How to 4wd in snow?

I'm in the Canadian Arctic.

Stock tires, empty bed and 2WD unless I'm passing vehicles. No issues.

Biggest factor is your winter driving skill/ability.

 

I had to drive reverse up a steep neighbourhood road a few years ago in my Civic just to get some more traction in 3' of snow. Absolute nightmare, decided on a shit parking job at the bottom probably on the sidewalk but who cares because you couldn't see where the ditch was anyways. That was a fun drive home. That neighbourhood was up a 500m steep ass hill from the rest of town lol

 

Keeps the gears and driveline greased lol

 

4WD helps while driving in snow but when you hit your brakes you are just like anyone else. Allow far more braking distance than normal (engine braking helps) and drive slower than normal and you should be good.

 

I know, I've always been amazed how well my Tacoma's do in snow. My 2014 DCLB was unbelievable in 2wd... I always miss that truck in the winter.

 

Drive carefully, leaving lots of extra room.
Try not to have to turn or stop quickly, it can be slippery on snow.

When the morons in their SUVs skid off the road in front of you...put a strap around their wimpy piece of shit driven by a stupid fuck and pull them back on the road. Unless they are drunk, then just call the cops.

 

4WD most definitely helps with preventing slippage and hugely improves steering in marginal traction. It also helps with stopping (not braking) with the doubled driveline drag on the engine when off the gas. I play with it all winter (six months of snow and ice) and 4HI is by far the best solution even if you have snow tires or chains in 2HI.

 

If there is snow there is no need to worry about being in 4wd. And when going fast things can change quickly so it’s good to be in 4wd BEFORE an incident. I put it in 4wd often in snow that’s what it is for. A long time ago a friend rolled his fj40 in snow because he kept it in 2 wd to ‘save’ the wear on the 4wd system. Bummer. I disagree that 4wd does not help with stopping. Your front wheels are less likely to lock up in 4WD.

 

Everyone’s version of winter is different.

Living in Fairbanks, AK means I more or less stay in 4WD from the first permanent snowfall, usually late October, until it all melts in March or April. In the swing seasons, I’ll let the road decide. If it’s clear, I stay in 2wd. If it’s wet looking and below or near freezing or snowy, I put it in 4wd. Same deal with parking lots.

I’ve found my Cooper AT3 4S’s to be excellent year round tires with excellent traction in all weather conditions. They aren’t as good as premium dedicated winter tires like Blizzaks or my favorite General Arctic Altimax’s with studs but they are comparable or better than the less expensive winter tires I’ve tried (Hankook iPikes, Firestone winter force, or mastercraft). Tire Rack has tested the Bridgestone Revo 3 to be slightly better than the 4S on snow and ice, so it also might be a good option.

 

Exactly, you can tell pretty quickly whether you should get in 4hi or not. You can feel it in the truck.

 

Interesting! I have not owned a set of Blizzak tires since the late 70s when they were something I’d never heard of. They were good then and I’m sure better by far today. For icy hills are the studded tires still miles above them in performance? I have never owned studded tires here in the mountains and can only imagine the security they would provide. Not being rear-ended is the biggest thing to watch for around here... blizzaks would be more flexible conditions wise. I keep thinking about a winter set of wheels. I’m fortunate to be able to leave home on my terms most of the time. I’d want to try when no one else can... also, I may need to.

Rear chains make the most practical sense to me but they are so limited in their performance envelope.

OP, thanks for bringing up the subject! I’m also new to 4wd and one of the reasons is being able to get to my 92 yo mother who we take care of sharing between my kids and my wife and I.

I feel like I have a good mechanical understanding of the fwd system in our trucks and would switch out of it on non slippery pavement that is equal to wet roads or better.

It is nice to hear from those with experience and I know I appreciate their input.

 

"Unless they are drunk". You are not from the MI UP. If it's winter, they drink because of boredom. If it's summer they drink because its hot. If it's spring or fall they drink because it's fishing. God save us when it's deer season - then they really get into the beers!

 

Believe it or not, not everybody has the luxury of staying home every time a little bit of snow falls.

 

I’m having a hard time adjusting to this forum and more than once have thought I should just say screw it and not come back. About then I’ll read some incredible and interesting post. I think the demographic is not the same as what I have become accustomed to with many younger and otherwise less experience posters who still wish to sound knowledgeable and/or important. For sure the best way to save wear and tear on our trucks and to avoid accidents is to leave them in the garage. Save for me dropping my motorcycle on a car (happened to stupid me), a house fire or an errant meteor you’d be pretty safe. I won’t argue with that advice.

