Snow in 2wd w/ No Chains?

I've never used chains, but I can say that a shovel and traction boards will get you out of many situations. The nice thing about snow is that you usually dig yourself down to the hard surface underneath without a major effort. The same thing doesn't generally hold true for mud and sand.

 

The whole point is that narrow skinny tires is best for light snow where you can dig down and reach traction. In deep snow, I'm talking several feet deep, you want to air down to try to float on top and paddle out.

You aren't digging down to find traction here.

 

It's hard to tell the true depth of the snow in the video, but it doesn't look like several feet. In fact, the first time he gets stuck you can see him dig down until the tire starts throwing dirt and at that point he escapes.

In any case, that looks like fun! We don't hardly have any snow yet this year. We had one good storm in Oct (or was it Nov?) and nothing since. Even up north near the Canadien border there is only like 0-2" on the ground. I'm sad.

 

Right, and he got stuck digging down. Had to back up and go on the snow that wasn't all packed in. The good thing about WA is that it rarely snows in the lowlands and that we go up to the mountains for snow. Don't have to deal with it and the salt that comes with a lot of snow.

 

My conclusion was that the rig got unstuck by digging down to the dirt. The tire started throwing dirt right before he got unstuck. That seems typical to me. Dirt has a lot more traction than snow.

I think I would be happy living in the Northwest. I had a job interview in Seattle several years ago, but it didn't work out.,

 

I like this idea, no one for you to accidentally hit or especially no dummy to run into you. This is an interesting thread, 8 pages. One thing (prob the only thing) that wasnt mentioned, have something nice thick and heavy duty in the truck to kneel on when you are installing the chains so you dont get freezing cold and wet knees.

 

Yep, agree. I always keep a big cardboard box folded up in the bed. Always ended up changing tires in the mud and rain for some reason

 

I never seem to remember this, so I just get down and dirty and the interior of my truck suffers. I think what's worse is forgetting a shovel and gloves during a snow storm and having to dig the truck out with bare hands and snow filled tennis shoes.

 

I always keep a towel, heavy winter boots and old ski gloves in the truck, along with a shovel and snow brush. Ya never know

 

I pickup up a set a these Peerless AutoTrac chains last year: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Peerless-Chain-AutoTrac-Truck-Tire-Chains-0232610/19853287

 

Also, with 4WD you have power to the front wheels so steering in snow and slippery roads is easier. I don't mention ice because, screw ice. Ice is where I draw the line. You can go in a straight line but make no mistake, on ice, you are not in charge. Screw ice.

 

Yes, the driver managed to dig himself out, but couldn't go forward by digging in. Notice how he backed out, and then went on snow that wasn't dug out.

It's beautiful but housing costs and in general cost of living is expensive here. If you want to live in Seattle or Bellevue (near the tech companies) be prepared to spend 900k on a small rambler that needs remodeling. Or you move further out and deal with a 1.5-2 hour commute.

 

I load up the shovel and gloves for the season. They just live in the truck.

 

I've had a shovel and traction boards in my truck 24x7 since Spring. I got stuck beyond my ability to get unstuck the first snow storm in Oct and now I have a ARB snatch strap in the truck 24x7. You already know this story.

 

It's hard to tell, but I think he got stuck by running into a wall of snow, reversed, and then took a different line. Also, snow is highly modifiable. You can get a long ways by repeatedly going forward and backward. As you pack the snow down and move it out of the way, you gain headway. I used to do this all day long for fun where I grew up in rural Minnesota where there was little else to do.

Packed snow has more traction than soft snow, but frozen dirt is way better.

EDIT: One key thing about snow though is that is can be very different depending on temperature, age, compaction, and other factors. It's quite possible that airing down might help under certain conditions, but it's never been my goto. Good tires, ground clearance, rocking back and forth, shovels, sand, speed, and traction boards are my gotos. I also once made a DIY set of studded tires and took my truck out on a frozen lake and a couple ditches. That was fun, but they are illegal on the road in my state.

 

Haha I do. Gotta get me one of those straps

 

I have the same chains. Easy to put on and take off. I think there’s a YouTube video that shows how easy the installation is. On a side note, I live in Big Bear part time. Any time it snows, almost everyone in Southern California decides to head to the mountain. So not only are you dealing with slippery roads, but you also have heavy traffic with most people who think they know how to drive in the snow. They don’t. Bottom line, carry chains if snow is in the forecast . You don’t want to get up there and find out you’ll need chains to get down. If you can find chains in Big Bear, you might have to mortgage your house to pay for them.

 

I'll keep that in mind to turn on the Auto LSD. Usually, you wouldn't turn it on in normal conditions on the road.
You turn on the Auto LSD, you press/tap the "[Traction Control] OFF" button, right?

 

Having some nice, thick gloves was mentioned somewhere . . . . thanks for the tip, though!

 

Good to know! I'll have to check out that video. Honestly I haven't even test fit these chains yet .