acutally, i am amazed how well the truck did in the snow.
i was driving around all kinds of 4wd trucks stuck in the ditch today.
i am guessing that this is where 235 tires on a massive truck really shines.
of course one of the guys with 4wd was in an excursion, but it also had 26 or so inch rims and rubber band tires, so thats no suprise he was in a ditch.

i had to drive 60 miles or so through 30 mph winds and snows accumulating at 1.5"/hr to get home to family

of course talking to people from other areas of the country that have feet of snow for months on end, they say that they never had 4wd, just common sense and skinny snow tires.

the only real trouble i had was getting into my driveway. burnt some rubber there.

anyone else have a story to share about the current snow storm hitting the east coast?

 

i had a 2 wd dodge dually years ago with chains that was a snow beast. guess what? the snow would plug the radiator and i'd overheat.

 

I've seen 8wd military vehicles in the ditch because the idiot operator didn't know how to drive in the snow. No equipment can replace skill and experience.

 

Going can be the easy part, stopping can be the hard part regardless of what you drive.

 

Not current, but when I was a kid my family had a 1953 F-100 2wd with a 6-cylinder and a 3-speed. In the winter we changed over to snow tires and loaded up the bed with 1/4 of a cord of firewood. If it snowed very much, we put on the chains. If it snowed real deep (in Western Oregon 6" is real deep), we filled the back half of the box with firewood. I recall as a teenager going uphill on a 20% grade plowing unbroken snow with the front bumper with no problem.

2wd works just fine if you load up the back end enough to get traction. As the old saying goes, "A good driver uses 4wd to get UN-stuck."

 

Word, Here in Eastern NC, We get 4 or so inches and I see vehicles all over the place in ditches. They almost shut down everything and no one goes anywhere. Born in Montana 4" was a sprinkling of snow.

I will never forget the call from the school district here last year.

"In anticipation of snow, all Craven county schools will be closed tomorrow."

 

I live in the midwest snowbelt and my last 4wd truck was a 1983 Dodge W250 that needed the xfr case replaced at 40k. At a then cost of 3500 bucks I swore never again.

My 2wd ranger has never gotten buried. Its nice to be able to shift it out of just about anything, we keep extra weight in the bed and it has 4 General AT-2s in good shape.
My 08 SuperDuty has Michelin AT/2s and might occasionally spin until the LS kicks and thats with nothing in the bed. With a bed load it does not notice the snow.

There is no substitute for 35 years of skilled, safe midwest snow driving. I always see buffoons in 4wd vehicles that mistakenly assumed they were invinceable in the snow and wind up off road without actually planning an off road trip.

I spend most of my time in NW Illinois....lots of hills, winding roads and spotty snow removal so I'm not referring to the flat, quickly cleared streets of Chicago.

 

I love snow! I personally believe that (2wd or 4wd) the operator of that vehicle NEEDS to PLAY around in bad conditions to learn the limitations! Granted not on public roads where someone could be hurt, but a farmers field or an empty parkin lot, or an old backroad. (grab a friend and a chain). Mostly just be alert, and aware of changin conditions. A few doughnuts (by accident) will go along ways teachin you what not to do!

Above all BE CAREFUL! I look to YOU Fellas to help with any probs I may have with My Snow Duty!

 

A few rules ---

Incredibly easy to go "off road" when you can't see the road at all and the ditch is filled with fresh snow to be nearly level with the road. Once you are "off road" you are toast without big tires, chains, and a lifted body.

Driving slowly mean time to observe, think, orient, and choose the least risky course (like staying on the road).

Driving slowly mean you keep going (momentum) and keep from stopping and starting, when you are most likely to get stuck.

Never go into a place without thinking how you can back out / get out if it didn't pan out.

Oh... when you do have to stop... don't just stop.. but roll back and forth a few times to create a path of packed snow to help you get going again.

8" of snow is what I do with the van with regular all season tires.

12" or more is when I am challenged, because then it start to scrape the bottom of the car.

 

always park in a spot that will let you get a running start for instance,

If you parrallel park in a tight spot, when you go to leave, one little spin and you are screwed.no where to maneuver.


Or if you need to get over the drifted up "edge"

you may need a little run at it.

 

Took a trip up to the Great North woods here in NH wife wanted snow for Christmas so we rented a cabin till New Years. Pulled into the driveway which was down hill to the lodge and get the keys for the cabin. Turned around to go back up the hill to the cabin and just sat and spun had to get the chains out and put them on. They do make it a snow beast with them on. Snow still falling from the storm 12-16 inches coming plus the 18 inches on the ground now. Kicking myself for not bringing the snowmobile, oh well still have the snow shoes.

 

That right there is what its all about.

The number 1 thing that can help anyone in winter driving though is snow tires. Snow tires are the one and only mod that will help anyone improve their winter driving.

in 2wd with 33x12.5" tires:

 

It is getting deep in here. Seriously though, the type/texture of snow makes a big difference in winter driving also. If you have light powdery dry snow you can usually get thru a lot easier than the damp sticky stuff that is like wet cement.

 

thats very impressive.
i have been skeptical that snow tires work that well, simply because of the rather un-aggressive tread patterns you usually see, at least compared to a typical super swamper or other mud tire.

honestly, i have only had about 2 hairy situations so far. the first was trying to get into the driveway after some knuckleheads in 4 wheelers did donuts in the street (its a cull de sac) creating a huge wall of snow that slowed down my momentum considerably.
the next was getting out of the driveway, and getting back over the wall.

i definitely learned my lesson about parking after that.

if you have the option, pull through a parking spot, till your back wheels are on packed snow again, back up over it again, and then pull in to park. this way all 4 wheels are on packed snow, and you can pull out in either direction without drama.

so how would, say, some of these:
Bridgestone Blizzak W965
compare to some of these:
Firestone Destination M/T

realistically, i would only mount them up when expecting snow, so tread life is not a real concern.
most likely, i would only get them on the back wheels.

intuitively, it seems like the firestones would be better, but from what i have heard, purpose engineered snow tires are like the holy grail for snow, despite the tread pattern

opinions?

 

I just finished PLowing the Blizzard that hit Connecticut. I was in 2wd and 4 wheel drive alot. My F250 5.4 2002. with 136XXX miles did amazing. I bought it in July this year . with the meyers 8ft plow. i was very happy with the results