How does your truck do on snow

My truck isn't that bad. It depends on the tires. I had/have Cooper STT's last year in the snow. This year I still have them, but looking for new tires since they are low on tread. Those tires grip pretty good. and I hope the hercules will work good. I only click it into 4wd when I am racing to my machine to clear snow in Toronto

 

You plow snow with ur taco?

 

Sure ... why not? Great for your own driveway. Probably not a good idea to open a snow removal business with a Tacoma though.

 

No I don't plow snow with my truck... I thought about putting a plow on it. But I plow with a backhoe, or a loader. Some of my buddy's I plow for on the side I use there Duramax's.

 

I never had any problems with my truck even when it was stock. I have had to make 80 mile round trips in blizzards totally stock with no problems. Yesterday was my first shot at snow with lift and 33's and no problems and w only 3 or 4 inches on the ground ..... no problems. I dont run any weight in the bed... and i unless its really bad on the mountain I am usually in 2wd. I dont hammer it that bad but it usually adds maybe 5 or 10 minutes to my 30 minute ride to or from work. I have acutally driven around the road closures when they shut the mountain down wiht no problems as I drive by cars on the mt that are just left onthe mt to get towed. Knock on wood.... no problems. My old explorer had some problems with spinning .... twice in the span of 2 years and they were bad spins.... but no accident luckily. Just some good stories. I am kind of missing it that tacomas are bad in the snow.... they seem pretty solind int he snow for me.

 

i had my first winter drive in it yesterday (bout 3 in) and it didnt slip once. even when i was tryin to drift it on corners, i kept finding traction in some spots which would take me out of the drift. i was a tap disappointed as i am all over the place in rain

 

we just got 4 inches yesterday was driving around midnight everything was frozen my truck did great. Its the tires, when i had my stock tires on there it slid all over the place

 

great thread, just got our first dusting last night. after reading everyones posts, it sounds like driving style is the number one consideration when dealing with slippery road conditions.whenever someone asks me for winter driveing tips i tell to go to an empty parking lot and do some doghnuts and some skids to learn what happens without sever penalty.just another note, weight in the back is the best tip for traction on ice but it also makes it take longer to slow down, alot of truck owners around here use studs on the rear tires and it seems to help alot

 

I'm heading into my first winter with my 2wd Taco. It's my first rear wheel drive vehicle in years.

I've got a couple of extra steelies with some Firestone WinterForce snow tires ready to throw on if needed. I'm hoping between the snow tires, traction-control, LSD, VSC and some common sense/experience I won't have to much of a problem.

*fingers crossed*

 

Driving style like Adktacoma said, big factor. Also the type of snow, East side of Oregon is mostly whats referred to as "continental" snow, its dry and wont make a snowball I can drive in that snow 12-16" deep in 2wd. Light n fluffy. Here in Portland we usually get "marine" snow, it can be real wet, 1" packs into ice like hardpack kinda quick. All that relates to temperature too.

I really dont know where the 2 types names comes from, but if you have seen both you'll know how snow isn't bad , its the ice, the hardpack and people who don't understand how to drive in any of it.
No stock 4wd or awd is ever truly ready for winter, but it doesnt take much to get em there. I say that because every winter I see suv's, trucks, cars, awd, 4wd etc all crash because they thought they bought a vehicle that gave them all that was needed, they didn't know the limits.
I have seen hills (not real steep) here where everyone went down, proudly assuming their vehicle has what it takes for hardpack snow/ice ... and they all slid to the side into the same tree, at 5 mph or so and stacked onto each other all over a course of maybe 1-2 hrs, awd 4wd front drive etc. I had to go there to close the road. there was a Colorado (first) then a corrolla, then a TACOMA (argh) , dont recall the 4th car , the 5th was a Suburu. I wouldnt touch that hill in the ram 3/4 i was in and I had 2 sets of chains on!

 

I live in quebec, and we do get lots of snow during winter. We get fluffy snow as well as marine snow as mentionned above. The truck, on 2 wheel drives can't do as well as say a normal front wheel drive car, even with auto-lsd. For that reason, as soon as there is more than a trace of snow, I drive my truck on 4wd. In this mode, I can tell you it does very, very well, with the TRAC activating to use all 4 wheels for traction. Even passing through 3 foot high snow packed by the tractor is no problem. ABS, I find that is some kind of problem though during our winters, as we get lots of ice. It should shut off itself when braking under like 20km/h in my opinion. ABS is less effective on icy roads.

 

We got our first snow of the winter a few nights ago and I was at work. On top of the mountains I had to cross the road was covered(marine snow, I have the snowman to prove it). I decided to go as far as I could in 2wd. I crossed 3 mountain tops and made it home without 4wd. I was totally surprised. I owe it to the Bridgestone Duelers and driving habits.

 

First snow of the year last night, only about 1" though. Drove to work in 4WD anyway just for the hell of it! Truck did great, can't wait for more snow!

 

yeah man, solid sheet of ice down here too. Wondered where you've been Scott. Glad to see you stop by.

 

It certainly feels like ABS makes the stopping distance longer. But on ice, the fact is you cannot threshold brake, you have to skid and release. And everytime you skid, the vehicle tries to follow the slope of the road into the curb, ditch or whatever. It also lets you steer on the grip, without having to let up. Try pulling the ABS fuse, you'll be shocked! The biggest benefit of the Taco's ABS system is the brake force distribution, so all tires give 100% when the ABS is working.

 

Yeah, I'm all about motorcycles in warm weather, but winter's here and I'm back!

 

I use my truck in the worst snow conditions we get here. We do plowing and snow blowing so we are out before the side roads get done. Unloaded (without my toro 8/26 350-400lbs) the truck does pretty good in 2, no problems in 4. With the extra weight of the machine, ramps, shovels and gas, i only use 4 when its really bad and or steep hills. Ive used 4low and the diff lock once. I pulled into a lot that had 27" of snow, then cot plowed in. the berm at then end was almost 4' of hard wet snow. I backed up into it in 4 and got hung up good. Rocked it between 1st and reverse, got out. tried again, no luck. Finally i put it in 4low and locked the rear end and bulldozed thru.

 

Getting dumped on with snow again. This is the 2nd chance i have had to test out the Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs in the snow. All i can say is WOW. I have been throughly impressed on how well these tires handle. The only thing better would be studded tires. But these are my year round tires and they were great during the summer. Used to run BFG AT and was even looking to do the same on this truck. But these tires were cheaper and i now realize better.

 

Studs are sweet when you need more ice traction, a hassle the other 90% of winter . I carry chains and never needed them on ice ... yet.., so studs nooo wayy, they tear up the road too much.
P.S. having driven studded tires, and winter tires, studs dont matter in snow, its in the tread/rubber , severe weather tires have proven to be almost equal to a studded tire on ice. Your Duratracs have the wiggly factory siping if I recall, that helps on harpack n ice.

 

Mine does great in the snow, no complaints. My old GMC used to slide around in 2wd. I like the added limited slip in this truck. I was able to drive all over Tahoe in icy conditions last week. I am even able to pull in my driveway without it fish tailing. My old GMC didn't have the limited slip and I pretty much had to keep it in 4wd all the time in the snow or icy conditions.