Hello everyone! I am going to be attending school at the University of North Dakota starting in January 2015. I am currently from Southern California. The winter is definitely going to be a new experience but I am looking forward to it. Anyways, I am trying to figure out which type of truck would be best to have for the North Dakota winter. I originally was looking at the 7.3's but a lot of my relatives that live in ND were telling me not to get a diesel because it turns to gel in negative temperatures. I am now looking at the V10 gas models. I am honestly not sure which type of vehicle will be best for year round. I can only have 1 vehicle and I want something that I am not going to be concerned about getting stuck in the snow or when it floods. Also I have never driven in the snow either.. I am looking at 1994 and newer F250's with 4x4. Would a gas or diesel engine be better for my situation. I know the v10's and v8's get terrible mileage but I have never owned a car that gets better than 14mpg so I am not too concerned. Also gas prices in ND are cheaper than here in So Cal. Any opinions would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

I think the prefect vehicle for you would be a F150 to tell you the truth.


You can get that in 4x4 and then put some mud and snow tires on it.


If you can drive during a severe rain storm then you can drive in the snow.


Slow down, ease on the gas, ease on the brakes when braking and allow more space between vehicles.

 

Thanks for the input! I was looking at F150's as well. Where I am at currently its just harder to find them in 4x4. I was looking at 94-96 Broncos as well.

 

You want something within about 4-5 years of age so that it will carry you through the 4 years of schooling with min down time.

 

Yea that is a good point. My only problem is that I am trying to find something that I won't have to make payments on. I am going to have to sell my 2004 Cobra so I can get some money to buy a vehicle. My budget is probably going to be around $10k. If I have to get a loan for 5k that would be fine I just don't want a $10k+ car loan to pay off while in in school.

 

I have a nice 1996 351 Bronco and it runs great and parts are cheap. If you can find one in good condition, that's a good bet for you. With stock tires/wheels, the 15 tires are very reasonable. I have 2 sets of wheels/tires, one for winter and one for summer. A nice 94-96 F-150 will also do the same but hard to find one that doesn't have just a standard cab, which limits your space. Newer F-150's are also pretty good, but the maintenance on the 4.6 and 5.4 is sometimes not easy; plugs are a pain.

 

Hate to say it, but a truck really isn't a great choice here for a lot of reasons.

You're looking for something to get you through school with no experience driving in bad weather. Trucks of all flavors are going to handle worse in bad weather because of the higher center of gravity and the looser suspension and steering.

Possibly the best handling, most capable vehicles in snow are going to be small SUVs and cars with all wheel drive. The only way trucks will do better is if you're plowing through snow more than a foot deep. And if the roads are that bad you probably shouldn't be driving on them anyway.

You're relatively inexperienced, and if/when something happens and you slide off the road you don't want a top-heavy truck without side curtain airbags to overturn and kill you. An FTE member had this happen a few years ago, and the roof of his '10 Super Duty crushed the passenger seat that I was sitting in three weeks prior. Cars and small SUVs have roof structures that are built to support the weight of the vehicle in a crash, heavy duty pickups aren't. And they are very top heavy and handle lousy.

Look for something like an all wheel drive Escape, CR-V, Outback, Impreza, Equinox, or any of the other dozens of smaller vehicles that come with all wheel drive. You should be able to afford a newer one with stability control which will help prevent loss of control, and the all wheel drive will get you through nearly anything a North Dakota winter will throw at you.

 

Just get some good snow tires and throw them on the back of your termi. I went through college just south of I 80 in Pa with a Mustang. A little weight in the back and good tires will get you wherever you need to go. Just easy on the go pedal.

But seriously, like was said above, an awd car would be better than a truck unless its real deep. I'd even go so far as to say a fwd car would be better than a truck, especially with no experience.

 

in north dakota there is no way i would want a diesel. i'm 300 miles south and 15-20° warmer than where you will be and i wouldn't want a diesel here.

lots of guys do, but not this guy.

i'm with Tom on this one. a smaller SUV or AWD car is a great choice. living in the country i discovered that cars suck. front wheel drive is great, but if you need clearance then you need something that sits taller. i had a 2000 explorer that was awesome in the snow, and our outback is unstopable with snow tires. both have about 8" of ground clearance which will get you through a ton of snow.

