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Best tire / wheel combo for deep snow.

DuckTruck

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Yes, indeed! Thank you for dropping this in. Unfortunately, it doesn't address the Load Index rating, although I think Rivian has taken the cautious approach, which is wise. Still, I'm looking forward to hearing from them about their minimum acceptable rating. Every acceptable point reduction will open up safe options for additional replacement tires.
Rivian R1T R1S Best tire / wheel combo for deep snow. 1643265782430


Unfortunately, the Owner's Guide also doesn't mention the Load Index rating for the R1T's tires. It includes a Glossary of Tire Terminology, but not what I'm seeking to find.

Thanks again for finding this from the conversation @BigE and @DrTroy were having in the thread:
Rivian R1T - My (Owner) First Impressions that @Iwantatesla started for us.
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the long way downunder

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in Canada, chains on passenger vehicles very are very rare these days. Required on commercial trucks over a certain GVW in the mountains. But in the prairies and even in the Rockies you don’t see them on non commercial vehicles.

California’s winter tire rules seem to presume no one has dedicated winter tires, so they stick to chains.
In California, winter arrives every year to the shock and dismay of Caltrans – a government-sanctioned racket, a disorganized sheet show of dullards with a hundred million dollar budget who treat an inch of snow or a gust of wind as an unprecedented and unsolvable problem that can only result in closed roads and interminable traffic delays stretching across the Sierras from California to Nevada while the same storm is handled as it crosses every state to the east without drama.

Chains on trucks are normal. Chains on passenger vehicles are purchased last minute for that trip to the ski resorts and installed under the light of a phone.
 

BigE

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Yes, indeed! Thank you for dropping this in. Unfortunately, it doesn't address the Load Index rating, although I think Rivian has taken the cautious approach, which is wise. Still, I'm looking forward to hearing from them about their minimum acceptable rating. Every acceptable point reduction will open up safe options for additional replacement tires.
1643265782430.png


Unfortunately, the Owner's Guide also doesn't mention the Load Index rating for the R1T's tires. It includes a Glossary of Tire Terminology, but not what I'm seeking to find.

Thanks again for finding this from the conversation @BigE and @DrTroy were having in the thread:
Rivian R1T - My (Owner) First Impressions that @Iwantatesla started for us.
@DuckTruck : The only place I’ve seen Rivian note the tire load index is on their site, Capabilities, then explore Performance. The 20” & 21” are both a 116H XL and the 22” is a 115H XL. These tires look to be stronger than say an run of the mill 111H but much lighter in weight than a 126H.

Rivian R1T R1S Best tire / wheel combo for deep snow. 4E9D6AC4-E157-4535-8977-8B1449B540B2


Rivian R1T R1S Best tire / wheel combo for deep snow. FA2A5867-957D-4C1C-81DD-E4818EB4E86E
 

DuckTruck

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@DuckTruck : The only place I’ve seen Rivian note the tire load index is on their site, Capabilities, then explore Performance. The 20” & 21” are both a 116H XL and the 22” is a 115H XL. These tires look to be stronger than say an run of the mill 111H but much lighter in weight than a 126H.

4E9D6AC4-E157-4535-8977-8B1449B540B2.png


FA2A5867-957D-4C1C-81DD-E4818EB4E86E.png
BigE,

I'm with you all the way on that. The Pirelli's are nice, sturdy tires, and I certainly understand why they would need to be, given the capabilities of these vehicles. The GVWR certainly drives need, as does the performance and the off-roading mission. I'm hoping to hear soon what the lowest acceptable Load Index is for us when specing out new tires, just so we can consider all of our safe options.

Thanks!
 

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For DEEP snow : Michelin X Snoplus M&S

don't worry about the price - if you can afford a Rivian these should be no prob.
The Rivian 20” ATs are 3peak-rated, which is a notch above m+s, so I’m sticking with those (no pun intended).
 

