I am going to me going hunting in the mountains in Dec. The roads are all dirt and will be covered in snow. This truck is new to me and I have not driven it in any snow now deeper than a few inches. Should I add weight to the rear of the truck for better traction or does it do fine empty? I have the crew cab long bed.

 

what tires do you have?


I don't have issue with my taco even on big hills but I always use good snow tires


I bought Firestone Destination A/T this February and didn't even need 4x4 going up a snow packed mountain trail with not much sand on it with 4 adults and loaded with 500 lbs of stuff we brought along. our Front WD van in prior years couldn't make it up even with new tires on it.

 

Three major factor questions -
Tires?
Transmission (auto or manual)?
Drive (2WD or 4x4)?

These factors are much more relevant than what cab/bed you have.

Option - find a set of steelies or some ragged old Alcoas that someone doesn't want to bother to clean up, and get a set of Blizzaks or Nokian Hakallawhatchamacallits. Then swap wheels/tires seasonally. That's what we do with our '95 RCLB winter truck. The Cooper STs do well enough in snow, esp. deep snow, but for packed snow that gets slick and icy, nothing beats a good siped snow tire.

 

Tires are your biggest factor. This pic was with a new set of BFG KM2s and no weight in the back. Fast forward a few years when they were fairly bald and a load of wood in the back and I nearly got stuck trying to climb out a slight hill in only 6-8" of snow.

 

Tire pressure also makes a big difference. If you find yourself in a jam somewhere you shouldn't be, you can let out some air to get more traction. In that pic I was about 10-12 psi; I was with a bunch of friends that was the whole reason we were there.

 

I had good results with the duratracks in ND. Did some light off roading with them, never put them through anything crazy

 

Logging the Upper Peninsula of MI taught me:

1- Good tires. Tire chains for the real deep snow and hills.

2- Make sure 4x4 works. We always assume it does. Yeah, there's a story behind this one.

3- Be smart. Go slower than usual. Deep snow and drifts can hide some nasty terrain underneath. Before I drove off the main dirt road on a skid trail I would walk a little and scope it out. Especially if I was by myself. Hope this helps.

 

I have new Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac. I am getting a set of chains with the traction spikes on them. I am going hunting in the north corner of Nevada. I need to get to a place where people only go in the summer for the most part. only dirt roads go there. Nice dirt roads but still dirt. it in the mountains. I don't want to get stuck as there is not any phone service. I will also have a 4x4 ATV with me. My truck is 4x4 with an auto trans.

 

Jackpot or Denio corner? I hunted jackpot a few years ago.

I find that these trucks are plenty heavy so no weight needs to be added with good tires. I used to have to weigh my dakota down a ton but these are real trucks .

 

I'm near Jawbridge and copper mountain. I never been there

 

I've got duratracs on mine. I haven't needed chains since I put them on. This last trip I didn't even throw them in. You will be fine. Make sure you check your spare tire pressure. Snow covers all kinds of stuff

 

Most snow i've ever driven mine in was last year in Oregon. They closed the highway and my brother and me decided to detour around (down some old roads we saw on the GPS on my phone). Somewhere around Pendleton, Oregon they closed the highway.

Anyways, me being young and dumb decided that my bald tires would be fine to drive back across the country on. I figured if i hit any snow, i'd put on my tire chains (i bought them earlier that day.)

Long story short, in the middle of nowhere i decided to chain up. I wrap chains around my racing slicks in the back, and leave the front un-chained. (front tires maybe have 1/16" of tread on them. )

I proceeded to drive for the next 6 hours (at 20-30MPH covering about 145 miles) through a foot to a foot and a half of unplowed powder snow in 2wd. Didn't even come close to getting stuck. Some serious white knuckle driving, but the truck did awesome.

First time i ever saw heavy heavy fog and heavy heavy snow at the same time. Man that was a trip.

You'll be fine OP.

 

Awesome. I hunted the early season on the east side of the jarbidge wilderness zone back in 2010 or 2011. Some great country up there.

Ha. Pendleton... Eastern Oregon has the slowest plows in the west .