Tips for snow and the north please

Don't get lulled into over confidence. Back in my stupid days, I would have spots where its snow, stop sign after stop sign and braking's not that bad of an issue. Then, I hit a spot that's had some sun on it for a few hours and it's iced over and I can't tell it's ice. IT goes from 15 feet stopping distance to 30 feet and oh SHIT. And that's going 10-15 miles an hour. I do like to lightly tap the brakes every once in awhile to see what the surface is like. I think there's a certain feel that you'll get when it's icy and the ABS chatters. I just like to use it as a scout. Especially if I'm going down hill or down a bridge. I'll slow down, gradually downshift and just test the brakes going down. I've seen my share of car pile ups. I also like to keep about 1 car length or more between me and the car in front when stopped at a light. Too many asshats who come up to fast. that space has gives me somewhere to go when they pull up to fast and can't brake in time. that's saved my ass a bunch of times.


First time I ever drove in snow I was 17, and was driving in a rear wheel drive mercury grand marquis with bald tires in 8 inches of snow. It was the old school g-marquis with a live axle. Took me an almost 2 hours to get to school. We didn't cancel school unless there was at least a foot of snow on the ground back then. Damn that was a great car. 160 HP of unadulturated 4.8 ford V8. Learned a lot about driving that winter. If my dumbass at that time could figure it out, shouldn't be too hard for someone with a bit of driving ability. It sucked so bad. then after that first winter I looked forward to driving in snow and still do to this day. One of the best snow car I ever had was a miata with snow tires. 50/50 weight distribution, RWD, and snow tires. Had an AWD mazda tribute and later an AWD santa fe in the 10 years I had that car and that RWD with snow tires did SO much better than the AWD systems. Still running kevlar OEM's but if I had as much snow as you, I'd put snow shoes on her.

Oh, and don't downshift when going too fast. Stupidity in my early 20's : 5 inches of snow, I thought I was going too fast, thinking breaking is bad, let me downshift instead. I ended up in a ditch. Luckily, V8 RWD, just dug and dug through snow until I hit grass and shot me out of there. If it was more than 4/5 inches I would have been stuck there looking like a jack ass. Saw my friend's mustang a mile down in a ditch and footsteps leading back to his apartment complex. He did the same thing, but his ditch was a bit steeper. didn't have text back then to make fun of him. I didn't have to tell him I ended up in a ditch as well.

In the truck I try to stay in RWD as long as I can to keep me honest and respect the road and conditions. It makes me pay attention to the road and it makes it fun. I don't go 4wd unless I have to or it looks dicey up ahead. Learn to feather the throttle. I do like having the "limited slip" turned on. Haven't had to lock the diffs yet or go in 4lo. I keep 200lbs of sand, $2.00 for 50 lbs. If I do get REAL stuck at least I can use the sand to give me some traction. I carry a shovel in the bed. haven't needed it yet. I think learning how to move the thing in RWD and using 4WD only when necessary would be a great way to learn how to drive.

Parking lots a great idea BUT, as I learned driving with my mom (who taught me how to drive in the snow) you have to DRIVE to the damn parking lot in the snow to learn how to RECOVER in the snow. In a damn RWD with bald tires. She taught me how to drive, not take care of a car. Don't go to a parking lot. Just run a hose in front of your street next time it's below freezing and tell your neighbors' you're learning how to drive. People from Ohio are REAL friendly. they won't mind. I swear.

First time I went to Ohio was in february of 2004. The thermometer at the bank (only fancy cars had temperature gauges on cars back then, not my little mazda tribute), said -38. Ever since then, I visit my friend in the summer and damn, the summer is so nice there compared to philadelphia. Good luck with the move.

 

This video sums it all up.

 

Yeah its not exactly fun up here, parking lots are a good place to practice and you have to watch bridges and overpasses as they freeze before the regular roads do.

 

Winter tires such a Blizzaks make a big difference. Fluid Film will help with preventing corrosion (I get mine done 2 times a year). As far as driving goes, slow down and leave more distance between you and the other guy on snow covered roads. Watch out for black ice on untreated roads. Just use some common sense and you should be ok

 

Thats a new one! Never herd of doing that... whats the thought process behind this?

 

I was just told the soap used at car washes is designed to be very strong to eat away at bugs and grime quickly especially in the automatic wash i.e. Tri-foam and ect. if left in cracks and crevices it can become very corrosive

 

I lived in Cleveland for a few years, used to head out to Chardon every now and then, they definitely get a ton of snow. I live in Michigan and found that the standard off-road tires weren't terrible, but going to some snow tires made the truck a lot easier to drive, especially braking. Also makes 2wd a lot easier to use with a little weight in the back, run 3x 60lb bags of Quikrete TubeSand. Welcome to snow country!

