2500 HD w/ Anti Spin Diff vs Power Wagon in Snow

[PotvinSux]

Can someone with first hand experience help me out? I live half the time in the mountains of WV (Snowshoe to be exact) and during winter, will be driving often with snow covered roads. Sometimes, as I get closer to my home, these roads are not plowed yet and will need to traverse steep inclines with several inches of snow on the roadways. I always loved the fact the Power Wagon has locking rear and front diffs, however, you are limited in payload and towing (although that's isn't a real issue for me). Would I have any issues with a regular 2500 HD with Anti Spin? Either way, I would be upgrading my tires to Falken Wildpeaks. The PW does give me some confidence of navigating these roadways, however, never had locking diffs. If sh*t hit the fan, and I was in a ditch, I feel the PW would get me out.

 

[Epsilon Plus]

Unless you need to tow more than 10,000lbs now or in the future, the PW was made for you.

 

[jadmt]

the cool thing about the power wagon is it also has the limited slip. really the only time you use lockers is when really going slow.. wildpeak at3w's are excellent tires in the snow. the winch might get you out of a ditch but if you are buried in snow lockers won't necessarily get you out as lots of things come into play.

 

[abillerbeck]

I went through the same thought process... I live in Colorado and would love to have the off road performance of the PW with the payload/towing capability of a Laramie 2500. I couldn't find any information about mods to the PW to up the towing/payload capacities so I ultimately decided to go with the Laramie 2500 with the limited slip rear diff. I figure I won't be doing any hardcore wheeling in my new $66k truck especially with it being a crew cab long bed and realistically if I want to do anything serious I'm taking my modified land rover or humvee instead (probably on a trailer towed by the new 2500). PW also limits you to the shorter bed if that matters to you at all. Plenty of resources for adding a winch to the front of a regular 2500 too.

I think that in the snow you're going to get a lot more use out of the traction control system and limited slip than you would with the lockers, plus you can always add lockers later on if you feel that you really need them. Another thing I've realized after ordering my truck is that instead of buying the off road package just get the protection package for the tow hooks and skid plates and then when you get the truck do a nice Thuren or Carli level with fox or king shocks. I paid extra for the bilsteins in the off road package and now I will probably just be ditching them when I do a leveling kit. The only other thing that you get in the off road package is hill decent control which I've had in previous vehicles and find it to be the most useless thing there ever was.

 

[jadmt]

I went through the same thought process... I live in Colorado and would love to have the off road performance of the PW with the payload/towing capability of a Laramie 2500. I couldn't find any information about mods to the PW to up the towing/payload capacities so I ultimately decided to go with the Laramie 2500 with the limited slip rear diff. I figure I won't be doing any hardcore wheeling in my new $66k truck especially with it being a crew cab long bed and realistically if I want to do anything serious I'm taking my modified land rover or humvee instead (probably on a trailer towed by the new 2500). PW also limits you to the shorter bed if that matters to you at all. Plenty of resources for adding a winch to the front of a regular 2500 too.

I think that in the snow you're going to get a lot more use out of the traction control system and limited slip than you would with the lockers, plus you can always add lockers later on if you feel that you really need them. Another thing I've realized after ordering my truck is that instead of buying the off road package just get the protection package for the tow hooks and skid plates and then when you get the truck do a nice Thuren or Carli level with fox or king shocks. I paid extra for the bilsteins in the off road package and now I will probably just be ditching them when I do a leveling kit. The only other thing that you get in the off road package is hill decent control which I've had in previous vehicles and find it to be the most useless thing there ever was.

I am guessing you did not use it offroading then. It is crazy good offroading. I have it in my PW and also had it in my jeep wranglers and it is amazing. It allows you to drive 1 mph down a steep cliff without touching the brakes and allows you to steer no problem. It takes some getting used to so you trust it but once you do it is great.

 

[abillerbeck]

I am guessing you did not use it offroading then. It is crazy good offroading. I have it in my PW and also had it in my jeep wranglers and it is amazing. It allows you to drive 1 mph down a steep cliff without touching the brakes and allows you to steer no problem. It takes some getting used to so you trust it but once you do it is great.

All it's doing is modulating the brakes... something that I'm very capable of doing myself. Unless you're on an extremely steep hill it's too slow anyways, and like I said I won't be driving down any cliffs in my truck...I leave that for the rover or the humvee.

