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How do these trucks do in the snow?

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dm6

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I am talking about just on the paved snow covered roads in 4WD, no chains. In the past I have either had SUV's or put a bunch of weight in the back of a truck for better traction. Is it necessary to put weight in the back of these, or are they plenty heavy enough as they are?
 
Drove in some crap (ice for sure and snow accumulation in some spots) tonight here in lovely NY and the white knight was fine in 2wd. This with the stock, crap-force things it came with for sneakers.

That said its a pickup and a large one. Drive it accordingly.

Sent from my semi-smart telephonic device
 
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empty the back ends are light compared to the front ends. my truck is 58/42 weight bias towards the front so it is easy to break the rear tires loose on slick roads. slip it into 4H and they do really well. One thing is they get going really well in 4H but stopping that is another story. Tires make a big difference.
 
They do great in the snow and no extra weight except for when the plow is on i run ballast weight

Good tires and you hardly need 4x4
 

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H3LZSN1P3R said:
They do great in the snow and no extra weight except for when the plow is on i run ballast weight

Good tires and you hardly need 4x4
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Good to know! So will the 4WD make up for having the Transforce tires? :)
 
Its light in the back, does better with more weight over the rear, so it doesn’t break the tires as easily. Depending on configuration , some power hop pretty bad (Hemi-CCSB/power wagon for example)

Also tires make a huge difference. I run 3PMSF rated AT tires, but true Winter tires would be better. (I have had Blizzaks and Hankook iPike winter tires on Audis + Subarus and they are absolutely glued to the road on snow and slush…the truck obviously does better though when the snow is bumper- deep)

However, I’ve found true 4WD is not as good on snowy/icy roads as true AWD with a center differential (Audi/Subaru).
 
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Any vehicle with a heavy front weight bias in the front will do "worse" than a weight bias that is even, all things being equal.

That said, I can't say this truck has been any better or worse in the snow. Your driving habits are the big thing here, as well as quality snow tires.

I have some 3 peak Falken AT3Ws and they are by far the best tire I've run in the snow.
 
Had my Power Wagon up in the mountains on some logging roads in decent snow last weekend for the first time. This truck, paired with studded snow tires, is absolutely the beastliest snow vehicle I have ever driven. Its like it doesn't know the difference between snow and pavement.
 
unfortunately 10 wheel drive wouldn't help pavement tires. unless you wrapped a track around it.
 
I use the transforce in the summer months but switch them out with blizzak LT for winter driving. The transforce are terrible on ice/snow when it's -30C.
 
I'm heading into winter #3 with my 2500 CTD. TFs got swapped for Cooper XLT3s after first winter. I have a few sand bags in back and it hooks up pretty good on hard pack snow. 4wd definitely adds some comfort to equation tho. I would second the feeling that stopping/hard cornering the CTD on slippery surface can be touchy. De-accel on black ice with exhaust brake has gotten interesting a few times too. I own a 2dr JK, I'd rather run the Ram when it's slippery!
 
Definitely let some air out of your tires. I encountered snow 2 days after picking up my truck and it was like driving on basketballs. Aired down from dealer set 90psi to 50psi and it made a huge difference. Went from borderline unsafe to "just ok." Still waiting for my real tires to show up so I can ditch the Transforce AT's
 
dm6 said:
I am talking about just on the paved snow covered roads in 4WD, no chains. In the past I have either had SUV's or put a bunch of weight in the back of a truck for better traction. Is it necessary to put weight in the back of these, or are they plenty heavy enough as they are?
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I have had many trips in the snow with my Ram trucks using the Firestone AT2 tires, towing large boats across many mountain ranges with zero issues. On several trips I have used 4WD for days on end, only unlocking when making really tight turns on surfaces that were not entirely wet or notably dry.

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DontSlamMyRam said:
I'm heading into winter #3 with my 2500 CTD. TFs got swapped for Cooper XLT3s after first winter. I have a few sand bags in back and it hooks up pretty good on hard pack snow. 4wd definitely adds some comfort to equation tho. I would second the feeling that stopping/hard cornering the CTD on slippery surface can be touchy. De-accel on black ice with exhaust brake has gotten interesting a few times too. I own a 2dr JK, I'd rather run the Ram when it's slippery!
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The Cooper AT3 XLT's are awesome. I ran them on the last truck. Trying out the new Rugged Treks on this truck and very happy so far.
 
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