How does your 3rd gen handle driving in snow?

I'm a snow newbie who's recently moved to Tahoe. When we had our last snow storm, truck worked great leaving it in 4H. Now that all the snow is gone and just some ice areas, I've found the stock Firestones sketchy in 2WD, primarily when turning street corners where the ice seems the slickest. When slipping the traction control comes on and slows the truck, but still a slides.

 

my Tacoma loves the snow. Handles well just wish the abs could be turned off and all the electric features for some fun. But she wont see snow now that i moved to Las Vegas

 

I have general grabber AT2 tires and honestly the truck is a tank!! Best vehicle I have driven in the snow other than my bmw 328XI with winter tires. I drive a lot and have driven it literally 150 miles in a snow storm more than once and have always felt 100% confident in what the truck was going to do. It’s balanced pretty well. I have driven other trucks that are scary in the snow unless they are in 4wd that’s not the case with this truck. I’ll routinely drive in on snow covered roads in 2wd and only switch to 4wd if the traction control is kicking on a lot.

 

Just came down to lambton from yyz...gots a lot of snow down here. Gotta say, huge fan of the hakka's so far!

 

In New England the only thing about the snow driving capability of my TACO is how hard it is to actually fully slip it into a 720 donut.

 

We’re driving around in snow not a race track. Obviously, if you saw that one truck that slid out in snow that one time, it’s driver error or was improperly equipped or both.

There is a reason why most snow plows are full-size trucks. Power is not the main reason.

 

No one said we were, completely erroneous statement. But I’ve seen a lot of vehicles spin out and wreck just because I gave one example does not mean it’s the only one. I can’t speak for the other driver but he wasn’t doing anything that I wasn’t doing and he had good tires, he had a light rear end. Period. Your assumption of the driver and his equipment is rather a weak argument considering you weren’t there and I was.

And yes absolutely one of the main reasons plows are full size is power. Hell we had to upgrade and buy a bigger tractor simply to be able to move snow. Our ATV could handle most light snows. Traction was never an issue power is. Heavy vehicles are a burden in snow.

You obviously do not live in an environment that gets a lot of snow. I’ve seen 72” accumulated in 48 hours on several occasions.

I lived at 9500 feet in the Rockies most of life. I’ve seen every kind of full size truck wrecked or stuck.

We can agree to disagree.

 

Holy crap brother, where we'e you at when you got that snow?

 

Up near Rollinsville, CO in on the range across from Winterpark CO.

We had this 6' chain link fence in the back for the dogs and I remember looking out and the snow was above the fence.

 

Wow thats crazy! Worst snow I remember was the Blizzard of 93, we got about 3 feet in a day or so.

 

Nice! Thats a lot of snow. I remember driving down Hwy 119 after it was plowed out and you had like 8-10 foot high drifts on either side like you were driving in a trench and I remember seeing what looked like a cutout in the snow, when I got close I noticed it was a car that was abandoned and the plow completely side swiped it not knowing it was there. Further up the road markers have 10' sticks attached to them to mark the roads in winter.

Heres an old article but this was about an hour from me.

http://www.dailycamera.com/state-west-news/ci_18086944

 

@84 Yota The Tacoma is pretty good in the snow. I suggest throwing a few sand bags in the bed for better traction, but the same would hold true for your Duramax. I believe the 4Runner would still be better in the snow because the Limited model has the center differential making it more like an AWD vs. a 4WD. The best vehicle I ever had in snow was my Subaru WRX with snow tires. The Tacoma with All-Seasons (stock Goodyears) is adequate, but when I upgrade I will be going with a more aggressive tread and better sipped tire for sure.

 

Same my wifes Impreza is a tank in the snow.

 

First snowfall of the year came down last night/this morning in my area, had the Taco out for groceries and re-acquainted myself with that oversteer feel in the parking lot (nannies off of course). I've always done this, so that when shit does happen I'm not overly twitchy about it. LOL, I remember the ex being surprised by winter slipping and sliding - one time she screamed and let go of the wheel. That's not an exaggeration. AND, she would get pissed at me for playing around in empty lots in the winter!

 

TRDOR on stock tires. Goes great, stops not-so-great. On hard pack, not good at all. Blame the tires, not the truck. I am sure a dedicated tire would improve things significantly, just like they do for off-road.

 

Toss some real snow tires on that D-max and it will be fine. Been driving a SRW 1 ton for 10 years now in central oregon where the snow is SERIOUS. Our taco is studded up and unstoppable as well.

 

And my wife's Forester. It's never spun out, my old 2nd Gen, well that's a different story. I haven't had the 2017 in snow yet. Down in ABQ we haven't got a flake yet.

 

Absolutely agree! Remember folks... i=mv (inertia = mass x velocity)... the more ass you got, the longer its going to take to stop, the slower you have to take corners, etc. adding snow, ice, or any other slick surface just lowers the coefficient of friction between the tires and the road and make it just that much worse. lower coefficient of friction is good between the sheets, but sucks between terrafirma and the tire. (unless you are trying to whip some shitty's... then by all means lube up).

vvvvvv These guys and the others that have said it know whats up; I had a 1998 Impreza Outback Sport with Blizzaks on it when I lived in Colorado; hands down the best snow car I've ever driven (even better than my 2004 Audi Allroad with Dunlap Winter SPs). If you really want a great snow car; buy a subaru and put winter shoes on it. If you need a truck; you can't go wrong with a Tacoma and winter tires (especially in MT where we have 4-6 months of this to look forward to... if half your year is spent driving in the white stuff; just get a tire designed for it). Like others have said your duramax will do fine with at winter tire too. I have plenty of neighbors that run that setup.

 

My stock 16 trdor dcsb in 4hi handles flawlessly in west michigan, no matter how deep ive gotten through like its dry. In 2hi with auto lsd on it does pretty well on most "plowed" roads. A little throttle and counter steer for fun and the frigging electronics kick in so well that i cant get in a decent drift before its straightened out on its own! I cant wait to hit trails snow wheeling!

 

Western NY, along Lake Ontario. "Lake Effect Snow" country, Taco handles just fine on stock tires. Just remember that 4wd isn't a panacea to bad driving conditions and take curves slow. Most of the people I see in the median were driving too fast in the left lane passing people who were going slow.