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Dark-Fx

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I personally plan on getting winter specific tires for my Rivian for the winter months. We get enough snowstorms here that I don't see a point in ever making a compromise for it when it could literally be my life and my family's on the line.
 

fastwheels

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I personally plan on getting winter specific tires for my Rivian for the winter months. We get enough snowstorms here that I don't see a point in ever making a compromise for it when it could literally be my life and my family's on the line.
I concur!. One missed fender bender deductible saved because a dedicated ice/snow tire gave me just a bit of an advantage stopping or turning will pay for the cost of the winter tires. The cost of saving a family member or myself from injury is priceless...

Also, by having 2 sets of wheels/tires, I can have the 22" set to optimize 3 season road performance while extracting a bit more range than would be possible with the 20s.
 

R1T7777

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This makes me wonder if the R1T will accept tire chains. I don't recall it was stated one way or the other in the owners manual.
They say to use cloth "chains"
 

sierraskier

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I'm a bit surprised at all the negative comments on AT tires snow performance. I've been running Michelin LTX MS2 for years on my truck. I've had great results, including working well for snow plowing. I'll give the Pirelli-Rivian AT tires a run at the snow, no worries.
The LTX MS2 looks like at All Season tire (aka m +s), not an All Terrain tire. I read the comments to mean all seasons basically suck in snow and ice, which they generally do compared to both an AT tire and dedicated snow tire. I'm surprised you're able to actually plow much snow on an all season tire. As others have said, there is also a big difference between AT tire and dedicated snows...on ice or hardpack/slippery snow. The AT tire usually has a much more aggressive tread pattern than an all season, which give it the advantage in deep snow (or mud) and the snows have the softer rubber compound (and sometimes an aggressive tread pattern depending on the tire) which really give it the advantage on ice.
 

lmr

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Zoidz

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The LTX MS2 looks like at All Season tire (aka m +s), not an All Terrain tire. I read the comments to mean all seasons basically suck in snow and ice, which they generally do compared to both an AT tire and dedicated snow tire. I'm surprised you're able to actually plow much snow on an all season tire. As others have said, there is also a big difference between AT tire and dedicated snows...on ice or hardpack/slippery snow. The AT tire usually has a much more aggressive tread pattern than an all season, which give it the advantage in deep snow (or mud) and the snows have the softer rubber compound (and sometimes an aggressive tread pattern depending on the tire) which really give it the advantage on ice.
Sorry, my bad - I typed MS (brain fart with the MS discussions) it's the LTX AT2 that I have been running for years.
 

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If a true Winter tire is needed, another option might be Nokian's line of Winter tires for SUV's. In the 20' size, they're available in 275/60. They're the same width as the Pirelli's, but 1.08 inches shorter in height, per the tacomaworld.com link below. That site also tells us that this equates to a 3.2% smaller circumference compared to the 275/65 Pirelli A/T's. If Rivian uses a mechanical connection to the speedo/odometer, that will result in a readout of 3.2% faster than your actual speed.
This might be a good option for winter then, if you get studless then the extra clearance may be enough for chains. What is the difference in height between the 20s and the 21s or 22s?
 

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Thanks for this. It's good to see the same info shown between Rivian, Pirelli, and Tire Rack. Now, I'm hoping to find the minimum acceptably safe Load Index ratings directly from Rivian.

Thanks again!
If you look at the specs on the 20” pirelli AT, there is a different (smaller)size that has the same load index and max pressure as Rivian’s version. It’s one of the non-LT sizes.

I suspect Rivian’s tire is using a version of that carcass, with an LT compound.
Since it doesn’t have the load rating of an LT tire, they can’t call it one.
 

DuckTruck

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If you look at the specs on the 20” pirelli AT, there is a different (smaller)size that has the same load index and max pressure as Rivian’s version. It’s one of the non-LT sizes.

I suspect Rivian’s tire is using a version of that carcass, with an LT compound.
Since it doesn’t have the load rating of an LT tire, they can’t call it one.
It's interesting how many different sizes and variations they put out across the spectrum for so many of their lines.
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