Hello all,

I have a question for you guys that live around snow...

I live in TX right now with no snow at all. I own a 2006 f150 STX. It has a 4.6, and it's 2WD. I am moving to Woodland Park, CO in a few weeks where it snows quite often. Also, it's at around 8,000' above sea level in the mountains.

I was thinking of trading this truck in and getting a 4WD which would be my most effective option in the snow, but I don't necessarily want to drop 25k on a used, low mileage truck.

That being said, could I just get a good no-slip differential and snow tires for that kind of terrain? I have no experience in snow. I know a 4WD is more effective, but do you think I could be ok using a 2WD with the above setup?

Thanks for any help you can give!

 

Before 4WD became common, most of us didn't even get snow tires. I was living in Indiana in 1967 and we had a cold, snowy winter. I had a '67 Mustang without limited slip and the tires were probably not that great. I went wherever I wanted to go. With a pickup truck, you'll need snow tires (its best to get them on all four) and you should carry about 500 lbs in the truck bed over the rear wheels. Sand bags are good to carry because you can use the sand to throw under the tires if you get stuck. Also, the weight of the snow that accumulates in the bed is usually enough to give you traction so that's an option instead of all those sand bags. Putting in a limited slip may be possible without completely changing the whole housing but it won't be cheap. One of the most important things to have in snow country is ABS, which I'm sure you have.
So, you can do it, but the fact that you have no experience with it is scary. Fortunately, I think the snow you're likely to encounter there will be dry snow that packs down and is very driveable. Watch out if the sun shines on it then it re-freezes that night - that will put your az in a bind like you wouldn't believe. 4WD doesn't help much on ice - you have to have chains or studs.
Finally, I'd say if you decide to get a 4WD truck, get it in TX where there's no salt used on the roads and the 4WD probably hasn't been used much. I think a 4WD truck will be considerably higher in CO.

 

Can you get away with a 2wd truck? Yes. You can get away with 2wd easier if you were in Denver or Colorado Springs. Being that Woodland Park is up in the foothills and at higher elevation, there's more snow to deal with and you'll have more days of being unable to go anywhere with 2wd.

That area gets a bulk of the heavy snow in late winter/early spring. We just had a storm last week that dumped 3+ feet in some areas of the foothills. With a 2wd truck, you'd better stock up for a few days at a time with storms like that and wait it out.


However, living in Colorado my recommendation is this:

Sell your truck and buy a 4wd BEFORE you move up here. You will get no money for a 2wd truck in Colorado because no one up here wants them, so financially you'll end up slightly better by doing it now while you're still in Texas. Dealerships out here will give you pennies on the dollar if you decide to trade in a 2wd truck.

Hope this helps.

 

Driving a 2wd in a snowy area is possible. I live in New England and last summer traded in my 2004 STX 4.6 2wd that I drove here for 11 yrs without ever getting stuck. I grew up here, so I have about 50 yrs of experience driving in snow mostly with 2wd. You need to have good winter tires and some people add weight in the bed (I didn't bother with that). You also have to understand how to drive in snow and the limits of what you can do. For someone without experience with this type of driving a 4wd would probably be a good idea.

 

It takes practice to drive in snow. Ice is worse. Since most people up north and east have driven in snow, its not a big deal. It may be smarter to sell the 2wd truck in Texas......as it is worth less up north. where I live, there is a mix of both 4wd and 2wd. some people up north dont want 4wd. As for driving in it, drive slower, and when you have traction, dont stop. and sometimes limited slips can cause problems on ice. dont try to drive fast. Ive driven 2wd in snow and ice. 4wd is better for deep snow. Ive owned both ..

 

Re: snow/limited slip; some years ago I had a '78 Pontiac Sunbird Formula with limited slip rear. I had to play in the mountains just over the WVA line, down a steep lane off the highway - the Clover Club in White Sulphur Springs. I took three of the guys with me. First we hit wet, slippery snow going up Afton Mt. on 64 but the Sunbird ate it up. We got to the gig, and while we were playing it snowed about 4" there. All kinds of trucks and Jeeps were stuck and couldn't get up that hill to leave. The guys got in the Sunbird and I drove right on out of there on my Radial T/As - it was incredible.
So, the combination of weight over the drive wheels and limited slip really pays off. But like the folks say who are familiar with the area, you better just get a 4WD truck before you go.

 

I love Colorado. Especially with snow in the mountains, 4WD would work better in terms of getting you moving...but regardless of the vehicle, learning how to drive in snow, including stopping and turning, is a skill that you should practice.

I've lived in Michigan my whole life, and back around 1970, I "sort of" got thru snowy winters driving British sports cars and various American muscle cars. One bad winter in Detroit, my ex wife and I both had musclecars and I could almost count on one of the two cars getting stuck in our street every day for a month--they did not salt or plow the side streets and there were huge ruts and holes in the frozen glaciers in the street.

For the last 30 years, I have owned full size vans and with their belly clearance, it is rare that I have gotten stuck (could count the number of times on about 3 fingers). I have had posi installed on the long term keepers, and the 2002 E150 that I just sold got an Eaton posi installed when it was new. With good Michelin LTX M/S tires it would go thru almost anything. Posi is a great thing but it can also cause you big problems if you are on an icy road that has a crown, or a corner.

You should be able to buy your choice of posi units for ~$500 and installation would be an extra couple hundred bucks. Do NOT buy a "locker"; their action is way too abrupt and you could really lose it on a corner or crowned road.

Before the vans, I had an F100 pickup (1978-86), and used snow tires on the rear and a couple hundred lbs in the bed. It was manageable but not great. It was a 4 speed OD manual transmission, and an automatic can be a bit smoother to deal with in the snow. I preferred the vans.

Vans don't normally come in 4WD and I bet there are hundreds of thousands of vans in Colorado that get through. There will be mountain passes and roads where snow chains or real snow tires will be required in the winter.

For the last 8 years, my DD has been a Subaru Forester and the AWD is GREAT in the snow. And I'm excited because Michelin just came out with Defender LTX tires--which I got on the Subaru a month ago. And I just sold my big van and got a new minivan which does not have the belly clearance to be good in deep snow. So the Subaru will be the winter beater.

Good luck,
George

 

If studded tires are viable there I personally love nokian hakkepelita lt2 studded. Not sure if the 4wd works on my 07 anymore I don't think the wife uses it since putting the tires on. Thats not to say they are the end all but they will greatly improve your traction over regular tires.