Air locker in snow?

In 2008 my Nissan Hardbody finally gave out, after 18 years of (more or less) faithful service. I went shopping that evening for a new truck with three modest criteria in mind: 1) under $20,000 2) over 20 mpg 3) stay away from the obvious hustlers at the local Nissan dealership. The stripped-down Prerunner which the Toyota guys eagerly unloaded on me has answered my needs perfectly, except for the gradually dawning realization that not even the driving skills honed during two decades of Colorado winters could compensate for the vehicle's lack of traction. A set of new Michelins has helped a lot, but the other day still couldn't get me up the short and gentle slope which separated the highway from the motel parking lot, covered as it was by ice and about a foot of freshly fallen snow. I wasn't quite as chagrined as the poor bugger who got stuck in the same spot in his $50,000 2wd dually, but I'm wondering how far having a lockable differential would have gone toward getting me through that particular situation.

 

Elocker and some extra weight on the back would probably have got you home.

 

Extra weight in the bed would have helped, a locker likely would have not. When on snow and ice a locker tends to make the rear end walk sideways when the wheels start to slip. This doesn't help forward progress and it can be quite dangerous if you are anywhere there is something you don't want to hit on either side of you.

 

throw weight in the back.... that will help big time.

 

Weight for sure. Another trick you can laugh at if you've never tried it, is to back up any incline that your RWD won't push you up. Doesn't do you any good on roadways but in driveways or accesses it may work for you. In case of being absolutely stuck and need to go, a pair of chains will install in 5 minutes or less, and get you places a stock 4wd without chains would not make it.

Doesn't your prerunner have a LSD?

 

No LSD. Yeah, I was carrying two 70-pound sand bags in the bed. Was about to bust those open and use the contents for traction, which had worked several times with the old mini-truck. Also know from experience that you're correct about the back-up trick and the chains, but neither option was available. Luckily a wrecker eventually towed me and the dually guy out for free so he could get to the semi behind us.

I'd really like to trade in my old bag of traction-tricks for one simple solution, but maybe I can't do that without trading in the truck.

 

If you really want to keep a 2wd, At the very least consider adding a Tru Trac or something similar. With a LSD, some weight in the bed (at least double what you currently have), and some good snow tires you should be in decent shape.

Edit: by "decent shape" I mean "as good as you're gonna get with a 2wd"

 

Backing up the incline works like a top for me but I also carry 300 pounds of sand over the axle in the winter.

John

 

Air locker will help.
I think cheapest solution and easiest (you can do yourself) is to find Third Member on the junkyard from TRD sport (2005-2008) with limited slip in it.
Also all the Double Cabs Long bads in that year should have Limited slip.
Once you get one all you need is pull axles out , drop propeller shaft and remove third member and install new one.
Make sure you put back LSD oil in it afterwards (I would sugest Lucas 85-140)
You can esily do the whole process yourself. And junkyard Thrid will probably cost you under $300.

 

easy. Chains (very simple and will always work)


or,

trac grabber (good for snow and mud I'm sure - maybe not so much for ice)
http://www.tracgrabber.com

 

Chains are indeed effective--for situations where you have the time and space to install them. Used to actually enjoy chaining up at home in a nice dry garage with tons of snow falling outside. In an emergency like the one I described, whipping out the trac grabber would have been pretty cool--assuming it works as advertised.

 

does your 08 have VSC / auto lsd? if you do, tap the traction control button and this will turn on auto LSD and would of easily spun both tires on snow / ice at the same rate.


but being an 08 i dont think you have that stuff

 

Have you tried studded snow tires?

I run them on my 2wd AC and it makes a world of difference.

 

Correct: I think the main reason they gave me a good price on the vehicle was that I was likely to be the only guy walking through the door who wanted a truck with absolutely no modern gadgetry which might malfunction. Probably sounds strange, but one big motive for not just trading for a new 4X4 is that those damn power windows now come standard.