snow taco's

I have a '10 taco w/ 3"lift. im running on 285/70/17 toyo tires. this past snowfall,about 2", i couldn't stop sliding,even in 4/4. is this typical of all tacomas,being that there light, or do my tires just suck?

 

throw some sandbags in the back and try it again

 

Snow, or ice? I've never had any issues with my Tacoma or any other vehicle in snow. Ice is another story and you'll often have a layer of ice with snow on top and not realize the difference. Chains are really needed for icy conditions. But tires do matter. Generally speaking wider tires, and tires with a mud tread suck in snow covered pavement. A narrower tire with an All Terrain tread does best in those conditions. Now really deep snow acts more like mud and a mud tire may be helpful

 

Weight in the bed does help some. Still, on ice, 4X4 basically means squat. It helps in snow, though.

 

TOYO MTs or ATs. MTs are dangerous on ice. Ask me how I know?

 

I had toyo at2's, the flat out suck in winter...

 

I have Goodyear MTRs. They are terrible on ice but I got them siped and let some air out and they have been much better. They still suck though. I like driving my wifes all wheel drive jeep with ATs in the snow much more then my truck

 

I had the original Toyo AT on a previous truck. Great highway tire, got 65k out of a set on a heavy Suburban. Absolutely worthless in the snow or off the pavement. I would have thought they would have made the AT2's better. I wouldn't know since the only place to get Toyo's in Oregon is Les Schwab's and I wouldn't take my truck for their incompetent tech's to screw up or damage.

I've been very happy with my BFG KO2's. I've only slid when I've wanted to I do have about 300lbs extra in the bed with the canopy and winter gear.

I would try airing down if your tires are otherwise good.

 

Sandbags and proper winter tires will make a world of difference.

 

Fat tires and no weight bad combo. I have a dully Dodge with really good tires it is rear drive with limited slip it will not even move in slick weather! No problem with stock size snow tires (picture of a mountain on the side wall) and 4WD with the Taco.

 

When I'm in 4x4 I don't slide around on icy packed roads with my Cooper ST Maxx. In 2WD the rear can slide a bit since there's no weight back there.

What kind of "Toyo" tires? Street tires? Off-Road? Winter?

 

I'd say it's your tires.

 

Ya, that is what I'm thinking too.

This is my first winter in my Taco. Only had it in snow a couple times so far and it's been pretty good. But I'm running Dynapro A/Ts, stock size.

 

Mine does great in snow. It's all about the tires

 

Tires

No vehicle does well in snow without good tires. AT tires are decent in all terrain types. Snow tires really do work well in snow.

My Taco kills it in the snow, on and off road.

 

How do you know????????

 

Spend some time at one of the multiple " snow tire threads "
I use studded Good year WRT ice tires that had a good rating a few years ago and they work amazing on snow and ice even with this very lightweight truck . Maybe a studded tire is overkill depending where you live but for me and my 8 months of winter driving , it made sense to go with as much traction and braking available at the time .
There are better winter tires available now .
Here is one of the winter tire threads https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/winter-tires.396277/

 

Ok, so your truck came from the factory with either 245 or 265 tires. You changed them out to 285 and raised the center of gravity, and you are seriously asking if they all drive the same? Of course not. When you alter that kind of characteristic, it IS GOING TO CHANGE HOW IT BEHAVES!!!

Which I would presume was the POINT of making changes. After all, why change something if it doesn't... you know... CHANGE something.

So here is the thing with tires; picking a tire is a tradeoff. Big wide tires are good for MUD AND SAND -- things that may not have a BOTTOM, so you need to float up to the top as much as possible. In the snow, you need something entirely different. Under the snow, you have a hard surface, typically PAVEMENT. To maximize traction, you need to get past the snow and stick that tire right against the hard surface below it, so you need the exact OPPOSITE of what does well in mud and sand. You need NARROW tires. The NARROWER the tire, the more it is able to dig its way past the snow and get good traction on the hard surface below it.

Now since you obviously want the wider tires for warm weather, seems to me that you would be best off with a set of dedicated winter tires. Aim for something nice and narrow, like 235's. Maybe even 225's.

Also, the lift isn't doing you any favors in the snow. Low is stable.

 

So it snowed heavy christmas eve December of 2014. The snow plows were not up and running on the little streets. The cars were still driving on the roads and compacting the snow. Christmas was cold and the snow turned to ice. I made this same turn multiple times on both those days. The next morning however I was in 4hi chatting with my wife driving slow and safe. I started to make the right turn. Almost a down hill U turn onto the street my inlaws live on. The snow had still not been plowed.

The turn is the purple pin



Photos of the turn the next day saturday.


Looks like some one did the same thing Saturday


I started the turn like normal but the truck quickly decided to ignore my turning and braking. Even though I was going slow I hit a post (an older post) that was rotted on the bottom and broke upon contact with my relentless bumper. We started going over the edge and I thought for a moment. This is it.



The cable had been cut when they replaced the two new posts on the end and instead of sinking a new cable in the ground they Ubolted the two cabels pieces together. This did not hold so the post just fell over. The saving grace was my truck was completely sideways and I hit a new post on the side of my truck that held us in place.







I was looking over the edge in shock. It happed so slow it felt unreal. Like this cant be happening. The ABS brake system would not let the tires stop.

My wife quickly snapped me in gear and said what do we need to do. I handed her my phone and said take pictures Ill grab the recovery gear. I couldn't back up because the post was resting against the side of my truck. I ran the winch to a tree across the road but this did not work as the back end if the truck started going down the hill while the front went up. I grabbed the snatch block given to me by my TW secret santa and ran the cable back to my slider. Once I was off the post. I had the wife spin the wheel in reverse while I winched sideways. This seemed to have the best result.



The good news is we were safe. My $250 diductible is nothing and the body will be fixed. I had to make the same turn several more times this weekend. What did I learn? 40 PSI is too high. A nice 30 in the mountains helps. Using my gears to brake gives me much more control. It was an experience that will be with me for a long time.

 

Yikes! Glad it didn't turn out for the worse.