 

Don't pump the brakes, you have abs. Just press and steer.

Get a removable roof rack, the garage is important.

Parking lot practice is a great idea, took the ex there and taught her some basics and it really helped out.

Coasting is your friend at times, you can steer better coasting than on the brakes abs or not (unless there is too much speed) but minor turns can be accomplished coasting.

Don't over correct too much, stability control will almost fight you in some situations.

Finally I thought everyone in GA needed 4wd for the one time ever few years they get some winter precipe like here in Texas?

Tyler

 

Thank you for taking the time to write all that, I'm sure it took a min. Was a good read with alot of good points. We have about a quarter mile of driveway or so, I will probably try the water over the road trick in the driveway. My wife's father lives next door so he's pulling me under his wing too. And @bbrown lives in the same county, so maybe a fellow tacoma member can give me a hand learning how to drive a truck up there

 

I was originally thinking put the extra bed weight against the bed wall at the cab, but would it be better to put it against the tailgate? My thought was the trailer weight sway thing. Also, can you run snow tires year round? Does riding snow rated tires on the streets in summer destroy them?

 

Hahaha. Yeah it snowed like 2"here I think in 2014 and people in Atlanta were loosing their minds! We don't have the salt down here to take care of roads. But Atlanta looked like a bunch of babies. They were calling it the great blizzard of 2014 or what ever year it was. My brother lives in Atlanta... He just didn't drive. I didn't own a vehicle, I ad my harley and that was perfect for tear round for the past two years. I have previously owned a 2011 tacoma and a 2012 tacoma. So when I found out we were moving to Ohio I went out and bought a 2017 with 4wd and the v6. Not sure the big difference between the trd and a sr5. But I'm sure the sr5 will do just fine in the snow. I paid the truck off so I didn't have a lot of wiggle room with price to get a trd pro.

 

When I leave the house and the roads are not clear and dry I mash the throttle and stomp on the brakes to get a feel for things before I'm in traffic. Road surfaces will be different most every time depending on temp and depth. Gives me a feel for things. I also get a smile going up the street sideways. Also, is someone is riding my ass, I find spinning your tires a bit when you take off from the next red light makes them back off. You don't need to move at a snails pace as long as you keep your inputs gentle and leave lots of room. Including lane changes. When there is snow built up between the lanes you want to come over real easy.

 

Rust proof. Keep traction control on. Use 4x4 when needed. Good set of winter tires.
I'm in Canada, I have nokian hakkapeliita winters, I've only once needed 4x4 on roads so far and that was a snow covered side street that had a hill as well.

I'm pretty surprised how good the traction control worked. Even when trying to get the back end out I couldn't.
Only other thing is in snow conditions leave a bigger gap, don't panic and drive according to conditions. Don't be doing 75 on the highway do more like 45-50 unless it's really shit and you need to go slower. Don't tailgate either.

 

I run my weight right up against the cab (I have a Double Cab Short Bed) so it's pretty much right over the axle. I would not recommend putting it against the tailgate. You do not want to run snow tires year round as they are a softer rubber compound and wear quickly when it's above 50 (or so depending on tires). Although there are some you could run year round with less wear than others. For example, I run Blizzak DM-v2 and they are pretty soft, have some traction features that wear out long before the tires are worn out. However, I ran my Michelin X-Ice3 for 35,000 miles with no real diminishment in performance, although they did not grip as well on snow/ice as the Blizzaks do when new.

 

Some really, really great pointers in here. I grew up in North Central and NW PA and just have one more to add. If you have thick snow on your vehicle, don't just clear the windshield/windows and hop on the road. Try to get as much off the roof too so you're not throwing chunks of snow/ice (or leaving a perpetual cloud trail) onto cars behind you and creating a hazardous situation for them. You'd be surprised how far a chunk of ice glaze on top of wet snow can fly once it leaves your roof.

 

You can expect more than 7" of lake effect snow. Good luck.

 

My wife had to explain Lake effect snow to me. She's from ashland

 

best advice would be to set off abs intentionally somewhere safe. then you wont be terrified when you touch the brakes and it sounds like a machine gun firing under the hood

edit: and 4 wheel drive helps you get going faster. does not help turn or stop. this is important to understand. funny how 90% of vehicle off the road and on their roofs are suvs and pickups with 4wd

 

Tires ftw
Michelin defender ltx ms are all seasons with great snow manners if u don't want to run designated snows

As mentioned above a parking lot is a place of learning lol. Practice using throttle to help turning as in oversteer