SUV's have the advantage of more weight over the rear axle compared to a pickup, which helps a lot. cars are easier on gas. trucks are better for doing things that trucks do.

if you need to get around, an AWD car with good ground clearance or an SUV can't be beat. if it were me, i'd be looking for a 2004-2010 explorer with a V8. expedition if you need something bigger and an f150 if you need a truck.

good luck at the Uof ND! better you than me, my friend.

you will have better luck finding 4wd and Awd vehicles if you start looking in the grand forks area vs where you are now. prices might be a fair bit cheaper too.

i drove a thunderbird all through college down in Iowa. you will miss the cobra 6months out of the year, but the other 6 you won't be missing it much. if you do keep the cobra, just don't do what i did and put it in the weeds with a set of lowering springs. man that was fun in the corners and looked awesome ... but in the snow ... geeze that was not a smart thing to do.... if it snowed more than 4" i was the snow plow......

good luck!

 

An Explorer in nice shape with decent miles is pretty cheap. They are great in the snow and the 4.0 versions have plenty of pep and get better gas mileage than an F150. Plus you can fit a ton of stuff inside. My Dad has a CR-V and I can't stand it. It gets terrible gas mileage, has no guts, and isn't that good in the snow. The 2001 4x4 4.0 V6 Eddie Bauer Explorer we had was a tank in the snow and got 22 mpg on trips loaded down with luggage ( even with 138k on it with the factory spark plugs ). We did have to have the transmission rebuilt at 100k ( also with the 1993 Explorer XLT before it ), but other than regular maintenance that was about it. Both of them got 60,000 miles out of their tires too - not many F150's can say that. Lots of Explorers out there to choose from. Give it a thought - might be a great choice for ya.

 

Thanks for all the input guys! I really appreciate it! I guess I will have to look more into some AWD cars like subarus and some 4x4 suvs! As far as tires go in the snow are all terrains like BFG's sufficient or will winter tires with studs be necessary? Thanks again.

 

Studless winter tires on a small AWD SUV will be perfect for the northern plains.

 

I had general arcticmax (something like that) on my mustang and they were stellar.

 

We moved up from AZ 3 years ago. Sold my old Dodge pickup and wanted to buy a used truck when we got to Bismarck. That was the plan. Only problem is the price of used 4x4 trucks up here is pure insanity. I finally bought my truck new off the lot after trying to find a "deal" on a used one for a year. They want stupid money for a 1 or 2 year old truck with 80K miles on it here. I bought mine new at end of model year for less than some of the similar equipped used ones were going for.

Even the older trucks are going for far more money up here than "back home". And they all have just crap loads of miles on them. My advice would be to look really hard for your best deal down in CA and drive it up here. You can get a block heater installed in it once you get here.

Unless you need the towing or weight capacity of the SD, you may be better off with a half ton truck. Also not bad advice about a mid sized SUV. We brought my wife's 4Runner up here, 4x4 and V6, and with proper tires, it's been a great vehicle for her. She's been running it just fine with no block heater, but we did put a new battery in it the first winter we were up here. I went with an Optima dry cell battery, since we'll be keeping her car for a few more years. The coldest it's gotten up here so far has been right around -40F, and that's raw air temp, not "wind chill". Her car has no block heater and not even running synthetic oil in it, and it started on that morning. Synthetic oil will help though.

Not everyplace has outdoor plug ins up here. That includes apartments and houses. Our house has no way to plug in a block heater anyway. But with synthetic engine oil and a good battery, most of the time you won't need it.

My truck has the block heater, but I've never plugged it in. So same goes for my truck, it started on the -40F morning, but cranked a little slow. If you go pickup truck, just run around in winter with a few bags of playground sand in the bed. It will give you the added weight over the rear axle for better traction.

The most snow we've had to deal with *at one time* so far, was 2 Easters ago, we got 2 feet of snow overnight, all in the same storm. Our street wasn't a "primary" street, so it didn't get plowed until Thursday that week. Most of my neighbors were snowed in for a few days. My wife and I were able to get around just fine in our respective 4x4's, and I didn't have any ballast weight in my truck bed. I have BFG A/T KO's on both our vehicles. I think it is a great snow tire, and has performed very well for me. Some don't seem to like them, but for me, they continue to work, so I'll continue to buy them. I've had them on our last 4 or 5 4x4's and have always been happy with them.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about moving to ND. It is great up here, but the culture is different and much more laid back than AZ. And people don't drive like jerks up here, which is nice. No one tail gates, or crowds into the cutoff lanes to force their way around you. And "rush hour" is pretty cute here (as in non existent). I can get all the way "across town" here in 15 min in the worst traffic of the day. It's a nice change from the rush hour grid lock of Phoenix area.

 

if you go truck or suv, any good all-terrain tire will be great in the snow. look at the tread pattern and get one with as many sipes as you can find. i'm a cooper fan and they have never let me down.

if you go AWD car, go for a studdable "winter tire" like the general altimax artic mentioned above. we have those on our subaru and it is unstoppable in the snow. they are really good on snow packed roads. i like the studdable tires for the ability to stud them if i needed ... but i've never needed.