Slippery high speed driving and 4wd?

Obviously don't race it but 55 is fine.
I ran my Duramax at 80 in 4wd and no harm ever came of it

 

I use 4HI all the time on highways when the weather is bad. The key to it is not using 4HI when the road becomes dry. That is when I switch back to 2HI.

 

Same here every winter. A lot of 4WD vehicles over turned and in ditches. Seldom any cars even though they out number the trucks 10 to 1.

Sure explains bad drivers. Me, 49 years no accidents. My wife 40 years no accidents. This living in Vancouver most of our lives, where there are statistically the worse drivers in Canada.

My father and mother both drove their entire lives without an accident, and my brother the same.

Dad taught mom how to drive. Mom taught me and my brother. I taught my wife.

I know a guy in Vancouver who gave up his license and takes transit now because he was always getting into accidents.

Its the driver every time. Vehicle tech or traction won’t save you.

 

I have good snow tires and use 4wd accordingly when it snows (not often on the coast, but regular when visiting the Kootenays). Most of the time, 2wd is fine once you're underway, and you can always switch it to 4wd if it's not dry pavement if you're unsure. These trucks are pretty forgiving, especially with a few hundred pounds in the bed. Go and find a parking lot and experiment with traction limits, traction control, braking, etc. in similar conditions to those found on the road. FWIW, you can drive over 50mph with 4wd H, but don't shift from 2wd above that speed. Most of the time, if it's conditions that actually call for 4wd, you shouldn't be over 50mph anyway.

 

The ~55mph limit is for engaging 4wd. Once 4wd is engaged you can go as fast as you want. Of course road conditions would play the biggest factor in that decision but speed won't hurt the 4wd system.

 

I live in the city of Vancouver and concur. I'd say that drivers aren't bad because they are unaware, but that they take absolute life altering chances on a daily basis because they are extremely impatient and "Yellow is the new Green".
Pushing a car that is spinning it's all season tires in the snow to get it going is kinda like pushing an alcoholic into a bar.

 

You are gaining little or nothing using AWD/4WD for “rain, leaves, light snow etc”. Use it when not using it results in wheel spin. I live in an area that has snow on the ground 4-6 months a year and use 2wd most of the time during those months. I only use 4wd during heavy snow storms and on heavily snow covered side streets.

 

Yup. Steep driveways, wet boat ramps, fresh snow (like whiteout conditions) are great for 4wd. Otherwise, 2WD and good snowtires

 

4wd hi is fine avoid sharp turning on dry pavement. We get the same crap snow covered in spots and dry bare pavement in spots.
Lots of trucks off the road cause of speed and thinking 4wd will keep them safe.
It can actually pull you off the road at speed.
Like said slow your roll some weight in the bed to load springs and good rubbers! Too bad Trojan doesn’t make tires!

having a lsd diff is also a huge difference at least it switches what wheel is spinning to continue in a straight line.
My 08 base open diff would loop around like a ballerina.

 

I'm in Maine when it snows I use 4WD that's what it for, the system is not a delicate flower. Mine also it a manual dry pavement I switch it off. Yes it will bind on a dry road you will know right away you have turned too tight. I have driven on snowy roads on to a dry parking lot and forgot I was in FWD it lets you know right away straighten the wheels back up and shift it out of 4WD go about your business.

 

This thread's a day early.... IMO

 

Use 4hi on highways if roads are poor.

Toyota trucks aren’t made of glass.

 

Four Dedicated Winter Tires.

 

I have lived in Kelowna now for several years. Prior to that Vancouver for 50 years. I love it when drivers from very cold climates drive in the snow in Vancouver for their first time.

What you hear - "These Vancouver drivers don't know how to drive, I've been driving in Calgary (Edmonton, Regina, etc.) for years and no problem in the snow".

What actually happens - "WTF, how did I end up in this ditch? How come I have no traction now?"

It is typical. This happened to my brother (Williams Lake) and an uncle from 100 Mile House. Both used to driving in very cold winters. Both ended up in the ditch in Vancouver. My uncle said that is the last time he would ever drive in Vancouver in the winter. He would drive every day at 100 Mile House in -15c temps, often in deep snow and no issues. I warned both before they came down to Vancouver that it was not the same.

I never understand how drivers don't know the difference between snow at -1c, versus at -20c. I guess if you never do both you won't find out. The warmer stuff is wet and icy. The cold stuff often has as much grip as dry pavement in the summer.

I have driven pretty much every corner of BC in the winter. Without a doubt, 2 inches of snow in Vancouver at -1c, is ten times worse than 8 inches of snow in Prince George at -20c.

Pretty simple really. Colder temps reduce the humidity and suck the moisture out of the snow. Wet snow is the worse, and it does not matter how deep it is.

The worse conditions I have driven in 49 years of this stuff, is when it snowed 3 inches one night in Vancouver, and this after it had rained earlier in the evening.

