Just wondering and just bought the F-350 in the signature below.

For those that have done it how well does a 4X4 DRW F-350 handle in snow and ice conditions? Assuming good tires.

Sure-footed bighorn or unwieldy barge?

Reg

 

well nothing handles on ice. as far as snow if you have 4x4 you'll almost never get stuck. i've never seen somebody w/a truck like yours have any concern about snow.

 

buddy of mine has 2 drw f350s one flatbed and one standard lb he says the only complaint is when the snow gets in between the tires, it can at times take the rw off the ground...or at least limit contact...but its a can...not a will. so you will probably be ok. but just beware of that.

 

99 F350 v10....it goes where I point it...I had it pushing snow with a bumper that almost 36" high....

this handles by far better than anyother truck (4x4) I have had....Ford sure knows how to build em.

 

Jess,

I asked about ice because here in VA icy mixtures are not uncommon. Like what is coming down right now. It's 18 degrees and raining and snowing.

Dana,

I would have never thought about snow packing like that.

The Explorer does alot of wandering round on scraped and slick surfaces- it's OK in unplowed snow. I just don't want to magnify the problem with the big truck. I would just keep it off the road.

Reg

 

My old boss had a 350 dualie with a dump body and a reg 350. I used to plow with the dualie and he's was always calling me on the radio to pull him out of some ditch. They rip in the snow especialy with a little weight in the back there's no stopping you.

 

y like westwardbound mentions I would put some weight in the back. it should do wonderfully my buddy wouldnt trade either of his, he loves them. I have the srw and love it.

but fyi, had a buddy with a chevy make a very fatal mistake with those sand bags...75pnds each...they got snowed on, rained on then for the past 22 days we havent been above 25 well he forgot about making sure the bags were secure he discovered yesterday that he had bowed his tailgate and sides out from the 75 pound rock hard sand bags rolling around..hes not the sharpest tool in the shed...but put them in a tire or something so they dont roll around and mess up your bed. lol

 

Duallys generally don't track very well in snow unless they're the first vehicle through. I lived below a ski resort for 10 years, 3 of which were spent with a dually. My SRW's drive a LOT better in snow. Nothing works on ice except ice skates or heavy chains

 

My F350 4x4 is light in rear end compared with all the 2WD vehicles I have driven. In 2WD she will want to wander around under acceleration on the ice or greasy snow. 600lbs of weight in bed over rear tires helps but not enough to make me feel comfortable. With that said, she sticks to the road in icy corners pretty good and stops very nicely with assistance of anti-lock brakes (although you rarely find them taking over)

The same truck in 4wd is whole new program: Great confidence builder. Goes beautifully on ice even under heavy throttle...some controlled wheel spin perhaps but nothing spooky. Excellent all-round handling. You will find any F350 4X4 a pleasure and speed pass most comfortably going up or down icy passes.

While I have had my F350 only 30 days, I just completed a 2000 mile road trip Oregon to Montana, returning to 5 days or ½” to 1” of freezing rain on-top of 4” of snow. Prior to that spent 10 years driving winters in Montana, Minnesota, and now 3 years in Oregon’s rain/ice/snow mix.

PS. I am running stock BF Goodrich All terrains and prefer a manual transmission for snowy driving.

 

I have an 04' F-350 DRW, V-10 6-speed, I plow with this truck also and it seems to do very well, I can plow in 2 wheel-drive most of the time, although it does depend on the snow type alot.

Sqeaky snow, ( real cold, like 0 degrees) you get good traction on,,

packing ,, heavy snow, (like around 32 degrees, or warmer) once you drive on it, it is like ice, (very slick) and then add alittle water, and you can land on your butt if, your not careful, .

I do add weight , my tool boxes, tools, and then, 5 gallon buckets of salted sand, (usually, the bed is so full they dont move), salted sand is good, if you get stuck,,,you can add sand for traction, cant do that with rocks, or firewood, or frozen sand bags.
As the years add up we learn what works the best, .