 

[el_barto]

All it's doing is modulating the brakes... something that I'm very capable of doing myself. Unless you're on an extremely steep hill it's too slow anyways, and like I said I won't be driving down any cliffs in my truck...I leave that for the rover or the humvee.

The hill descent uses the abs module to brake each corner individually to prevent lockup ... it’s pretty neat .

 

[el_barto]

Can someone with first hand experience help me out? I live half the time in the mountains of WV (Snowshoe to be exact) and during winter, will be driving often with snow covered roads. Sometimes, as I get closer to my home, these roads are not plowed yet and will need to traverse steep inclines with several inches of snow on the roadways. I always loved the fact the Power Wagon has locking rear and front diffs, however, you are limited in payload and towing (although that's isn't a real issue for me). Would I have any issues with a regular 2500 HD with Anti Spin? Either way, I would be upgrading my tires to Falken Wildpeaks. The PW does give me some confidence of navigating these roadways, however, never had locking diffs. If sh*t hit the fan, and I was in a ditch, I feel the PW would get me out.

Falken Wildpeak AT3W is a great tire, it’s what I run. But it’s not as good as a true winter tire, unfortunately there are very few options for a true winter tire in 35”. Also I’m not interested in changing between a summer and a winter tire on this truck.

Locking diffs...KEEP YOUR DIFFS UNLOCKED IN THE SNOW. I’ve seen other people get themselves into trouble locking their axles in the snow. When both wheels are forced to go the same speed, the vehicle tracks wherever it decides it wants to. The only situation I can really think where lockers will be useful in the snow is off you’re high centered but still have one wheel on solid ground you may be able to claw your way out. I’ve seen people dig themselves into worse situations in snow trying to do this though. Same with keeping your sway bar engaged, snow wheeling is generally smoother than rocks so there’s not really any need, and with a disengaged sway bar in the snow you are more likely to get yourself into trouble.

The rear LSD is nice I guess...I can’t tell when it’s engaging, so it’s pretty smooth. Just helps keep your rear wheels turning if one gets on a slippier section or looses a bit of grip due to flex.

If you’re serious about not getting stuck in the snow, I highly suggest getting Maxtrax or similar, they are super useful in the snow. And a good flathead transfer shovel(not a folding e-tool, not a collapsing avi shovel, not a spade head digging shovel).

Also, tire chains for offroad snow wheeling. I have v-bars ladder chains for the rear and low profile cables for the fronts.

Winch is only good if you have something to anchor to, and un-stucking a framed out the Power Wagon is a major under taking...2:1 or 3:1 pull may be required. You can substantially reduce the mire factor by spending time with the good shovel I mentioned above.

i love my power wagon, but to be brutally honest, full time AWD(Audi, Subaru) with good snow tires is better on snowy highways. Don’t have to worry about engaging 4WD when conditions change, no tire scrubbing in parking lots, it’s just fun to drive.

 

[Epsilon Plus]

I took my Heavy out hunting and ended up crawling a fairly legit holey hill to get where we were going. 4 Low, first gear lock, dropping tires and flexing axles the whole bit. Was thoroughly impressed. The SFA front and SRA rear was dipping here and there but the body stayed nice and straight and composed.

I tried the hill decent control back down and loved it. Since you could use the brakes to full stop without it turning off it was much different than just offroad cruise control.

If I wasn't worried about pin stripes from the width Id be inclined to wheel it more. This truck is truly an all purpose all star.

 

[abillerbeck]

The hill descent uses the abs module to brake each corner individually to prevent lockup ... it’s pretty neat .

I tried the hill decent control back down and loved it. Since you could use the brakes to full stop without it turning off it was much different than just offroad cruise control.

To each their own on the hill control. By pressing the brake yourself without the hill decent control active it will still also utilize the anti-lock braking system and modulate braking force to each wheel to minimize locking/slipping just like normal. I just don't like being locked into a single speed, I prefer to control that myself depending on the grade and trail conditions. Maybe I'm just old school, but that's the fun in offroading for me is being in control or how out of control you want to get.

 

[Brewbud]

I read on the long AlfaOBD post (sister 5th gen Rams site) that Hill descent can be added to our HD trucks by adding the switch and enabling it with ALfaOBD.