 

What's the point of owning a vehicle if you aren't going to drive it?

 

You know what the best thing to do is....you said it in your original post. Bite the bullet and get the snow tires. Throw a little weight in back and drive with confidence. It's not just your driving you have to worry about. Consider emergency braking, or obstacle avoidance. Are you hauling precious cargo? As for the 4WD, turn it on every so often to lubricate. Winter fuel blends send the mpg way down on these trucks, running 4wd more than necessary....wasteful.

Winter tires are cheaper, so your pricey K02's, Duratracs or whatever summer tires you run, will last a lot longer.

Lots or pros....what are the cons?

I know this is not what your asking, but consider if you are asking the right question. If a storm comes and then melts away before the next storm, you could probably get by with good all seasons. If it accumulates and temps stay cold all winter, get the snow tires. You will have a much better driving experience.

 

Blizzaks vs studs: it depends. Good modern studded snow tires, like the General’s, have the same grippy spongy rubber compound as Blizzaks and the other better studless snow tires, with the addition of holes for studs. They are, in my experience, the best you can get for true hardcore winter use. Most studded tires are simply AT tires or all seasons with heavy siping and stud holes and offer far less performance than modern studless tires in true winter conditions.

The catch is studs are illegal in many places now so the performance advantage doesn't matter. Also most of the lower 48 winters have gotten so intermittently warm instead of consistently cold and the good all season and better yet the newer all-weather tires have generally gotten so good that I wouldn’t want to use a true winter tire at all if I lived somewhere that didn’t stay below 40F all winter. Heck I managed just fine last winter in Fairbanks on (new) Cooper AT3 4S's. We'll see how well they do this winter since they'll have 30k miles on them, but I'm hoping performance is good enough to save having to have a second set of tires.

What kind of winter do you have where you live? I'm in interior Alaska. It gets COLD here, and stays below 0F for months on end, but we have relatively little snow fall and what snow we do get is mostly powder. The roads are consistently snow packed or ice covered from November to March. My needs are different than even Anchorage, 300 miles south, where they get more heavy, wet snow, more ice storms, and more spells of warm weather in winter. In Fairbanks I'm happy with studless or 4 season tires; in Anchorage I'd want studs. Back home in Baltimore? Unless I had a rwd sports car as a daily driver again, I'd probably just run all seasons and make sure to replace them when they got to 5/32 of tread depth.

Chains are still a good idea to carry, but they're still a SHTF solution for when you absolutely have to get where you are going.

As far as the advice to "just stay home", well yes obviously staying home is better than driving in a blizzard or ice storm. Not everyone has a job, health, and/or family situation that allows for that unfortunately. Carrying some sort of emergency kit with warm clothes, flares, and other emergency needs is also a good idea, but beyond the scope of the original question.

 

This is almost as good as an oil change thread.

 

Sorry, but this is all wrong. Any time traction is marginal 4wd helps. It may not help much, depending on conditions, but it helps.

It also helps you be more stupid so with the wrong mentality 4wd can be worse than 2wd, but that's a driver issue not a 4wd issue.

For the OP:

Snow tires help. If you anticipate driving in snow much get snow tires. There are some good 4 season tires too and for occasional snow all season tires work. However, you'll almost always stop and start better in snow/ice with snow tires so if you stick with all season tires you'll need to be extra, extra cautious. Also, while snow tires help, still be extra, extra cautious. I think of them more as insurance against the unforeseen rather than a license to drive like a dick.

With respect to when to use 4wd vs 2wd you'll almost always be better off with 4wd if there is snow on the ground. Doesn't matter how much. If the roads are white 4wd will be the better choice. Not required, but better. When the road is mixed dry and snow 2wd would be better for the drive train as 4wd doesn't like when there isn't some slippage. Or you can turn it off and on. This is when the auto 4wd would be great to have.

For fun, I drove this mountain pass in 2wd just to see how it would do. It was plowed, but snow was coming down pretty good. No issues. Didn't slip much and when I did it was because I was trying to see what it would take to slip. Notice there aren't any cars and it's a wide-ish road (here at least) so when I was "testing" it was done safely and at lower speeds.

 

Leave it in 4wd as long as the road is icy or snow covered. Too easy for the backend to break loose if you accidentally give it a bit too much gas, or downshift around an icy corner. Stability control helps prevent this to some extent, but it has its limits, and it should not be relied upon.