The first signs of wintry weather have lead to busy times at tire shops around the Basin, but unlike in year’s past, most drivers nowadays are looking for one good set of all terrain or all season tires to see them through not just snow, but mud, rain and dry pavement as well.

“Nowadays, [for] customers buying two different sets of tires it gets pretty spendy,” said Doug Greathouse of Interstate Tire. “We try to sell a tire that works in the winter, then runs all through the summer as well.”

Both Greathouse and Megan Beardall of Bear Co Tire, Inc. in Cody recommended Toyo Celsius, among other tires, as a good hybrid, all season tire.

Bear Co sells mostly Toyo and Cooper tires, as well as some Falcons. Beardall said its generally ranchers and others who take heavy payloads off-road who are looking for more aggressive tires and switching out for true, often studded, winter tires.

“A lot of people go with all terrain tires,” she said.

Mick Gonzalez, who has owned Coulter Car Care for five years and started selling tires in 2020, said he was actually surprised initially by how many people were still getting winter tires — he was putting on four for a customer one early November afternoon — but said it’s still only about 10% of all tires he puts on. “All seasons are our big sell,” he said, adding, “Winter tires work well if you also have a set of summer tires.”

Tracy Sweet of Autoworks said he doesn’t see many seasonal tire “swappers” anymore, but this season ahead of winter is still a busy time for the shop as people check their tire tread to ensure they’re not riding bald tires when the weather gets bad.

“Every tire has a wear bar built into it, and when you hit that wear bar it’s time to get new tires,” he said. “When you get that little bit of skiff or snow, it makes for traction-less tires (if you don’t have enough tread).”

Sweet said some people will come in for new tires before they need to if they don’t like what they’ve got, but he said they’re too busy, especially this time of year, to convince people to get something they don’t need.

When they do need tires, Sweet swears by Hercules tires for their solid warranty, especially road hazard coverage for the first two years or 50% tread life.

Otherwise, he said the overall tire warranties, such as a 50,000 mile tire warranty, doesn’t quite match four-wheel drive, northern climate conditions.

“I see 40,000 on most four-wheel drives, doesn’t seem to matter on what type of tires,” he said.

Gonzalez said he’ll order in and deal with just about any tire, and not just for cars and trucks — everything from ATVs to skid steers. And he tries to keep the cost down on new tires.

“I do demo derbies, so as a driver, I know what it costs to replace tires a lot,” he said.

Greathouse said for smaller vehicles, such as popular crossovers, he recommends somewhat less aggressive all terrain tires than on most trucks, such as a new Falcon tire meant for crossovers. But, he said there are some people who already know what tires they want, and that’s OK too.

“It really depends on what the customer wants,” he said.

However, if you’re still set on true, studded winter tires, just remember, Sweet noted, that studs aren’t allowed outside of the winter weather season, and, Greathouse added, classic winter tires are not good in the muddy seasons surrounding it.

“We try to put you in tires that work well year round,” he said.