All great ideas from the guys. One thing that wasn't mentioned here and I found to be helpful in my life long experience with snow and ice, most importantly ice, is when braking on ice (more often than not tends to be at intersections) with an automatic trans it is best to slide the shifter in neutral before braking. You'll be surprised at how much this helps.

Also if/when you begin sliding don't continue to hold the brake or you will continue to lose total control. Many folks literally freeze up when they begin sliding and will lock up the brakes like a death grip. You won't see much snow in northern AL and if you do it likely won't last long so it shouldn't be much of a concern. Ice would be more of a concern. I now live in south IL but grew up near WI and ice is more of a problem here than is snow.

As far as snow/ice goes the air temp and ground temp has a lot to do with how slippery it is or isn't. For instance, if the air temp is around 30 deg the snow/ice is much more slippery than it is when it is colder, say around 0. The colder it is the less slippery ice and snow is, it's still slippery just not as bad as it is around the freezing mark. Ground temp in north AL will remain fairly warm so traction won't be as much of a concern in icy conditions, but always beware of what is know as black ice, ice that does not appear to be ice but dern sure is.

Another very important piece of info is to "always" keep an eye as far ahead as possible and be prepared for anything. Front wheel drive vehicles are best for folks who are not familiar with driving in snow, rwd vehicles are a challenge to many. Many folks with 4x4's think they are bullet proof but "will" find out they are far from it. As with anything practice and moderation is the key! Good luck!!

 

Slow down and brake early.
pump brakes on snow and ice.
bridges will ice before roads.
Weight helps.
lockers will be tricky for a newb. your rear will want to come around quickly.
light on the skinny pedal.
slow movement on the steering wheel.
practice, practice, practice.

 

ONe other big advantage to snow chains that doesnt get mentioned much,its sort of a fringe benefit to the general thought of chains providing traction,tire chains make you drive slower......Agreed on the locker being risky on a lot of vehicles,a good limited slip would be better,not as drastic in action as a locker...

 

if you do carry weight make sure its tied down, if you do have to brake hard while its in the truck it can fly forward and bash the front of the box and the back of the cab

 

Thanks everyone. All good information!

I know a block heater keeps the motor warm, but that's all I know. Is it something I can instal myself?

What is tire siping?

What we've determined is best for box weight is sand bags, correct?

 

Parking lot practice for several reasons,its free,doesnt require installation,just takes practice. youve got reasonable size tires,not too wide,youve got an automatic,which allows a little gentler take-off,less tire slip, a couple bags of sand overwrapped in plastic so they dont get wet and freeze into blocks.... Do you have a camper shell or cover on the bed? its not only weight in the rear,but you got room and protected storage for gear. Good insulated gloves,since you will hard time digging,etc when hands are frozen.

 

ok dude, really...... your a little too worried about this, block heaters are nice to have but when I had my 86 with a carbed 300 six last year it started when it was 38 degrees below zero, it was 58 below with windchill, it had a block heater, but I didn't have it plugged in. It fired right up, sounded like a diesel for a while but hey, they're indestructable. Your not going to get enough snow in alabama to get exited about, as utf ball said things shut down completely anyway because everone has bald tires and drive like tards. Keep good rubber under it and drive carefully you will be fine. I still havn't figured out what mud your worried about, are you going to go mudding? there shouldn't be much mud on the road, even gravel roads won't get real muddy.

 

yes I doubt you get enough snow in alabama to run tire chains without making sparks, I've never seen tire chains used, they are actually illegal in minnesota, this is because they are old technology and a good set of studless ice tires is better anyway.

Ben you from wisconson or something? I'm a little over an hour from superior, WI.

 

haha I may be headed down that path.... I'm not sure I could take the summer heat though, would have to do an a/c swap ha

 

hahahahahaha want winter come visit canada in mid january...alberta is really bad cuz whens its 30 below 0 theres almost always a 50+ km/h wind that pushes it to 40 sometimes 50 below then that blows you all over the icy snow covered road...and i love it when someone blows past you to find a great deal of problems less than 5km down the road...but then you gotta pull em out

 

[QUOTE=straightsix4x4;6696506]yes I doubt you get enough snow in alabama to run tire chains without making sparks, I've never seen tire chains used, they are actually illegal in minnesota, this is because they are old technology and a good set of studless ice tires is better anyway.
QUOTE]

I would have to disagree that studless ice tires are better than chains, but for normal snowy roads, chains are a little overkill. This will be especially true in Alabama. I have chains, and they absolutely rock, but they are cumbersome to install, and ride terrible.

Siping is tiny slits across the tires. Out here, the tire dealers do it all the time. Some other places it isn't that popular.

 

As a resident of "The Great White North" all this paranoia about driving in Alabama/Tennessee in the winter is a bit humerous. That said.. the conditions you could get in that region with a dusting of snow over bare roads is one of the most dangerous you could encounter.. we get this in the fall with the first snow and it's always a great money maker for the body shops. The show packs into black ice very quickly and that stuff is very slipery, this is where the specialized winter tires flat out work. These tires have a special rubber compound, deep treads, and loads of siping(the tread blocks are cut to provide extra flexibility and penetration). On a heavy truck these may not be necessary, a new set of AT tires with a small tread width will work nearly as well, this is what I have on my F150 and it handles the snow about as well as our car does with winter tires. Traction in these conditions is all about maximum pressure on the tire contact patch, so a narrow tire always works better than a wide tire. I you combine that with the technology of the new winter tires you have a vehicles that drives like the roads are bare in all but the very worst conditions.

 

the last time it snowed here in memphis i was in a 1979 Datsun B-210 (2 door, hatchback) having the time of my life. i only got stuck once, and me and my friend pushed that little clown car out. it wasnt bad untill the sleet started to fall. i didnt have anything listed above and i was fine.

 

Chains are old technology,so is the internal combustion engine? If you have never seen them used,how can you comment on there effectiveness compared to snow tires?
how do equate illegal with good or bad as an absolute? there are bad things that happen to be legal,and we have outlawed things that many would say arent bad......... I have stated before,and will again,one added advantage chains have is,by there very design,they tend to make you drive at a reasonable speed,which seems to be universally accepted as a good rule for driving on snow or ice...........I wont argue your point about chains in Alabama,probably being unnecessary.

 

These are my thoughts exactly. Winters up north tend to be rediculous! I remember the WX being so bad that could only go 30mph. Literally, any faster and the 4x4 Cherokee would lose traction.....it sucked. And no I am not a winter weather Newb.....winters in ND can get pretty long and interesting!

To the OP: You will be fine in a stock 4x2 pickup without the above mentioned traction aids. That said I carry anything and everything in the bed of my pickup for that once in a lifetime storm. Last year it snowed in Alabama like twice but it was gone within a few hours. If you happen to be out in the 10 or so hours a year that snow is on the ground just slow down and avoid the idiots!!!