Wow thanks for the info...as I said since I bought my truck and I'm half way through my lease I haven't really looked that hard at the 09+. Is this USA and Canada? I guess I'll just have to keep enjoying my 08...

 

you might want to check with your local dealer or do a canadian specific search on the web... I remember reading an article a while back about the Canadian versions... mostly the same but more options come standard on different trim levels, ie; Platinum gets more standard equipment in Canada. as far as LS, I am unsure which levels that is standard on, but the E-locker is standard on FX4 and Raptor only.

 

Does Raptor have RSC/TC? If so, I don't know how it can be like a Baja truck if so many others are having trouble with this standard feature in snow. Are the Raptors having problems like the other F-150's?

 

If there is a solid 2' of snow on the ground, and you have a stock F150 it won't matter if you put it in 4WD, E-Locker on, or anything. It will hang up on the snow after a few feet. You have to get some of the lifted trucks to blaze a trail through it first. I'm not talking about bulling through a drift which I'm sure we all have. I'm talking about 2 feet of snow in the street and on your driveway. My F150 will not go through it. I tried, and was stuck until my neighbor got his lifted truck with paddle tires to go up and down the street a couple of times. We're supposed to get around a foot tonight, and my fusion will go through that no problem. 4X4 doesn't make it a great snow truck by any means. Snow-Cats make good snow vehicles. To get an F150 to do good in the snow, you need snow tires, and you need to keep the snow from piling up under the frame. Maybe the light fluffy stuff would do it, but when we get 2 feet+ it's never light and fluffy. It's the heavy, wet snow that's hard to shovel or use a blower on.

 

A set of dedicated snow tires SHOULD get You thru 2' of snow.

If I can plow thru 14" of snow/slush on a frozen lake with a Subaru. Then a much higher and more capable F50 SHOULD get You thru 2'.

I'd be selling a truck that couldn't do it.

 

Good tires and BIGGER tires should and would help, but a stock F150 doesn't have THAT much clearance. It's about the same as an Explorer. My FWD Fusion can get through 14" of snow if I keep moving, and my truck can stop and start in 14". Add another 10" on it, and I'm not going anywhere without a path already cut. Sorry, but it's true. I love my truck, but it's not a snow machine by any means. That Subaru has quite a bit of clearance in it.

 

There are two reasons that our F150's aren't great in the snow sometimes. First off, a wide tire is not very good at getting thru snow. The trucks nowadays have a tire that is a 70, 65, or even a 60 aspect ratio sidewall. What happens is with those kind of aspect ratios the tread print is fairly wide. In order to get thru snow the wider footprint doesn't want to go thru, but rather stay on top of the snow and not get good traction. As recently as the early 90's 4x4 trucks had 85 series tires that were tall and skinny compared to today's tires. They cut thru the snow better and didn't have such a tendancy to drive on top of the snow, thus usually giving better traction. Second, the road clearance tends to work against getting around in snow also. You won't get traction if the vehicle starts to lift off the ground. A cold and tightly packed snow can really make this happen. If the vehicle lifts the tires off the hard surface from snow packing up underneath you won't go anywhere. All that said, a tall and skinny snow tire with deep cleated tread will be the best way to get thru deep snow. But 24 inches is beyond what a stock F150 or most any other light duty vehicle can navigate.

 

I had another vehicle with tc on it and I absolutely hated it(hopefully the 09's is better). Without tc on a 2wd I could keep the tires spinning and the car rolling and make it up the hill. With tc you weren't going anywhere. Even the slightest hill would have it sitting still like it was hitting a rev limiter at 500-600 rpm. Just touching the gas on an ice covered hill is going to spin the tires, which activates the tc, which reduces power long enough to stop spinning the wheels, and then repeats itself over and over again while you sit there not moving.

Some new technology is great, but others, not so much.....anti lock brakes work great when you need to stop in a hurry on an icy road. That was a "new" technology that you would be hard pressed to find someone that doesn't appreciate it. But a feature that is designed to take power away from the wheels when you need to keep the wheels spinning? Have you never been on an icy road or off road that you had to keep the tires spinning even in 4wd to get to the top of a hill? If you have to turn the tc off on an icy/muddy hill to get to the top, but turn it back on on flat ground(where you're not going to spin the wheels in the first place) then what's the point in even putting it on the vehicle in the first place?

 

I tend to agree with Phillips91 about TC. We have it on our 02 Taurus SEL and I hate it. It's definately harder to drive than without it. With the same tires I can get around much better in the old 94 Taurus without TC as I can in the 02 Taurus with TC especially on slippery surfaces like wet snow or ice. I don't have it on my 06 F150 and I'm glad. If that's the only way I can get a new truck then that's a deal breaker for me. If it can't be disabled permanently then I don't want it. I really don't want anti-lock brakes in my truck either, but I can live with that. If I can't do donuts in the snow when I want to then where is the fun factor? That is one thing that has ruined the auto industry. Vehicle ownership is no longer enjoyable and prohibitively expensive thanks to "big brother."

 

Where I live we have a LOT of redlights that are in the middle of a hill. If there was even the slightest bit of snow and we got caught by a red light then the car wasn't moving. It was my wife's car and I can't tell you how many times I had to go hook a tow strap to her and pull her out where she was blocking traffic at a red light. The switch broke and we couldn't turn it off(like most electronic stuff, too expensive to get fixed, so we just sold the car). I have a steep driveway and if it's wet you're spinning your tires getting out. So even the slightest bit of dew would require me to pull her out so she could get to work in the morning.

 

Just got a foot of snow in the MW and my 09 FX4 ran through the snow like a champ. TC and all. I just let the truck do its thing and had no problems. Only complaint would be around corners, when the truck slides and the truck tries to stop it. Other than that it would leave my 05 250 behind. Running the stock 18' Wranglers too. Very pleased, now as for 2 feet of snow.....a lot to ask for any stock wehicle. IMO

 

Did you have to come to a stop on any hills? Illinois is pretty flat if I remember correctly. I never had any issues with the TC on flat land. It was the hills that caused problems with mine.

Just curious, but what issues does your f-250 have in the snow? We get quite a few snows here and I've yet to have any issues or get stuck in either of my 250's, 150 or bronco.

 

We got 20" out of that storm. My neighbor drove His 06 F250 out of His driveway and 1/2 mile down Our un-plowed road to the plowed Cty Rd. I know He does not have dedicated snow tires, but a decent set of newer tires. He made it without a problem.

 

I used to live in MN...You guys get powder usually. An F150 should be able to drive through 6 feet of powder. In 2WD.

 

Powder? I beg to differ.