Toyotas driving in the Snow Problem

Learned more tonight on a 200 mile drive in crappy weather and snow! The Radar quits on the Grill when covered in snow so no Cruise Control or Car Alerts getting close ect!! Have to keep cleaning it off a lot and just passed after a while. Pulling a steep grade in 6 plus inches of slush/snow it was squirrely till I locked it is gear. It kept shifting and would break loose a little and felt unsure. Once I locked it in it was way better! Happy still cause by the time I go home there were close to 15 wrecks people going over banks and Semi's jack knifing and going off the road! Great first test for us in it!! We just kept going and made it home OK. Had to clean off the head lights a few times they don't get warm enough to clear themselves! So you just pull over when it gets dark in front of you at night?

 

Do you have LED lamps or the halogens?

 

Glad your safe go taco

 

Yeah, that radar thing happens with every car with radar. I've never had the headlight issue though.

 

These new features on the Tacoma are completely new and cause more problems than they solve. Especially in cold/hot conditions. Good luck and stay safe, don't rely on those new safety features.

 

Glad you stayed safe, I hope no one was hurt in the wrecks you passed. I find its the tires that make a real difference in snow/ice, that and careful smooth driving.

 

First.. You don't want to use cruise in snow anyway... and radar cruise sucks, use the regular.

Second...If you dont want the truck to shift sporadically put the shifter in S mode and set it to 3 or whatever gear you want the highest to be


Third... tires tires tires...

Fourth... who needs crash avoidance radar in the snow? Thats not going to help you

 

My radar doesn't work when its covered in snow either, to be expected. I also never use cruise control in bad weather conditions, especially slippery conditions. That can be a recipe for disaster. In bad conditions I also use manual mode an hold gears, having the revvs slightly up but the tires still at a controllable speed is key. Want to avoid the sudden downshifts.

 

Not sure on which type of head light but the snow was wet and stuck to the plastic lens on the outside. Notice the little Fog Lights only had a small melted hole. I had just cleaned off the head lights 8 miles earlier getting fuel. Thee Lens had 1/4 inch of ice on the whole thing? My wife took a picture I think of it. I will look.

 

Four
Dedicated
Winter
Tires

 

Don't forget to add some extra weight in the bed if you feel the ass end is too loose.

 

As some others have said

1: no cruise in snow
2: shift manually with the sport mode, every time your truck bounces back and forth between gears its getting a torque boost from the higher RPM and will break the tires loose in snow
3: 4wd in the snow is pretty much needed

 

I run 4 snows. Surprisingly the stock wranglers aren’t terrible in the snow. I’ve seen some guys do some pretty impressive snow wheeling with those, but for sure a dedicated snow tire will win every time.

 

OK here is the picture and I was parked at the Gas Station for a while with the lights on and one started to clear off a little while the driver light was still covered a little. While driving in the snow hitting the front end they had more on them. As far as driving in snow with cruise control it was in the rain when that happen a yellow light came on and the wife looked it up. The truck is still new to us and was telling me the emblem Radar was needing cleaned. I don't drive in the snow with cruise control ever! You can break traction real easy. I have bought Winter tires waiting for my rims!! Was only supposed to have 1/2" of snow then rain they lied to me on the way home from the Hospital it snowed for 100 miles! Still with stock tires it did better than the ones who went in the ditch. Slush is hard to drive in for any tire if it keeps shifting but I learned real quick about how to lock it in S then it was OK. All in All I love the truck but wet snow sticks to the head lights some times be aware of that if it starts getting darker when there on. Even the Fogs were covered up some in this picture and I had them on.

 

Dry Powder cold snow is way different to drive on and in then wet snow at 34-36 degrees. The dry snow just blows off the truck. We have 5-6 months of winter where I live and been here 25 years. First time it stuck to my head lights?

 

While it doesnt solve your issue right now, you can retrofit headlight washer systems for the tacoma that would do wonders at clearing that snow off.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/retrofit-headlight-washer-jet-on-tacoma.608877/

 

I live in Spokane where did you find that kind of snow today?

 

I like that idea washers on the head lights. I was using a ton of De/Icier Washer Fluid to keep the Blades free of ice build up. When lines formed I just pulled the lever till they were clean. I will look into head light washers. Thanks!

 

Driving to and from Wenatchee from Okanogan! Blew us away cause I almost drove my AWD Challenger GT with Great Snow rated tires!!! They got the forecast all screwed up!

 

One thing I would recommend if you do headlight washers is to put them on their own system. Put in a momentary switch, a universal washer bottle, and use that. Then you have full pressure, dont waste fluid on things that dont need to be washed, and you can put different fluid in the headlight washer system to help clear ice better than what you need on the windshield.