So it froze all highways and suburbs into a massive skating rink. Worst conditions I have seen to this day. The next day I drove to work from Coquitlam to Richmond. From 6am to 730am I encountered 1 other car! No other cars going either direction, other than several stuck on the side of the highway.

Normally I would see about 2,000 to 3,000 cars on that drive. I was in my 1986 F150 4x4 with snow tires and 500 pounds in pickup bed. That drive is all flat, not a single hill and I barely made it and never got over 20kmh. Anything faster and my truck was going sideways. For sure ice skates would have been a quicker and safer way to get to work that day. In our company, 6 of 140 employees made it to work that day. The other 5 who made it lived close to work.

End of day it warmed up and melted away the ice. Took me about 25 minutes to get home from Richmond to Coquitlam Center Mall area, normally a 50 minute drive on a dry road. I saw maybe 3 cars total heading home at 5pm. Freaking eerie driving the Richmond Connector, Queensborough bridge and Lougheed highway alone during both rush hours. It was early 1990's, don't remember the exact year. I guess that is what the apocalypse will look like...

When you drive that kind of condition it sure teaches you to slow down.

The easiest snow to drive in was Calgary. Rear wheel drive, low profile summer tires, and no weight in the back. 1970 muscle car. Snowed all winter, normal daytime highs were around -10 to -15c. Lows to -40C that winter. Never spun a tire in a few months of that.

 

All these posts saying the truck can take it... year the truck doesnt have pain receptors. When OP sends his taco off the highway at 70mph, a broken transfer case gonna be least of his worries. Stop and think about what I said earlier. It literally hurts handling at the expense of speed. Is that what we are really trying to achieve in slippery conditions? The internet never ceases to amaze me

 

So far:
Slow down, get better or winter tires, put weight in the bed, and these trucks aren’t made of glass so don’t worry too much about a little dry pavement here and there when you find it necessary to use 4HI on winter roads.

All true and good advice!

Alternative approach:
No weight in the bed and plenty of throttle allows enough wheel slippage to use 4HI any time the pavement is wet! Just remember to disengage when you get to the parking lot.

 

Well I just got home from dropping my wife off at her work. So driving through the entire downtown Kelowna area. All the highways packed ice and snow, not a single plow to be seen anywhere. Just packed down ice and snow right across the highways.

It has snowed since 8pm last night, all of it sticking to the major routes. No pavement to be seen heading in this morning on Highway 97 right through town.

You know how road crews always say they focus first on the major routes and highways? Well the major route north/south through from Vernon to Kelowna is untouched by any plows. Went through 3 school zones, and they have 3 inches of snow right across the lanes.

Every year same thing here. Everyone knows in advance about the snow forecasts and prepares, but not the road crews. I guess it is too slippery for them to risk going out in it.

Everyone was driving very smart. Slow and steady and lots of gaps between. That kind of snow/ice that it takes 2 car lengths to stop if you are going over 3mph.

Our street this morning as I came home. It had already been plowed when I took this picture. We have a private contractor that works our neighborhood as we are a strata.

The other picture is the connector this morning between Kelowna and Merritt. Not my picture. Not looking too plowed there and multiple accidents and closures there. By the way, for those not from BC, that is a 70mph limit there. You have 4WD, so if you are late for work, petal to the metal!

 

Ha, all the lovely drivers were over here in Kamloops for the first snow..
https://twitter.com/i/status/1588342736343953408

Get winter tires, 4hi, go slow, leave lots of room, always keep an exit route..

 

Drove through a snow storm last year in Lake Tahoe. That was my First snow storm ever. I had 4hi driving 30-45mph
I noticed a car pulled over.
It was a few college students that needed help. The snow cables snapped from the rear tires on their Lexus
We had no cell reception so couldn't call for help
I ended up towing them through the mountains at 10mph on 4lo
What was a 20min drive to our destination turned into a 2.5hr drive.

 

Lots of great advice here! I had a 2018 RAV 4 Adventure that had Falken Wild Peaks that were sized up as much as the car would allow stuffed under it. Man that thing was the best handling car in the snow I have ever had! Looked rad too! I traded it in on the Taco sport and it snowed the next week. I was taking my wife to work and the factory tires were shit even in 4wd. I stopped at Discount Tire on my way home and had Wild Peaks put on the Taco. Instant and HUGE difference. It handle better in 2 wheel drive than the factory tires in 4wd. I had 80 miles on the factory tires lol. I live in Olympia Washington and it does not snow here often, but when it does its heavy and wet with a layer of ice underneath. I grew up in Spokane and drove in snow for months sometimes and I would much rather drive in deep snow. My current house is on a hill and you could never make it up with out a 4wd and good tires. In fact every house in my hilly neighborhood has a 4x4 for just that reason.