How to 4wd in snow?

I live in northern Vermont so I use 4WD quite a bit. In parking lots I click it off. Honestly snow tires & common sense go a long way. I understand you might not want to use dedicated tires. Every situation is different. Since I drive in Quebec a lot, they are required and I tow in the mountains so they are worth every penny. Still you gotta be careful as other said. Black ice sucks so bad.

 

Man, I likely have some of the least experience on here with 4wd in snow and Ice. I do have long experience driving two wheel drive cars and trucks in that crap. The few times I have borrowed 4wd trucks I noticed a couple important things, one is that the drag from the front disks (compared to RWD) is counteracted making the front steer much better on ice and that under conditions of that terrible understeer starts and your front is pushing and not turning, a judicious application of throttle will make the truck turn.

I was out playing with my Tacoma yesterday and learned some stuff. I’d be amazed if the “Crawl Control” isn’t a wonderful thing on an icy assent or descent on our mountain goat paths around here. If my judgement lapses to the point of me sliding off the mountain using that, I’ll really be screwed

 

IMO, 4WD doubles your chances of getting stuck, or puts you in a situation it's twice as hard to get out of. 4WD sometimes gives you the false confidence that you cannot get stuck or that traction conditions be damned, you can go where you want. I speak from having some sort of 4WD vehicle for the last 30 years, mostly pickups, but starting with a FJ40 that saw as much off-road use as on-road. (see my avatar for a circumstance that 4WD got me into that it couldn't get me out of)

I learned to use the front drive only when the rear drive wouldn't move me forward or backwards or allow me to maintain directional control. As far as stopping goes, 4WD will help hold you back a bit down steep hills unless it's slick (ice/mud), rather than using the brakes, but controlling your speed is much more effective. "Slick" means slow down.

 

Also, if you are using 4wd without a ton of snow on the ground or in sand/mud or some other surface requiring 4wd, avoid sharp turns. You will notice a locking happening that I believe is from the front wheels turning faster than the rear or maybe vise verse, I can't remember.

Like others have said, if there is 2 inches of snow on the ground, use 2wd until you can't, your TCS and stability with the 2wd will do amazing things. If there is 10 inches of snow on the ground, yeah throw it in 4wd. You'll develop a feel for what you need but I would spend as much time in 2wd as possible until you know where your window is.

 

@CaptainBart45, You OK there, bud? Sounds like you were outside in that heat too long yesterday. I could only take it until noon and stayed in after that...

OP- on ice or snow, I typically just use 4wd when needed as the traction control does pretty well and if you start spinning too much, go to 4H. Just never gun your truck if you are spinning on ice, especially if it’s patchy. Doing doughnuts and stuff like some here like to do on ice are risking major repairs too. Your differential may end up with shrapnel holes in it if you do. It has happened to at least one other here.

 

Yes I'm glad someone understands the question I was asking, but I guess I could have elaborated a little more. I do understand the general precautions when driving in snowy conditions. I've lived in Minnesota all my life so we get snow for like half of the year. Thank you to Technique and everyone else who has provided helpful information.

 

One final thought - join a 4WD club that practices safe trail riding and follows the law. Then go out snow-wheeling! Nothing as fun as driving a flat trail covered in two feet of powder, driving forward 20 feet then getting towed back to drive another 20 feet ... repeat until you find that snow covered deep hole. A couple of miles of that in a day will have you exhausted but so proud and amazed at what your truck can get through. Just watch out for that cool drift to plow through for effect - STUMPS!

 

You are about three months too early to ask this question.

 

Depends where you live. We had snow in May this year and as early as September last year.

 

Haha, do live in an area that gets a lot of snow. Staying home isn't an option if you have a job, unless the roads are closed. In a typical winter in Minnesota we can get snow multiple times a week. If I stayed home everytime it snowed I would be out of a job. We just deal with it. I'm sure the OP knows how to drive in the snow.

 

lol It’s almost always people from states that hardly get any snow and act like the world is ending. You CAN drive safe in a foot of snow and -20 degrees.

It’s all in how you drive and what roads you use in the winter. Plows haven’t come and hit the interstate yet? Use back roads. Hell I’ve done 20 on I90 plenty of times.

 

I’m having to laugh. My wife grew up in the far north of Wisconsin, a place where I also spent a lot of my life. In the winter, unless you traveled to the big city, you would not see bare road, just packed white, sometimes with cinders if it was a bigger road. When we moved to western North Carolina in the early 80s the first time it snowed she took our dodge pickup to the store and ended up knocking down two of or neighbors mailboxes down. We all can have a very different experience dependent on the weather, terrain and maintenance.

A guy I work with and I went to lunch during a snow event, took my 2wd ranger. It got worse as we ate and I was very concerned about possibly not making it the 1.5 miles back. I joked about the roads not being near as dangerous as the Subaru drivers and to our surprise in the first slippery corner there were 3 Subaru’s piled up with one having none of the wheels on the ground.

You can be sure I’ll be out in the first storm but hopefully using good judgment.

 

4WD does not prevent the lateral slippage or help the steering part of marginal traction. It doesn’t help with the braking either.
Neither ABS nor 4WD helps you to stop the car. 4WD is not involved in the braking part of driving at all and ABS only keeps the tires from locking up. Locking or not locking has almost no influence on the stopping distance.

Your experience, Alaska or not is on simple, and probably maintained roadways. All it takes is for one day that to not be the case and it’s a different story. Like being snowed in a 15,000ft in altitude and having to come down off the mountain. You’ll wish you had chains and snow tires.

 

Put some sand in the back, 2 bags a side is more than enough. I found stock off road Goodyears did pretty well in the snow just not the ice. 2WD is fine unless you can feel the rear end slipping or feel unstable. Put it into 4WD as you're nearing a stop so you have extra traction on the take off. When you can get a set of used snow and ice tires and wheels just keep an eye on production year and tread condition - studded tires are a bonus. Good luck, I think you'll have a blast if you've never had 4WD in the winter. It's fun in a coupe Civic but it's even more fun in a truck.

 

2WD in 10+ inches of snow is a great time. Hell, 2WD in 2 feet is awesome. Our trucks handle the weather well.

 

Not all snow is the same. I'll guarantee it is easier to drive in snow in Alaskan winters than Georgia winters. When it is below freezing the tires will actually grip snow VERY well and traction is surprisingly good. What we get here is snow with freeze/thaw cycles that quickly turns to ice as it partially thaws then refreezes. Catch it in a thaw cycle with a thin layer of water on top of the ice and things get squirrely fast.

On fairly level terrain or even with mild inclines decent tires will take 2wd vehicles most anywhere unless the snow is bumper deep. Especially front wheel drive cars. Having 4X4 isn't really an asset until you start having to climb steep hills or deal with really deep snow. I find 4X4 lo to be a huge asset when going down steep hills in snow. It allows me to creep down without touching the brakes.

Parts of the higher elevations of Colorado got 2' of snow July 1. I was out there in early June and many roads had not opened yet. Was also there to hunt in November. I drove over 200 miles on Forest Service roads with up to a foot of snow on them during the weeks hunt.

 

Still seeing a ditch...in Virginia a foot of snow was no school for a week, in Buffalo 38” was schools are open as normal (my experiences). These topics always bring out the warriors you know ‘em...the I’ve driven in reverse, uphill, biggest blizzard ever in fact it was a sharknadoblizzard warriors.

 

I use 4wd any time there's snow and ice on the road so the truck doesn't bind on turns. No problem making sharp turns in 4wd on snow and ice.

 

So every morning in Vermont? I guess that’s why I leave it 4WD all winter.

 

2wd and sandbags