How do these trucks do in the snow?

[fuchsroehre]

I just pushed a car through a snowbank onto the interstate. It was a 12 inch snowstorm here in MN and some on- ramps were not plowed at that time. A sedan was stuck before getting onto the interstate, blocking us. I asked him if he would like a push and he was ok with it. I slowly pushed him through 12+ inches of snow, my boys were excited, my wife couldn't believe what we were doing. I always wanted to do that.....lol.

 

[Grayson]

I would prefer to buy a Subaru STI and drive flat out; I could also enjoy my food on the wing when I stop.

 

[whitexc]

Be nice. Subaru makes some good autos and not all carry 8 pizzas on the deck lid.

Sent from my semi-smart telephonic device

 

[406Linetrash]

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!

You really want to get in the habit of not running the exhaust brake in snow/ice.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

You really want to get in the habit of not running the exhaust brake in snow/ice.

Thats not true at all i always run the exhaust brake even on pure ice never an issue…. The exhaust brake is not that powerful

 

[Great White North Eh]

Ya I would rather slow the power train down than use the brakes. Kind of like knowing how to properly drive a manual…ya know like in the olden days.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Ya I would rather slow the power train down than use the brakes. Kind of like knowing how to properly drive a manual…ya know like in the olden days.

Downshifting on pure ice always gave me a smile lol

 

[Brutal_HO]

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

I was NOT impressed with the Falken on hardpack/ice with 60-65 psi. They improved some lowered to 45-50. Diesel weight will screw you bigtime if you drop a tire into a rut with an AT tire.

 

[406Linetrash]

Thats not true at all i always run the exhaust brake even on pure ice never an issue…. The exhaust brake is not that powerful

Do what you want. It is powerful enough to lock up the rear wheels. I've had it happen. It's even in the manual

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Do what you want. It is powerful enough to lock up the rear wheels. I've had it happen. It's even in the manual

Is pure ice out here now no issues even with an 800lbs plow on the front taking weight off the rear end…. I know the manual says to not to but thats just for legal reasons

 

[406Linetrash]

Is pure ice out here now no issues even with an 800lbs plow on the front taking weight off the rear end…. I know the manual says to not to but thats just for legal reasons

I hear you there. If the legal was taken out it would only be 20 pages

 

[Wilder]

I was NOT impressed with the Falken on hardpack/ice with 60-65 psi. They improved some lowered to 45-50. Diesel weight will screw you bigtime if you drop a tire into a rut with an AT tire.

I was never as impressed as some were with the Wildpeak AT3 in the snow. Have liked the Goodyear duratrac, at least on gas trucks. This time I've gone with the Kenda Klever R/T, because it is very similar to the duratrac, has a soft tread compound, and seems to get good reviews for snow use. Way better size availability for these trucks. Will see how they do.

I've always been a fan of aftermarket suspension systems for winter use. They can keep rough and nasty roads with potholes, washboard, or frost heaves from unsettling the rear end of your truck on a slick surface, which often kicks off a slide. The best tires in the world won't help if you can't keep them in contact with the road surface.

We rarely have hardpack out here, its always either loose/unplowed snow, or heavy slush. Rarely ice. They salt the crap out of the roads out here, and everything turns to mush. Totally different philosophy than I've seen out west regarding taking care of the roads. People start complaining if they can't drive their front wheel drive hybrid on summer tires down any road they want 30 mins after it stops snowing. Honestly wish they wouldn't, maybe our trucks would last longer before rusting out.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I was never as impressed as some were with the Wildpeak AT3 in the snow. Have liked the Goodyear duratrac, at least on gas trucks. This time I've gone with the Kenda Klever R/T, because it is very similar to the duratrac, has a soft tread compound, and seems to get good reviews for snow use. Way better size availability for these trucks. Will see how they do.

I've always been a fan of aftermarket suspension systems for winter use. They can keep rough and nasty roads with potholes, washboard, or frost heaves from unsettling the rear end of your truck on a slick surface, which often kicks off a slide. The best tires in the world won't help if you can't keep them in contact with the road surface.

We rarely have hardpack out here, its always either loose/unplowed snow, or heavy slush. Rarely ice. They salt the crap out of the roads out here, and everything turns to mush. Totally different philosophy than I've seen out west regarding taking care of the roads. People start complaining if they can't drive their front wheel drive hybrid on summer tires down any road they want 30 mins after it stops snowing. Honestly wish they wouldn't, maybe our trucks would last longer before rusting out.

In one case, I was on a trail that while wide enough to prevent adding pinstripes, my truck had no business being on, much less with snow on the ground, without being chained up.

That said, on another mountain road, as I went around a truck parked on the road, I half overestimated my distance form the drainage rut on the hillside of the road, half not paying attention looking in the trees, and plowed into the rut, both tires. In the truck/tire's defense, I was mindlessly running without traction control disabled and was doomed once it dropped in. Due to the uphill grade, it took several minutes of forward/back maneuvers to get out. I ended up using way more wheel speed than I would have liked to prevent breakage.

On much of the "roads," the hardpack/ice was making for some pucker moments for sure. Finding that sweet spot to maintain momentum on off-camber turns to keep from dropping the rear into the abyss is always fun. With the fire decimation that we had, many of those spots no longer had enough or strong enough trees to catch your slide down the mountain.

I should have aired down. Mea culpa. I did end up airing down the next day just to tame the roughness of the roads we were running.

 

[OC455]

Last year during the first snows, I had the OEM Nexen tires on my truck. I couldn't get out of a flat parking lot unless I put it in 4WD because they were terrible in snow. My truck wears Firestone Destination XT's now. Haven't had to use 4WD after putting on the XT's.