4X4 Best Practices for Snow Covered Roads

Thank you for not saying, "just because you have 4-wheel drive doesnt mean you have 4-wheel stop"


Anyone who says that goes right to the top of my 'do not trust' list

 

Live in Montana for a long time have a lot experience with Tacomas and other vehicles on snow and ice. One thing that i learned is equipment you have doesn't really matter (it helps) but your experience and knowing what you and your truck are capable, on different surfaces, is all that matters. This mostly goes for on road, off road what you have has more of a factor in your abilities.

 

It's also worth noting that the VSC, Auto LSD, and A-TRAC systems are not the same thing despite working through the same physical components. This can be confusing and mistakes can be made if you don't know what each one is. I would try to give an explanation of each but my explanations are crappy and I have seen some really good explanations on TW in the past and hope someone else could explain them better than I ever could. I have been on motorcycles too long and on 2 wheels stability control and traction control are pretty much the same thing where as here it is not.

 

Very true

 

The biggest difference between the two other than the gearing is when using 4hi all the traction nannies/safety features are still on. When using low they are turned off.

If your going through light snow and or ice it would be much more beneficial to be in 4hi and having the traction control features working for you.

 

Not sure if you're aware but switching from 2wd to 4wd and back is quite good for the actuator

 

Hahaha!

I might need to post it one more time to make sure everyone saw it…

 

Snow or no snow, 4L is not particularly useful on roads because the practical top speed is about 30mph. Use it when you don’t expect to exceed 30mph for a significant period of time, off roading, maneuvering a trailer in a yard, pulling a boat up a steep ramp, etc.

On the road in winter I predominantly use 2hi, but switch 4hi if there is enough snow to cause excessive wheel spin. You don’t want to drive around in 4hi all the time if there the roads are mostly pavement because it will bind up the drivetrain in sharp corners and cause the wheels to spin. This causes extra wear on your tires and drivetrain as well as being annoying.

 

I put 150 lbs of rock in the bed over the axle. When the winter is over, it goes on one of the hills on my road. Lowe's sells it in 50 lb plastic bags. 2 hi works pretty well with the weight and 4 hi in a pinch gets me about anywhere I need to go.

 

Nothing scientific about this but after yanking a few Subie's out of ditches during our last few snowstorms, I'm becoming convinced that many Subaru drivers buy them in an effort to supplement their naturally poor driving skills. Instead of working on improving their ability to drive competently & safely, they rely on the vehicle to correct their mistakes because simply because "it's AWD and good in the snow/ice/rain" etc.

Don't get me wrong, having a capable vehicle and good tires helps in lousy driving conditions, but I'd argue all day the competence of the driver makes the most difference. OP is doing the right thing by asking questions to improve their own skill behind the wheel

 

In Winter with snow and ice, the first slip I feel, the 4 wheel goes on and stays on. Toyota engineers designed these trucks to perform very well on snow and ice. I sometimes also use 4 wheel drive in heavy rain conditions. We need an easy foot on the gas and brake pedal in slick conditions. The truck won’t save a bad driver from harming themselves or others. I think all this fancy traction control stuff makes it a safer vehicle all around.

 

I'll correct you. You may run 4HI up to the max speed of the truck. The only thing not allowed is a shift from 2HI to 4HI above about 60 mph.

4LO will not magically create extra traction that isn't there, but it will get more torque to the wheels and overall more control from the speed reduction.

 

It has to do with the 4 wheels being mechanically linked through the transfer case, not the transmission.

 

Thanks, that's what I meant about 4L. It's also good to know that I can drive faster in 4H if I want. But, if I need 4H, then I shouldn't be driving that fast!

 

This only matters if you have traction to begin with.

 

I mean what happens when you're in 4WD off road and you lose traction then? That wheel spins wildly until either some sort of TRAC kicks in or you lock your differentials (only in the rear for certain Tacomas) or you get out somehow.

All this talk of a wheel not spinning at the same speed confuses me because off road you do all kinds of turning and climing and slipping and high traction wheeling. I see no difference or harm in turning a bit on asphalt.

Hell, even master mechanics at Toyota say if you don't use the 4WD a lot, you should go on a straight away under 50mph and actuate it on and off a few times.

I've even seen people use 4WD in the winter at all times in their trucks when it snows and they've had no issues.

 

Yup. Basically, the Tacoma 4wd is "dumb." I miss my 4th gen 4runner where it had the full-time capable tcase. I could pop it into 4Hi at the start of a storm and leave it there until the roads were cleared, even if it took a few days. No binding, no issues, totally idiot-proof, it was built to do it.

The Tacoma however... I can feel the 4hi binding very easily in low-speed, tight turns if there isn't a LOT of slip available. It really does stabilize the truck ins slippery conditions though, at any speed. I had to take a 1 hour drive south a few weeks back in a snowstorm. I put it in 4Hi below the necessary speed then it was totally fine doing 50-65 the whole way down 91.

You really don't want to be running the Tacoma in 4Hi on dry roads if you can help it. And IMO, 4LO has zero use on-road.

I really hope the next Tacoma gets a full-time option, but I doubt it.

 

Here, maybe this will help...


In 2wd and in a turn, all 4 wheels will spin at different speed. The inner will spin slower while the outer will spin faster. The differential allows this speed diffence through the side gears in the rear. The front and rear diffs also spin at different speeds because then travel at different arcs.

Now when you engage 4wd, you lock the front driveshaft to the rear driveshaft. They spin at exactly the same speed. This now locks both front and rear pinions and ring gears to the same speeds. So now when you turn a corner, the front and rear diffs can not spin at different speeds because they are locked together at the transfercase. With high traction, this will build twisting pressure in the driveline until a wheel loses traction and slips or a part fails and breaks. This what is referred to as bind. In low traction, like snow and ice, the wheels can slip much easier, allowing release of the binding.

 

I have to disagree with using 4h in snow,atleast in deep snow on back roads and driveways. 4l first or second gear.if you start spinning slow down.if you get stuck slowly back up then forward, keeping your momentum. Slow and steady,for deep snow already,wins the race.