got some snow the other day, about 1 inch

driving with 2 wheel drive on in the snow sucks, i was all over the road from going 5 mph swerving and almost spun around.

4x4 was a little better, is this normal for the rangers to do so bad in the snow or are all trucks bad.

from other responses in the 150 forum, the f series trucks dont do a lot better ?

 

There's no weight over the drive wheels, so they don't stick very well.

I've noticed, though, that some people seem to have a lot more trouble than others with them. I think a big part of it is skill, and attitude. Get to a parking lot of somewhere, and learn what your truck will and won't do, and then, armed with that knowledge, re-learn how to drive.

We got about an inch of snow today, and the truck stayed planted (except when I was screwing around ), and went and stopped where I wanted it to.

 

Get four of the tube sand bags (placed directly over the tires) and a good pair of winter snows. It makes a huge difference in your ability to get around.

 

I always do the parking lot routine, every snow. Just may save ur butt in a panic situation. Also I always put a lil weight in the rear. Whatever is clever for the weight.

1998 Ranger, 4x4, 4.0, 5 Sp/OD, Tow/trailering pkg.

 

It is all about how you drive. I have a long bed F-150 regular cab 4x4 and she does great in 2wd and just wicked in 4wd. I have a 3.55 limited slip rear and good winter tires, so that does gives me a little extra traction. Even with the little amount of low end torque that the 302 has in slippery situations if give her a bit too much gas I'll break traction and start to spin and loose some control. If you have a manual transmission start off in 2nd if you can maybe even 3rd depend on your situation. This will give you less torque and make it harder for your tires to spin that way your less likely to break traction.

Like ggaiii and john112deere mentioned try things out in an empty parking lot. Where I live there is a Cosco and Wal-mart and when I'm cruising around afterhours sometimes I'll go in and spin a half sack of donuts, powerslide and fishtail. Lets me know how my truck handles those situations and sharpens my skills as well.

Cheers,
Evs

 

im currently driving on 3-4 inch thick ice and i am extremely pleased with how my ranger is doing with a little weight in the bed. got lots more traction than i would think i should have

Matt

 

1. Skill - Drove my 94 2x4 for years
2. Tires
3. weight I loaded the bed of my 98 4x4 with snow.
4. Chains ( dont have any)

I live in southern Colorado had no problems untill the snow was over 2 feet. I have 4 feet and I am now stuck

 

Doesn't snow around here, does freeze on occasion. Little weight over the drive wheels and being careful is all it takes. I've yet to have to put weight in this year.

But if you use weight, either use sand or snow. Why?

'cause if you get into an incident, say you slide into a ditch, and there's bricks in the bed, the bricks are gonna do a lot more damage than snow or sand.

 

Been driving everything, 2WD 4WD FWD, buses, trucks, cars, in mud, snow and ice for many years with no problems (HATE FWD tho). I have a 2WD Ranger, drove it several years with no problems both in KC and Minnesota. Needed to get a new pair of tires. Son was driving the truck at the time and he liked a particular set of tires. Went ahead and put the tires on. Next year wife drove the truck to work in the snow, complained bitterly. When it snowed again I drove her to work in the truck. Damn near didn't make it back home. Took every trick and skill I had learned over the years to make it home. I figured only change was the tires. Went to Firestone and bought 4 new AT tires. Truck now drives better than it ever has in snow or ice.

Moral of the story:



















































NEVER let your son pick out the tires for your truck...

BTW- a few sand tubes in the back helps. Put them over the axle or up against the cab. Don't put them aft of the rear axle or you can have the rear end of your truck drive around you.

 

Why Snow or Sand?
Snow is plentyfull and I have to shovel the drive any way.
Sand, Around here they sell sand in these bags specially for weight They cost about 4 bucks each and weigh 40 pounds it is small and compact weight. You can sprinkle the sand around the garden ot grass it will keep the worms from tearing up your grass.

 

it's all about the tires and a lil weight

 

FreeBird. There is snow there too. I drive 4.0 SOHS 2WD.... Yes it is really difficult, becouse I have summer tires. But my aero has winter off road tires and LSD.... I had to change a truck for today. Use special tires for winter, and it's gonna be ok!

Well.....! Happy new year!!!!!

 

I have a Ranger in the backyard, 'tis my project truck. When it was my daily driver I only got it stuck once, and that was because I should've backed into my driveway. I put Goodyear Wrangler RT/S on it. NEVER got stuck, except for the one time in my driveway, glare sheet of ice. I never put weight in mine because I had a heavy-*** cap on the back of my truck, it served as my weigh. And it was evently distributed across the entire bed. When I had the cap off, this is what I used.

Get yourself about 150 pounds of sand (3 50-pound bags) and toss it in the bed right over the rear axle. Grab a couple of 2x4s cut them to size width-wise for the bed on both sides of the wheel wells and get some bungie cords. Drill some holes in the ends of the 2x4s, it'll help later to bungie them together.

------------------------
|----------------------|
|----------------------|
|----------------------|
|\-------2x4 here----- /|
|-|----sandbags here-|-|
|/-------2x4 here----- \|
|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
-------------------------

Now use your bungies to hole the end of the 2x4s together, it'll keep the sand bags in place. And keeps your truck on the road!

 

I drove My B3000 2 wheel drive in about 7 inches of snow so far this year... sucker didn't give me any problems... which really was surprising because last year on just an inch or two it royally sucked... of course I've changed out my bald Wilderness tires for "Plain Jane" white letter Uniroyals (Ford dealer I was working at at the time gave me a heck of a deal on them) over the summer. Went from 225/70R15 to 235/75R15.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did, being highway tread and all... but they held pretty well. I don't have any weight in the bed either.

Moral of the story? TIRES, TIRES, TIRES... they can make or break you in bad weather. Tire technology has come a long was this last decade or so.... especially with ice/snow traction. (And bald Wildernesses don't help any either)

 

I too have used a parking lot to teach the Daughter how to shift her old straight drive rwd 77 Celica, then later how to safely handle it in the snow. Being it was rwd, it was a beast in snow!!!!

She safely found out how it felt when you begin to loose control in turns & stops & how to safely recover when you do.

By the time we were finished she went from tight lipped, white knuckled, to BIG GRIN, lets do it again!!!!

After that hour & a half lesson, she was never intimidated by snow or ice, because she had safely found out just what her ride could & could not do, in that parking lot, where there was nothing to hit!!!!!

Yup abandoned parking lots are great for wringing out your ride, to get the feel of how it behaves in slick weather, BEFORE you need that knowledge!!!!!!

I like & use the sand bag idea too, if you do get stuck, you can use the sand under the drive wheels to get traction & get out of stuck spots on hard packed snow or ice. Yup I carry a shovel too, when the report is for bad weather!!!!

I always keep the gas tank full also, 20 gal at 6 lbs/gal = 120 lbs & it's weight is mostly on the rear wheels.

I prefer a auto tranny in bad weather too, as you can feather the accelerator, up shift to 2nd gear, which will limit torque, as has been said & likely limit wheel spin, great on hard packed snow or ice.

Of course if it snows a lot where you live, then a good set of snow tires, with about 150 lbs of sand bags in the bed over those tires, is a real good idea as has been suggested.

Drive WAY ahead in slick weather & don't make any quick moves, this should be your smoothest driving time.

The goal is to get there safely & in one piece!!!! So the best thing is not to allow yourself to get excited, or get in a hurry!!!! lol