2wd, reg cab / short bed... 400lbs works great.

 

fordf250hdxlt x2 ...

good snow tires help, added weight in the box helps, and PLENTY of experience in the snow helps, but with a 2wd pickup you are using the worst vehicle ever made for driving in the snow. leave it at home if at all possible.

 

4wd NEVER makes the situation worse driving in snow. Stupid is what makes the situation worse. If you overdrive your vehicle you will crash it. It's harder to overdrive a 4wd that a 2wd in snow so if you do you'll crash the 4wd harder. But it's stupid that's the problem, not 4wd.

The only way you can use 4wd prematurely is if the roads aren't slick enough to prevent tire wear and driveline bind.

In snow 4wd accellerates WAY better than 2wd, it tracks and handles a lot better, and it brakes a little better (you can't lock just the rear wheels so you can get on the brakes harder and get more out of your front without losing control, not as significant with RABS though). The problem comes when stupid makes someone think that the handling and braking are improved by as much as the acceleration is. That's when people overdrive a 4wd and crash hard.

Lock the hubs as soon as you think you might be driving in snow. Shift into 4wd as soon as it's slippery enough that you are spinning when you start up. Don't overdrive your ability to turn and stop. The first two steps don't eliminate the need for the third.

Do that and you probably don't need any extra weight in a 4wd pickup. Again, if the back end is sliding out on you on turns, adding some weight as far back as you can secure it can help that. And if your weight balance is really screwed up by a plow, yes, weight in the rear is likely needed. But in general, 1000 lbs in the back of a 4wd pickup is about 1000 lbs more than you need.

 

I thought that too, until I drove my brother's Mustang GT on Gatorbacks. That was so much worse than my F-250 with almost bald mud tires in 2wd that I couldn't believe it.