Later,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Mark

 

Thats what I thought until I did a 360 and plowed into the side of Mt Spokane. I was going like 10 mph too. Luckily I only scratched up the front bumper and dented the rear bumper. Nothing with regular tires can handle on ice imo.

 

For those who put sand bags in the back of their truck guys up here take two 2x4 across the bed one in front of the wheel well and one behind then connect them with two other pieces to hold everything right in place and in the best position over the wheels.

Kevin

 

I have a 94 F250 4X4 supercab long bed which should be similar in handling to a single wheel 350. Don't know if a dually will be better or worse.

I have Goodrich Comercial TAs on it, which is essentially a highway tire, ie not a wide open block patter which would shed snow in the treads better than my highway tread.

I have towed an 8,000# trailer in half foot snow with minimal ice with no problem.

This year in Portland we had a real nasty week of snow and ice on the roads, shut down the city for almost a week, sissies.

Anyway, my truck does fine in getting up to speed but like any vehicle the trick is in stopping and steering. I did fine in our recent ice storm as long as I went slow and was very very gentle on steering and brake inputs. Id did get that weird drifting sideways feeling a couple times on extreme ice while going maybe 5mph but had room to get control. My ABS never did kick in I guess because of my gentle touch on the brakes.

Just yesterday I was up at Mt hood in bad ice/slush/snow. We were in a caravan of a Dodge 3500 dually diesel 4x4 in front a chevy 2wd pickup in the middle and me in back. All the way up I was in 2wd and did OK. We did hit a couple spots where the 2wd chebby went maybe 1/4 sideways, but the kid driving said he was playing(dummy). I hit a few patches where we did a hop or two to the side but was OK.

On the trip back, conditions were worse and lots of blowing snow. I drove down the mountain in 4WD and felt I was in much better control of the truck. The most difficult part of the drive was the parking lot which had accumulated maybe 6 inches of snow while we were there. I have chains, but have not needed them yet for the truck.

In my opinion, of my personal vehicles that I have much experience in snow/ice, I would say my old SHO with 4 wheels studded tires was excellent in snow and ice. With chains I could almost drive thru anything. My Impala SS with Blizzaks did quite well in in the snow/ice I mentioned although in the glare ice I did feel minimum control, so I didn't go to work, heh heh. My truck does well in snow and ice and I have never felt I couldn't get where I needed to go, but it's weight works against it if the ice is slick.

Long winded, but in short if I absoultely had to get somewhere, I would use the truck in 4WD and maybe use chains. I feel that if you need chains, maybe you shouldn't be driving in those conditions. The key to snow/ice driving is slow, steady and lots of room. 4WD is great to start but doesn't do much to stop.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

I did something like that last winter when I was running on bald tires. I use the back of the bed to store my tools & gear in large rubbermaid containers, with a 2x4 near the wheelwells holding the containers in place. Works great for me since I don't want a permanent mount toolbox taking up valuable bedspace when I need all 8' of the bed. The weight of the tools behind the wheels also helps with ride quality. But I needed quite a few more pounds back there to help counteract how bald the tires were.

I notched some 2 pieces of scrap plywood to fit over the 2x4 that keeps my boxes from sliding away from the tailgate. Attached them to another piece of scrap plywood running paralell to the 2x4, effectively creating a boxed area to hold down 4 bags of sand. Wrapped the sand bags in garbage bags, and I don't have to worry about them getting wet & freezing, spilling, etc.

Keeps with my modular approach for quick & simple removal of items from the bed when I need all the space. Adds a few pounds over the axle to help with traction. But now that I've got my Michelin LTX M/S tires, I don't bother with the sandbags any more.

 

Most driving concerns dissapear with the correct tire..
I use Blizzaks for the winter they are LR E and are the only tire that will grab on ice..they work great. I've driven with them on glare ice once.. couldn't walk on it but I was the only person to make it off my road, I drove by all my neighbors in the ditch it was kinda funny...