FWD vs RWD

I was just down in Tahoe twice over the Christmas break. I think you will like the extra clearance of the Tacoma. They get some crazy snow down there. Where are you going?

 

So many posters, so few with thousands of miles of snow/ice experience.

 

Chains are easily the best with ice bars. Cables are easier to put on but may still be adaquate.

 

The Good old chain law out west .

I don`t care what anyone says it is a royal pain to put chains anytime. Even more so after your already stuck.

In the old days when gas was $ 0.45 a gallon we used to have a soil bank field to use as a racetrack the really neat way to put the chains on is air the tires down get them as tight as possible then air up the tires.

They stay tight let out the air to get them off.

 

This guy really want you to know he has experience driving in the snow. It's ......really important to him that you know that.

 

Love ya man. But can you add any fuking thing else to the topic? Tell ya what, even though you might be kind of a dick, I wont stick you if you post when somebody asks about things you have been doing for 30 or 40 years in NC. Like wheeling in clay, dealing with 1,000 foot "mountain" terrain, or hitting big girls fed on a deep fried fat diet.

 

Your in a Toyota either way so your good to go. We're having a great winter finally! Enjoy Tahoe

 

Is there anything wrong with just buying snow tires and swapping them? Forgive my ignorance, I do not usually drive in the snow and usually spoiled by the year round sunshine that we have here. The only thing I usually worry about during this time is if I have enough tread to drive through a puddle without hydroplaning.

 

Get cheap steel wheels for your winter tires

 

If OP is in a moderate climate otherwise, it may be tough to justify snow tires . That's why snow rated All terrain tires on the truck might be worth considering

 

I do run the BFG AT's. I live in Ventura CA so buying snow tires would be a huge waste. I am going with cables because I do have minor clearance issue. I guess if you add the tires with the offset on the rim plus the the lift...it all equals the tires barely clearing the back of the fenderwell when turning. I'm gonna try to remedy that by messing with alignment a little but we'll see. Hoping if I just keep it under 80mph I'll be fine..

 

I won't claim the same amount of experience on snow/ice as @steelhd is, but I've done my share of sliding around on the ice, into ditches, and digging out of snowdrifts in FWD, RWD, and 4WD vehicles. I had a little 99 RWD Tacoma and loved it to death but it SUCKED on slippery roads. I tried everything - sand in the bed, cables, chains, studded snow tires, you name it. A FWD vehicle with good tires is way more stable than a RWD pickup on an icy highway. That's all there is to it. Good tires or cables/chains does make a very big difference though.

I'd recommend cables for your purposes. They're easier to install, work pretty well, and still have a decent top speed (I try to keep them around 50mph or lower) compared to chains (25ish). Also they're cheaper and lighter so you can keep them behind the seats for years in case you ever need them. I like to get out and tighten them up (both for cables and chains) after a mile or so but I don't know if that's necessary. Before you store them clean, dry, and oil them a bit and check for damage. Otherwise the next time you use them you might hear a funny noise and get out to find your fender has suddenly become more aerodynamic from a busted cable flailing it for the past 10 miles.

As for the 80mph thing..only if the road is obviously clean and dry. If it looks at all wet/snowy/slick slow the hell down or you might learn how fast things can go from "Ho hum, this is nice" to "OH SHIT WHY AM I NOW FACING THE CAR THAT'S BEHIND ME WHAT'S GOING ON!?"

Also a couple pages back somebody was speculating that you're in a FWD vehicle and you start to turn sideways you could give it a bit of gas to correct it...don't do that. It might work in theory but in the real world you're going to make it worse. The best thing to do is let off the gas and gently try to steer back into your lane but don't overdo it. If you're fishtailing just ride it out and keep gently correcting until you either regain control or hit something. I think the biggest tip is when you're crossing lanes and there's a big slush/snow pile between them wait until you have room and then coast over it carefully. Foot off the gas. Don't even think about cruise control. I was going to write a paragraph about braking but I think ABS can handle that part for you. I dunno though, this is my first ABS vehicle and I haven't done anything stupid in it yet so I could find out.

Edit: forgot to mention that chains / cables only go on the rear tires with Gen 2 Tacomas. No room up front.

 

Cause you asked for our opinions, I like driving FWD in the snow and ice. Its more fun, and I feel like I have more control over where the car goes in a slide. Have fun!

 

Edit: forgot to mention that chains / cables only go on the rear tires with Gen 2 Tacomas. No room up front.[/QUOTE]

Was just going to ask about this. Even if there was room, would it do any good? Front tires aren't driven anyway. Was hoping putting them on the front would keep me going in the direction I was trying to go in.

 

Just my opinion / speculation but I don't think they'd help much. The better Z-pattern ones might help a little but the cheaper ladder ones almost certainly wouldn't. Regardless it's not remotely fun trying to chain up when it's cold out because you lose fine dexterity in about a minute and it's a PITA trying to get everything to hook up correctly. I don't think it's worth the effort if the wheels aren't even being driven.

For front chains, it is kind of possible but again probably not worth your trouble. The reason they don't fit is because the control arm comes very close to the inside wall of the tire and chains would rub. I've heard of people using extremely low profile cables, narrow tires, or spacers to get enough room but I really doubt it's worth that kind of trouble.