If you don't off-road, but you live in a place that snows..

A "for what it's worth" comment;.......If my memory serves me correct (and it often doesn't) it was about 1994.....My 1st wife and I were in Bismark North Dakota visiting her father. It was a few days after Thanksgiving. We were headed home (Southern Indiana) The night before we left, it started raining, turning into freezing rain. I had about all I could stand of her family, so it wouldn't have mattered if it was raining 75lb anvils....I was leaving for home. We were in my wifes car, a '92 Ford T-Bird. It was an anemic V6/auto. From Bismark to Fargo N. Dakota is just over 200 miles. I drove the entire distance, on a solid sheet of glare ice. We passed wreck after wreck. Even State Highway snow plows were slid off the road. I never dropped below 40mph. (After a week with my ex and her family, death in a traffic accident didn't sound all that bad) When we got to Fargo, the sun popped out, roads cleared, and I caught holy hell for my driving. For the record, there wasn't the first sound of a complaint while we were on the ice.

Great lesson learned from that trip (beside the one that said "GET A DIVORCE AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME) slightly underpowered 2wd cars with a lose shifting automatic have a great ability to deliver power smoothly and efficiently on glare ice. If you use ANYTHING to the best of it's abilities, you can get the job done.

 

what if your ex wife posts here? that would be funny.

Interesting thread, lots of good replies

 

Trust me on this one.....There would be NOTHING funny about it. She hated anyone with a sense of humor and despised anyone with a smile on their face.

 

'Fraid not. RWD with locker is awful on ice. It will make the rear oversteer faster than an open diff and overpower the steer tires.

 

I drove an old two wheel drive F 150 for several years when living in a small mountain town. I lived at the top of town which was essentially up the side of a small mountain. It definitely presented its challenges after a fresh snowfall or when i wanted to get up to the local ski hill for first chair ona big morning. I threw a lot of weight in the back for winter and always had snow chains on hand. It worked for me, but when i drove i had a pretty intense focus. The chains saw a lot of use. I was a kid then and had a fun time with it.

 

It's making me want winter...

 

Georgia, March 13, 1993 right after sunup. It snowed another 10-12" after this photo was taken for a total of 18-24" depending on where you measured.



Not typical here by any means. You can't tell by the photo but my neighborhood is on top of a very steep hill that the county won't even attempt to plow. The drill is for everyone to park at least one vehicle in a hay field at the bottom and walk the 1/2 mile or so until it melts. Typically no more than 2-3 days here. We get snow, it just warms up shortly after and melts it.

Once off the hill and on fairly level ground most anyone can get along in a front wheel drive car. But you ain't coming up or down without true 4X4. And you really, really need low range going down so you don't have to use your brakes so that rules out AWD cars too. Chains do work, especially after it partially thaws and refreezes. The last few years I've been parking the Tacoma at the bottom of the hill, and using my Wrangler with chains to shuttle myself and neighbors up and down. Once off the hill I park the Wrangler in the field and go about my business in the truck. I CAN get up and down without the chains, but have them, so why not use them and risk putting my truck in a tree or ditch.

 

Honestly my wife's awd matrix is the best in snow I have ever driven. But, I haul trash to the dump and take us camping and tow my boat and stuff, so tacoma for me.

The matrix is probably not great in deep snow, more than four inches, but on hardpack with an inch or two of fresh on top it's virtually

 

Unstoppable, so to speak.

 

@58 Siesta Don't look at this post then!

 

x2 to both of these.

 

A lot of guys in the snow region aren't doing a lot of off roading but are using their trucks for other winter sports, getting around rutted snow and ice covered dirt roads and parking areas for ice fishing, and snowmobiling where 4x4 is must have. To me on paved roads a fwd car or 2wd truck would depend on snow depth under most conditions I'd take the car it will handle better and accelerate a lot better. If it's right after a decent snowfall and the roads haven't been plowed or only the main roads have leaving the side roads plowed in I'd take the 2wd truck and the increased grown clearance over a 2wd car and coast thru the drifts. Most of the cars after a storm are snowed in and waiting for a plow truck to come down their street and doing some major shoveling around their vechile or stuck on the side of the road after a storm. For those that don't live in a heavy snow region after a plow truck comes thru some of the snow they clear off of the road winds up in your drive and at the intersection of the cross streets for you to reclear. In a 4x4 you don't have to shovel it back out as well if you don't want to compared to a 2wd and don't have to stay home waiting for the plow truck to pass back thru and hit the side streets.

 

We don't get many big snows in eastern KY but I have a 35 mile (each way ( interstate commute. When I lived a few miles from work I liked driving in snow but I dread winter weather these days. People drive like idiots on the interstate. I'm in a TRD with weight in back and people fly by me in every make and model you can imagine. 18 wheelers piss me off more than all of them.

 

This is how I see it, the price difference for a 4WD is negligible when looking at the full cost of the truck over its lifetime. Get the 4WD if you live in a place like CO. With the hilly terrain even on the road I feel like 4WD does better.
The issue with CO is the gravel they put on the road. I slipped on gravel more than ice there lol.

 

We get a few inches every year. More ice then snow some of the times. The past two winters was a nice mixture of ice, then snow, then some more ice. Good tires make a world of a difference. Mine is 2wd and driving with some common sense got me to work and back with no problems the past two years. Although, my next one will be 4wd just to have and for trails of course.

 

Snow here varies, but icy conditions happen often during the winter. I live on a hill and 1/2 way up there is a, 90 degree turn. I've owned an Avalon and an F150, neither of which could make the hill if it snowed over a few inches. I traded the Avalon for a Venza, the F150 for the Tacoma 4WD (the dealer I use only sells 4WD trucks) . I put Cooper AT3's on the truck, no problems getting up the hill last winter (with more snow than normal) . The Venza struggled a few times (putting Michelin Latitude X-Ice 2's on it this year) . Flat land is pretty much nonexistent here (WV), so 4WD comes in very handy when backing into or pulling out of wet/damp grassy areas.

 

I am from Maryland but I am a student in Pennsylvania. I usually have to drive back to school from winter break in the snow and ice, I wouldn't trust anything but four wheel drive or front wheel drive. We see all types of winter weather in the midatlantic

 

when i had my reg cab i drove that thing around in the snow in 2wd the whole season, i hit and hold down the traction button to turn all that crap off every time i got in the truck too.
but I'm the asshole who purposely drifts around every single corner. id only throw it in 4x4 when i park in a sketchy spot

or when im dragging a buddy around in open fields

you'll be fine op, be mindful of where you go and how you drive.
idk why people go out and spend money on sandbags or whatever, just shovel your side walk and throw the snow in the bed of your truck, you'll be good. When the snow melts on the ground it will melt in the truck, you won't be dragging around extra weight for nothing and its freaking free!

Be careful and have fun!

 

I disagree, with the right tires and engine breaking technique, it does make a difference in keeping the truck in control. Off course using speed appropriate for the conditions is most important; most times on ice that is literally a crawl. I have times when negotiating hills on ice requires 4Lo at less than 5mph. IMHO FWIW.

 

Those low gears are fucking incredible in snowy/icy conditions. I'd even go so far as to say that a truck with low gears is safer than a FWD sedan purely because the low gearing gives you such precise control of what you are doing.