EDIT - Oops it was not our sister site but another forum.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I read on the long AlfaOBD post (sister 5th gen Rams site) that Hill descent can be added to our HD trucks by adding the switch and enabling it with ALfaOBD.

EDIT - Oops it was not our sister site but another forum.

Link?

 

[Heckyl]

I’ve had a power wagon and I had it mainly for mud, not snow. I’ve been stuck many times in mud with trucks and tractors and so I bought a power wagon for when the sh*t hits the fan as you say. The power wagon definitely did better ( in very bad mud situations )than past and current HD 4x4 Rams with limited slip rear end trucks I have now. What I found is that I would not lock the front or rear diff till I was in a fairly bad situation where I felt the chance of getting stuck was high because it takes a little while to lock everything up, and with the front locked it does not want to turn, but will definately get you out of mud, snow or ditch better ( also has the ultimate sh*t hits the fan tool called a winch ). The power wagon looks better because of lift than the other HD trucks also. I ended up selling my power wagon because it didn’t like cruising past 70 mph on the HW. It was a 2005 that had a 4:56 rear end which I didn’t like. The newer power wagons have a 4:10 rear end which helps with HW manners. I also wanted a diesel for towing and hauling. If you need a truck that will get you out of the worst snow or mud situations without needing a truck to haul or tow heavy, definitely get the power wagon. What I think you will find with a power wagon is that you will rarely have the front and rear locked, but the worry of being stuck in those hairy situations is very minimal.

 

[Jimmy07]

I read on the long AlfaOBD post (sister 5th gen Rams site) that Hill descent can be added to our HD trucks by adding the switch and enabling it with ALfaOBD.

EDIT - Oops it was not our sister site but another forum.

Link?

It’s probably buried somewhere in the 13,000 post AlfaOBD thread on ramforum, but true- you just need to swap in the 4x4 switch cluster that has the hill descent button and enable it with AlfaOBD.

 

[Brutal_HO]

It’s probably buried somewhere in the 13,000 post AlfaOBD thread on ramforum, but true- you just need to swap in the 4x4 switch cluster that has the hill descent button and enable it with AlfaOBD.

Roger.

I can add it to the DIY AlfaOBD codes Sticky if I can get the switch panel part number.

 

[el_barto]

I’ve had a power wagon and I had it mainly for mud, not snow. I’ve been stuck many times in mud with trucks and tractors and so I bought a power wagon for when the sh*t hits the fan as you say. The power wagon definitely did better ( in very bad mud situations )than past and current HD 4x4 Rams with limited slip rear end trucks I have now. What I found is that I would not lock the front or rear diff till I was in a fairly bad situation where I felt the chance of getting stuck was high because it takes a little while to lock everything up, and with the front locked it does not want to turn, but will definately get you out of mud, snow or ditch better ( also has the ultimate sh*t hits the fan tool called a winch ). The power wagon looks better because of lift than the other HD trucks also. I ended up selling my power wagon because it didn’t like cruising past 70 mph on the HW. It was a 2005 that had a 4:56 rear end which I didn’t like. The newer power wagons have a 4:10 rear end which helps with HW manners. I also wanted a diesel for towing and hauling. If you need a truck that will get you out of the worst snow or mud situations without needing a truck to haul or tow heavy, definitely get the power wagon. What I think you will find with a power wagon is that you will rarely have the front and rear locked, but the worry of being stuck in those hairy situations is very minimal.

I agree I have yet to need to lock my Axles. I believe the long wheelbase helps reduce the need for them in many situations
That said, I’m still relatively new to off-roading, in addition to the fact that there is a limit to the type of trail I want to take my large, expensive truck out on.

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

If I wasn't worried about pin stripes from the width Id be inclined to wheel it more.

We call em Pinestripes lol

 

[el_barto]

We call em Pinestripes lol

I’m starting to collect those on my truck

 

[Brewbud]

It’s probably buried somewhere in the 13,000 post AlfaOBD thread on ramforum, but true- you just need to swap in the 4x4 switch cluster that has the hill descent button and enable it with AlfaOBD.

Bingo. It was on the ramforum site. I ran across it searching for something else. I am not a member there (I think) but a search there will turn it up.

 

[Brewbud]

I’m starting to collect those on my truck

I have noticed the paint on these newer trucks is not as durable as the older trucks. I have already had my mobile auto body guy remove some scratches. A couple of them are too deep to just polish out.