Before anyone says it, this belongs in the V10 forum because it pertains to the V10 in snow, not just the SD. Particularly because of the lighter front-end w/the V10 unlike the diesel (either 7.3 or 6.0). I also have the SC short-bed, so it's one of the shortest wheelbases...

I wonder about all your experiences in snow on highway at speed, say 55 + ...

I've had my '74 highboy on the highway doing 75 in the left lane of a three-lane highway in 12 inches of snow with BFG all-terrain 33x12.50r16.5 and it handled quite well. It's empty weight (with me and gas) was around 5500. FE in the front, held it down.

Now, I have the '01 and today had the chance to drive with the wife and kids for a few hours on the highways here on Long Island, with snow coming down pretty quick, and lots of people Christmas shopping, and no plows in sight. I wasn't out shopping, you can bet on that!

While I've driven it in deep snow alone and with minimal traffic, this was an experience for me, in that I had the kids and wife heightening the stress.

First time I've ever had someone spin out in front of me too... she was in a Camry and lost it in the right lane.

Now, for the details. I have 235/85R16 (stock, I plan on going to 265's), with about half tread left.

What are your experiences in things like this? In bad weather, with a cross-wind of certain speed, thunderstorm/hurricane/tropical storm/blizzard/noreaster, etc. At what speed did you lose it and correct? At what speed did you lose it and wind up in the ditch?

There is a wealth of knowledge available from all you people... thanks!

 

I had good results last winter with mine. I have 285/75 BFG all terrains, aired them down to 50psi and kept about 400lbs of bagged sand in the bed.

I ran it on the highway in snow/ice conditions several times in 4x4 and always kept it under 45mph and never had any trouble. My opinion is if the road is in that bad of condition to need to have it in 4x4 I shouldn't be doing much faster anyway.

Last Feb, we got that 27" snowstorm here in the northeast. When I left for work that morning the 1.5 mile of secondary road I live on hadn't been plowed and noone had driven on it yet that morning so I was pushing my way through a good 2ft of fresh snow. One hill through an open area had a drift across it as high as the front bumper and the snow was rolling up onto the hood when I drove through it. Was a fun trip because there were no other cars/trucks on the road!

I couldn't make it back up that same snowdrifted hill later that day-I guess it was just asking too much to shove thru that much snow uphill-the back tires broke loose and the rear end started hopping around so I backed down and took an alternate route which had been plowed by the state.

If you have the 235s on there, I'd just go ahead and keep them for this winter-narrower tires are better for driving in snow becuase they concentrate the truck's weight in a smaller area. Maybe air them down a little, throw some weight in the back and go.

These trucks are bad for getting axle-wrap & rear end hop when the rear tires break loose. I guess it's partly due to the way they're so weight-biased towards the front end but the short wheel base models are worse. Mine does it alot on wet grass growing on hard packed ground if I try to go up a steep hill in the meadow-nothing for the tires to bite into.

If it happens, let off the throttle and don't push your luck-it's better than breaking something besides and once it starts you won't go anywhere no matter how much gas you give it. In my opinion, Superduties are not great on say bare ice covered road, but they sure do go like bulldozers in deep snow where the tires have something to grab into!!

 

yeah, the bulldozer effect is fun...

The narrower tires are definitely an asset.

As for the axle wrap, I do have that, but it's not so bad now that I have the Rancho 9000x's... still does it, but it's not like it used to be.

thanks for the comments.

 

I forgot to mention I have a fiberglass cap, weighs around 200 lbs, and while increasing my wind profile, it does help keep the rear end from sliding compared to when I have it off.

Otherwise, I fill the bed with beer bottle returns to add weight

 

75 mph in 12 inches of snow... Seems like you main concern should be stopping distance.

 

In 12 inches of snow with 12.5" wide BFG's, it's easy to stop. Getting moving was the hard part... besides it was on a highway with no one in front of me, and plenty of people behind me... but that was my '74 ...

 

Hahahaha, I know you directed this post to mainly 4WD's, but since I do have the V-10 too I thought I would just chime in, just a little. Van=motor WAY up front, farther than the pickups. No four wheel drive, no limited slip either along with no weight in back other than a couple seats. 10 firing impulses on every revolution of the motor. NOW you want to talk about a TERRIFYING ride in the snow ??? I just do not attempt to drive my V-10 when there's white stuff on the ground. I get to work in my wife's SUV, that's the only safe way to get around in a V-10 van when it snows, period.

 

Point taken...

just one little nit to pick - we don't have 2-stroke motors, they're four-stroke - only 5 firings per revolution, unless you have a V20 ???

 

I stand corrected, but it's still 1 more per rev than a V-8, and 3 more than a 4 cylinder. In my old days as a motocrosser I remember the talk of 4 strokes versus 2 strokes, and how much more traction there could be in a 4 stroke, due to less firing impulses. So consider your nit picked

 

I have an '89 Honda NX650 (international version of a XL650R), which for a one-cylinder enduro is a real thumper. It tears up anything. Reminds me of the V10, lots of torque but a short RPM range, only goes to 8000 RPM It's even close in size to a single V10 cylinder (less stroke, bigger bore though).

In some ways, I'd rather have more cylinders, because all that massive amount of torque that comes out of that one cylinder just spins the rear wheel for that one stroke. But then, it bites into the dirt and it gets better traction afterwards.

Good for dirt, but I think on the street in slippery conditions, it would make things worse... another point in favor of the V10

 

ok........i got 2wd, V10/ 1000 bs of tube sand plus cooper discover STT'S not st's ..stt's have been discontinued
........not 4wd.......but a 2wd is better with good rubber than a 4wd with no rubber!!

Dan / ft

 

As long as we're picking nits, I think all the coils do fire every rev... hence 10 firing impulses per turn... but no "main event" on half of them.

 

Ummmm...



This van and the many others like it, may think otherwise.

 

Yep, right after they visit the Quigley factory. Now,,,, if only we could convince Ford, like someone convinced GM, that a 4WD full sized van would sell. I wonder if Ford has a partnership or an interest in Quigley, if so it would seem that Ford will never offer a factory AWD E-series. For fear of bankrupting Quigley. There used to be a couple conversion folks around converting vans among other vehicles from 2WD into 4WD. But they've all gone bye-bye, only Quigley remains. And they will not work on any van that's more than a year old, and really prefer doing only brand new, shipped from the factory units. So even if I had an extra $9,000 to pay for the conversion they wouldn't do it.

 

I just drove by a van conversion shop the other day that does 4x4's... hadn't realized it was there, but remember ads for them at least 10 years ago.

That explains why I see SO many 4x4 Ford vans around here... I probably see at least one a week here on Long Island...

As to the coils firing every rev, the 4.6L with the four-post coils did that I think, two cylinders were wired to the same coil (two per pack). With the COP, there's no reason to do that because you don't have to fire two cylinders at once and there's no reason for the EEC to be doing that much math.

I could be wrong... anyone know for sure?

Oh, and I can make a '96 T-bird handle great in snow if I put 200+ lbs in the trunk, but that's CHEATING!!!!!

Someone wrote a letter-to-the-editor of Newsday that was in today's paper. He was complaining about all the people with SUV's who think they are invincible in snow but they are using highway high-performance tires (like the BMW, Lexus, etc). Just this season, I've seen at least 5 SUV's spin or slip with 17 or 18" rims and 50-series tires... stupid stupid stupid.... like the Dodge Ram Hemi I saw today, had 18" rims on it, and he still got beat by my V10 ... bwah-hah-hah!!!

Back to my original reason for posting, anyone ever lose it and recover on snow? Or wind up in a ditch? What were the conditions at the time?