Driving in the snow

[Scram1500]

If you want to plant a smile on your face, find an empty parking lot. Put it in 4WD Hi, hold down the traction control button until you see "ESC temporarily disabled" on the dash. Don't get sick while doing doughnuts

 

[rbundy84]

Thanks everyone!

 

[HemiDude]

Rained all day yesterday, changed to snow late afternoon as we were on the way to my son's house for Christmas, and temp dropped 20+ degrees. 3" on the ground when we headed for home and still snowing. The stock Nexens really surprised me. 4wHi all the way home, pretty good traction, even with some "spirited driving" spurts along the way through some small drifts. I was planing on changing out to some Cooper AT3s, but as of right now I might wait and see how these Nexens do through the winter

 

[zlman]

Drove home in a blizzard wed night, these tires did great, no complaints!

 

[FarmerJohn]

I just installed Goodyear Duratracs (275/70/18) on my stock rims, and added 400 lbs of weight in the back of the bed. I had no problem getting around with the 6 inches of snow we got last week. Not as fun as my Jeep, but I traveled with no issues.
I was going to buy the Falken Wildpeak like everyone else seems to recommend. But, my local shop had a great deal on the Duratracs, and I’m very familiar with them. Noisy ride, MPGdown from 20 to 17. Other than that, I’m happy with them.

 

[iLikeTurtles]

I bought Toyo GSi5 winter tires for $560 shipped with tax, just had to mount and balance. Just like most trucks there is so little weight over the rear end you are bound to slip and slide if you try going anywhere too quick, unless youre in 4wd.

 

[Hemogoblin]

I don't understand these posts saying "have X all season or AT tires, drove home in a blizzard, and alll was well"
No one is suggesting that a truck, which in and of itself is already so high off the ground with a rather large radius tire (and then throw 4x4 in the mix...) is going to struggle driving in the snow. Why would it? I drove a Corolla as a kid all year round with bald all seasons and never once got stuck.

The difference between dedicated snows and the rest is when the moron in front of you abruptly brakes hard, requiring you do either do the same on a patch of ice or to perform an evasive maneuver. That is why people buy snow tires.

 

[iLikeTurtles]

I don't understand these posts saying "have X all season or AT tires, drove home in a blizzard, and alll was well"
No one is suggesting that a truck, which in and of itself is already so high off the ground with a rather large radius tire (and then throw 4x4 in the mix...) is going to struggle driving in the snow. Why would it? I drove a Corolla as a kid all year round with bald all seasons and never once got stuck.

The difference between dedicated snows and the rest is when the moron in front of you abruptly brakes hard, requiring you do either do the same on a patch of ice or to perform an evasive maneuver. That is why people buy snow tires.

I bought them because lateral traction is greatly improved, braking and acceleration as well due to tread and material difference.

 

[jmt8706]

You're right that he didn't give much info. Didn't even really tell us which tires he bought. The picture shows that it's a Mastercraft tire, but not which Mastercraft tire. Looks like their Courser ATX when comparing the tread pattern with a pic from the autoanything.com website. The Mastercraft website doesn't show this model tire. Looks like they might have replaced it with the Courser ATX2. No idea how they will perform in snow.

The tread on OP's new tires are the Mastercraft Stratus AP.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

The tread on OP's new tires are the Mastercraft Stratus AP.

Hopefully he figured it out last winter.

 

[AV8OR]

When operating in snow is anyone putting the transmission in manual and up shift to 2nd when stopped at a light to de-torque the engine.

Or does the traction control offset any gear selection?

 

[Neil McCauley]

Drove to work in heavy snow yesterday and my A/Ts were fine. Nothing like Blizzaks on my 4Runner though. I do miss snow tires but it's way too much $ and hassle for a truck.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

When operating in snow is anyone putting the transmission in manual and up shift to 2nd when stopped at a light to de-torque the engine.

Or does the traction control offset any gear selection?

If the road is covered, I put it in 4 Hi and roll. If it is just slushy or has patches I use 4 Auto. Up the hill to my house, 4 Lo.

The transmission just stays in drive as always with the exception of steep downhill in 4 Lo.