I bought my Excursion just about a year ago but I didn't really have it on the road until this April. I left it in the shop all last winter getting lots of un-necessary after market equipment installed on it. By the time I started to drive it at the end of April the snow was gone.

Over the past few days we've actually had some real snow up here in Vermont and I've had the opportunity to drive in some really nasty un-plowed conditions. I have to say I am pretty disappointed in how the Excursion handles in the snow in 2WD. It is OK, not great, in 4WD but in 2WD it is horrible. The thing just wants to fish tail all over the place. I was expecting it to handle a lot more like my '97 F250 did. The '97 F250 was great in the snow even in 2WD, it would rarely fish tail, only if you really hammered the throttle. The F250 had a 460, 4.10 gears and stock height tires, my Excursion has whimpy 3.73 gears and 35" tires. You would think that the old F250 would spin the tires and fish tail more.

So I've done a bunch of thinking about this and I have determined that the Excursion is more prone to fish tail because of its relatively short 137" wheelbase. My old F250 crew cab short bed had a 152.2" wheelbase.

Does this sound like a reasonable conclusion?

I was planning on putting 4.88 gears on this thing which would give me the golden final drive ratio of 4.30 with my 35" tires... but now I am not so sure, having gears that deep would make me break those tires loose like crazy.

My 2000 Land Rover Discovery II is a beast in the snow, granted it is full time 4WD and has nokian hakkapeliitta snow tires on it and it is equipped with computerized traction control. By comparison to the Land Rover the Excursion feels downright sketchy to drive in the snow. Even in 4WD it is not great. The only thing I can think of to improve the handling is to air down the tires a bit. I have Kelly Safari TSR tires with studs, but they are running 60PSI right now.I really like the tires rock hard on dry pavement but maybe I should find some middle ground that is acceptable.

Anyway, I think that ends my rant, but I am interested in hearing your opinions. I don't want to buy dedicated snow tires.

 

What tires are you running and how much tread do you have left?

 

I would think its partly due to the width of the 35" tires compared to stock tires? From my experience in the snow, if you're driving on snow covered roads, narrow tires tend to 'dig' down to the hard stuff, where the wide tires 'sit' on top of the snow and don't get much traction - it's different if you are in real deep snow and there's nothing underneath to get traction from, then you'd want to spread the load/weight as much as possible and have baloon type tires.

Snow is one concern I've got about my new to me Excursion, as my Expedition is the best 4x4 I've driven in the snow (and I have a Land Rover Defender, 1999 Discovery and a 2007 Discovery) they are vehicles for my company, and my Expedition is far better in the snow and Ice, and the auto 4X4 is nice to leave in for when my Wife drives it..................but I don't think the Excursion will be the same??

Oh and don't make the same mistake as me in thinking the 2000 model Discovery is true 4x4 unless you have fitted axle diff locks

 

I have a 2000 Ex Limited with Goodyear Wranglers... Its a tank in snow - rarely fishtails. Do you have steering component issues (loose joints, box, etc) that might be causing over/under steer? I know I love mine in snown rarely use the 4X4.

 

Only had the oportunity to run my EX in snow once right after the hurricane came through, handled well, tracked straight, never felt like the front and back wanted to swap positions. No problems braking either. Im running a 305 Friestone Destination A/T. I have always used the "drive like there is an egg between your foot and the gas/brake pedals" Seems to work. Might want to drop some air pressure and see if that helps with traction

And I cant agree with you more about the OBS trucks though, I had a 97 F350 CC long bed with 7.3 and 4.10's and 35" BFG mud T/A's, that truck was an animal in the snow, would run through anything without using 4x4 and no problem stopping either. Miss that old rig.....

 

I have bridgestone Revo AT's 285/75/16 and it holds pretty damn good in the snow.

I just always lock my hubs manually now...I will never rely on the vacuum system. Almost killed my whole family thinking it was in 4WD.

If I lived in a really icy snowy place all winter I would lock in October and unlock them in April.

 

Tires are the issue. On the snow big tall and wide mud terrain tires are horrible. Less pattern to float on the snow the better
Just my opinion

 

I don't understand why the way a 4wd behaves in the snow in 2wd is an issue at all. Just flip the **** to 4wd and go about your way.

Not a personal attack. Just an opinion.

 

Really no fair "comparison" to me. Give pretty much any vehicle full time 4WD---snow tires---traction control and it will out perform one without any of those features.

 

Skinny tires will help sir. I switch to Bridgestone Blizzaks in the 265 stock size. Zero issues and only rarely do I need to engage 4wd. I concur with the statement of wide base floatation tires for heavy snow to get you on top but for road use a skinny tire is better to get down to hard pack for the traction..

Ever seen the swamp buggy races? Those things would really haul the mail because they had these incredibly skinny tires to rip through the water and not begin to float like a fat tire would as they accelerate.

I run 305's in the the off season..

 

V's & B's, ball joints and all other suspension parts in good operating condition, with rear Hellwig and stock 265 Toyo Open Country AT's on the Ex. My wife, for the first time in her life, drove in snow when she went as an adult adviser for our church youth group to snow camp a number of years ago.

I gave her as much instruction as I could, since I wasn't gonna be with her, but she never had to use 4-wheel drive and she had zero problems driving the Ex in the snow.



Stewart

 

BIG question here....you must have a limited slip rear end..correct? my current excursion an my first excursion have open rear ends. my 2000 which was totaled before it snowed had a LS. it was the only one that i could get to step the rear end out when i tried.

thats my biggest complaint about my excursion is i cant get the *** end to step out without throwing the truck around in a turn. otherwise with the open rear end it does not want to spin around...makes me mad!

i run studded dedicated snow tires and i do not attempt to drive in 2wd. for one i could not make it out of my driveway. second why? you have 4x4 use it!

i'm going to bet your tires are a huge issue. i've driven a excursion in winter conditions in 4x4 and with studded snow tires since 2009 and about 25,00 miles on pure ice/snow covered roads. its a very good winter driver.


heres my winter cooper M&S studded in the winter on two of my trucks and firestone winterforce on the other. snow tires make a huge difference in how the trucks handle.

 

My 05 ex with 33x12.50x20 (Toyo AT) and my 02 F350CCSB with 35x12.50x16.5 (BFG A/T) are terrible in snow in 2wd, and are marginal In 4wd.

Our snow is usually of the wetter variety with ice here in Kodiak, AK. We very rarely experience the dry snow that the interior gets....

So to get around in the winter both Excursions and the F350 are wearing 235x85x16 studded Coopers. They are pretty hard to break loose unless you are trying. Though with the S/C V10 if you pull the "egg" out from under your foot, you can play to the extreme butitcan also try to get away from you due to the momentum created when you get that heavy back end sliding.....

Just my $.02

Garry

 

I have an EX with Wranglers on it. The rubber is too hard for snow. Some like them but with 10" touching the ground it is too wide for the hard rubber. I am still trying to find another taller skinny tire I can swap for snowtime. I have 2 sets of rims so it is not that big of a deal to change out with the snow. My STD cab truck and older dually drove much better. I can only say it is the tires.

 

I put cooper M&S with studs and the Excursion has become one of the best vehicles I've driven on snow and ice. With few exceptions winter tires are one of the best things you can buy to improve traction/stability in my experience. Anthony