Anyone else have a 2WD in an area that gets snow?

You can do plenty with a 2WD/RWD Truck. You can still make a very capable "off-raod" truck with it. A lift (clearance), a locker (traction), tires (traction).

 

Around here it's mostly 4wd vehicles I see off the road. They think 4wd makes them invincible and aren't smart enough to realize that just because you can accelerate faster with 4 wheels turning, you still can't stop any faster. Just depends on where you live I guess. When I lived in a more desolate area, I would mostly see fwd cars off the road.

 

last winter (2010-2011) I pulled 6 cars. 5 minivans and one Scion. I dont think I had seen single 4wd stuck.
Its hard to loose control of 4wd at 3 -5 MPH. and its Not possible to get more speed since 2wd's are crawling.

 

I agree...4WD helps increase your odds of getting yourself out if you do get stuck. Seen it a number of times on the Glen Hwy commuting between Palmer and Anchorage, Alaska. Folks will hook a front tire on the edge of the median and get sucked in....more than once I've watched 4WD drive trucks drive up the middle of the median to the next shallow area and drive right back onto the hwy.

I've also played the prediction game...you're right, it's often the big bad lifted 4WD going way too fast for road conditions...my commute is 50 mininutes, 35 on the hwy...I've had them pass me shortly after entering the hwy...then see them off the road about halfway to my exit.

Before I bought my truck last year, I did the commute for 8 years in FWD sedans...never been stuck...hmmm...it's really about the right speed for conditions, extra space for stopping/maneuvering, and the right tires make a big difference (I run dedicated winter tires).

My opinion, FWIW.

 

ok well im the owner of a prerunner right now. last winter here in georgia we had a pretty bad snow storm and my truck was about useless. but at that point in time it was open diff. now it is lifted and locker and i also have a set of extra wheel that some knobby mudders were gonna go on. would mudders do me alot more justice in icey slippery conditions over my daily allterrains? i did drive but couldnt until there were at least a few bare spots in the road. suggestions with out having to buy ice tires?

 

dang right im still impressed what my prerunner is capable of being only a 2wd with a locker lift and a few other mods.

 

i cant say im the most experienced in slippery conditions but i do know the do and donts of driving in tough conditions. my locker is a powertrax so i cant turn it off. its not going down the road thats tough once im moving im fine. its actually getting the vehicle moving because i live at the bottom of a valley and couldn't get enough traction to get the truck moving for the first few days until some of the packed snow dissipated. there are many people down here who do not know how to drive in the ice at all and thats what make it hard to drive down here i.e. they go 2mph up a steep hill in a 2wd instead of carrying some momentum at 20mph up the hill. The only other idea i had was to put short screws in the rear tires to help with traction to get the truck moving. i might just invest in a set of chains for my daily driver tires. thank you for the advice.

 

dont thing studded tires are legal around here. thats why i was trying to figure out a way to make one of my sets of tire useful for snow and ice. guees it a good thing to have two sets of tires at my disposal. the locker wiil be a pain in the ass cause its hard to tell when its gonna engage. but it should help alot traction wise to get moving over open diff. guess ill find out next winter. if its managable im thinking about taking a road trip to snowboard up in new hampshire next december.

 

For dedicated winter tires I'd recommend Bridgestone Blizzak ... they're studless so no worries on that part ... little pricey, but beat all the studded tires I used for the last 8 years before switching to them this past winter ... don't know how readily available they'd be in Georgia...maybe Tire Rack online?

Another good one is Michelin X-ice (same concept and studless).

And some weight in the bed is also a good idea.

 

i dont wanna buy ice tires when i live in georgia. i have a set of mudders and was just throwing around ideas to make them usable in icey conditions.

 

Cutting sipes into the heavy lugs is the only thing I can think of. Probably for your situation, use tire chains, like you mentioned, to get out of the neighborhood to the main roads.

 

ill prolly take very short metal screws and run the into the lugs on my mud terrains cause the lugs are so tall on the that i can get away with it with out damaging the tires

 

That will work...seen guys up here do it with ATV tires. They use some kind glue or rubber cement to keep them from backing out. Will that be street legal though?

 

not really worried about that around here cause the cops dont know how to drive in the ice any better than the other idiots that live around here. i had a little civic and passes one on an icey day going up a hill he was creeping up at 2-5mph spining tire and i came past him doin about 25-30mph and all he did was yell at me through his PA cause he knew he couldn't do anything about it. ill only put screw in them when it gets really bad out which rarely happens around here. the last snow storm we had i rode my fourwheeler around town on the road and the cops didnt say anything to me cause they would never be able to catch me if they wanted to.

 

I have a 5-lugger Access-cab 2009. Lots of folks up here in the interior of British Columbia, Canada swear by Nokian Hakkas. I have to agree. I have these studded tires and have never had an issue driving this truck through two snowy winters. you have to pay attention, mind you. You can't drive on ice and snow the same way you drive on a dry, bare highway. The traction control helps a lot, as does 200 lbs in the back. The 4-banger is nice too. Enough power, but not enough to do something really stupid with the gas pedal.

 

I drove for 2 seasons in the snow with my 08 sr5 base. It did great. The second season I upgraded from the stock tires to snows and it was even better. I did have a better differential from a prerunner. 3.73 gears with lsd were wonderful. See here for my idea of summer fun. This was right before I sold it due to the supercharger kits being developed way too slowly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTibntwJddE

 

don't use mud tires for snow, they're useless. The point of mud tires is to get mud stuck in them so they can spin whereas snow tires try to shed the snow out like water. mud tires are actually one of the worst things for the snow, so yeah

 

yes i realize that but as i stated before i am prolly gonna take short self tapping screws and run them into the the tread lugs to give some extra traction. if i puncture one ill just plug it. not tow worried about that since i have a set of 5 daily driving all terrains and a set of 5 mud terrains.

 

I've run the Nokian Hakkas too; and I agree they are a great tire, but the studless Blizzaks beat them IMO. I debated going to studless for about two years (ran studded Nokians or Hankooks my first 8 years in Alaska); but after a couple different friends at work raved about the studless Bridgestone Blizzaks and Michelin X-Ices, I decided to give them a shot...was pleasantly surprised and won't be going back to studded tires.

The attached study also helped me make up my mind. My 2 cents FWIW.

 

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