out of them.

Pro Comp Xterrain Tire Review In Snow

If you live in snow country, siping is definitely recommend according to one guy who said they were not so great in the snow. They’re worthless when it’s icy, according to a couple of Canadians that own this tire.

Lots of people said they will buy this tire again. Great tire in the sand and rocks according to a couple of guys.

Buy or no buy?  Yeah, these are pretty cool looking tires and the feed back over all is pretty good, so yes, I would buy the Pro Comp Xterrain Radial.

Feel free to add your review to our Pro Comp Xterrain Tire Review below.

Pro Comp Tires are made by Cooper Tire and have been around a long time.  A serious off road tire, they have models designed for mild off road, to rock climbing and serious mud bogging.

Light Truck/SUV Tires

Pro Comp Xterrain Tire Review

Of all the Hawk Brake Pads Reviews you’re likely to read, ours is from someone who’s installs them all the time. I’ve installed Hawk brake pads on my customers vehicles for about the last 7 or 8 years.  Mostly I use their super duty pads. I can get quality ceramics locally so I don’t use their ceramic pads.                                                                                                                                                Hawk HP SuperDuty Brake Pads

But the number 1 reason I buy Hawk superduty brake pads is: they hold up to the super steep roads in my area when no other brake pad does.  Where I live  (on the side of mountain) we have some roads that exceed 6% down grade and if you live at the bottom of one of these roads like some of my customers do, you’ll be buying brakes every 8 months.

So when I first learned about Hawk pads, I thought why not give them a try. The results were spectacular. I had one guy in particular that we were putting pads on the front of his truck every 8 months using Napa’s best pads. I installed Hawk superduty pads and they lasted twice as long! My customer was very happy.

The only thing about the Hawk pads, is they can be noisy sometimes.  But people who use their vehicles in extreme environments usually are willing to put up with a little noise from time to time in exchange for the extended pad life they get.

So if you got a vehicle that eats brakes for whatever reason, install a set of Hawk SuperDuty brake pads.  Chances are good they will outlast anything you can buy at your local parts house.  And, they cost about the same.
Shop for Hawk Performance brake pads at Tire Rack.

The problem with this tire I talk about in my Michelin LTX AT Review, is it tends to develop flat spots across the face of the tire. Our local Costco sells a lot of these and I’ve seen this problem on a few of my customers vehicles that have this tire.

I can’t attribute the irregular wear to anything other than something goofy with the tread compound. I know of two trucks in particular that I rebuilt the front suspension and installed new KYB shocks on and the tires still cupped big time afterwards. And the torsion bar height was correct on both trucks. So they weren’t bottoming out and causing the cupping.

Michelin LTX AT Review, What Others Are Saying

I’ve read quite a few reviews about this tire and most people don’t say anything about the cupping except for one guy down in Phoenix. Hmmm, maybe this issue only shows up in really warm climates. It’s hot where I live year round too.

One guy down in Tucson said he’s had a set of these for 6 years and 75,000 miles. He also said he’s beat the crap out of them and they’ve held up great. He also mentioned they were a tad noisy.

A lot of people complained about the price, but the funny thing is, in almost the same breath they said the tire lasted a really long time.  If you do the math, the more expensive tires usually tend to cost less per mile to operate than a lower cost tire over that same amount of miles.  But most folks don’t know that.

Michelin LTX AT Review, Final Thoughts

Other than that, they seem to last a long time from what I’ve seen on my customers vehicles. If you live somewhere really warm, I’d pass on these and go with something else. But if you live in a cooler climate, then the Michelin LTX AT will probably be just fine for your truck or SUV.

Personally, I’d buy the Michelin LTX A/T 2 Tire instead.

Michelin LTX A/T 2 Tire
Michelin LTX A/T 2 Tire priced from $134.

Check out our other reviews at the Michelin Tire Review Page.

Share your own Michelin LTX AT Review with us below if you like.

In my Monroe Quick Strut Review I talk about both the pro’s and the con’s of the Quick strut. You can’t buy a spring, strut, strut hat,  and strut bearing separately for twice the price of what you can buy a fully ready to go Monroe Quick Strut assembly.

Monroe Quick Struts are just that. Quick. It doesn’t get no easier than this. Aside from the fact you can install them really fast, the real benefit here isn’t the installation time, it’s all the components that are included for one low price. You get:

1. Bearing Plate
2. Upper Spring Isolator
3. Upper Spring Seat
4. Coil Spring
5. Boot Kit
6. Lower Spring Isolator
7. Premium Strut

OK, let’s get to the Monroe Quick Strut Review If you’re looking for race car handling, don’t install Monroe’s. Get the KYB Strut Plus instead.  If you’re looking for nice comfortable new car quality ride and handling, these are what you want.

I love installing complete spring and strut assembly’s because in the end the vehicle always rides better and steers better because of the new bearings that come in the top hat assembly part of the strut.  You just can’t go wrong installing these. Quality wise they should last as long or longer than the units that you took out.

One Problem Found In Our Monroe Quick Strut Review

The only thing you have to watch out for on these is there have been a small number of people reporting that the strut nut was loose on the new strut assembly and there was a rattle in the vehicle after installation. That’s it. No other problems.

So if you go with the Quick Struts, save yourself some grief and check the torque on the strut nut before you install them. By now hopefully Monroe’s got that issue taken care of.

Does Your Vehicle Need Them?

If you have over 100,000 miles on your vehicle, absolutely. I can pretty much guarantee your springs are toast.  If it was my car and it had over 60K on it, I’d go with Quick struts. Under that, I’d just install strut cartridges.

When I was researching info for this Monroe Quick Strut Review, I found they are available for Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Chrysler, Buick, Oldsmobile, Dodge and Chevrolet. Plus a few other makes and SUV’s too. Ford Explorer is one of them.

Good News

In the 31 years that I’ve been installing Monroe struts and shocks, I’ve never had to take a set back off a customers vehicle because of ride quality issues.  Monroe is also offering a limited lifetime warranty on the Quick Struts and they’re offering them for trucks and SUVs too now.

Monroe Quick Strut Review | Buy or Don’t Buy?

Like I said above, if I’m going for a nice comfortable ride, I would buy the Monroe Quick Strut and live happily ever after.

The best place I’ve found to buy them is at Strutmasters.com.  Shop At Strutmasters for Monroe Quick Strut .  They’re good folks over there. I’ve been buying struts from them for years. They have the best prices and service. And the great thing about buying from them is if you have a problem you can get them on the phone and they have real hands on experience. Unlike if you buy them some place else and you get some drone on the phone that couldn’t fix a baloney sandwich.

Years ago I bought some struts from Strutmasters and there was a problem with the top bearing on one of the units. I called them up and they knew exactly what I was talking about. I doubt you’ll get that expertise if you buy from someplace else.  Anyways, they sent me a new bearing asap and totally made the problem as painless as possible. So check’em out.   Shop At Strutmasters for Monroe Quick Strut

Thank you for stopping by and reading our Monroe Quick Strut Review.