Driving in the snow

[Pittsburgh Boss]

First time I drove my 2020 Big Horn Night Edition in the snow last week and it struggled big time! I was sliding everywhere! I immediately bought new tires from the stock ones I had with only 17k on them.
Any suggestions for driving in the snow? My last car was a Jeep wrangler so it went everywhere

 

[Pittsburgh Boss]

I should add here are the tires I went with

 

[devildodge]

The stock tires do suck.

Have you used the new tires yet.

Assuming your truck is 4wd...it should not struggle in the snow.

I assume you were properly engaged in 4wd.

Do you have an open diff, anti spin, or eLocker?

 

[Pittsburgh Boss]

The stock tires do suck.

Have you used the new tires yet.

Assuming your truck is 4wd...it should not struggle in the snow.

I assume you were properly engaged in 4wd.

Do you have an open diff, anti spin, or eLocker?

I was really disappointed in the stock tires...waiting for the next snow to try these out.

I tried all of my 4 wheel drive options and felt like I was in a sled. Every turn I made was Sb issue.

hoping it was just due to poor tires!

 

[kittyjo]

Hope my nitto rg do well next week in snow!!

 

[Scram1500]

Most of your problems were the OEM tires, notorious for being low quality. Adding weight over the rear tires is a benefit as well as trucks are "unbalanced" or nose heavy without a load.

Also, do you have a Hemi? If so there's more oomf under the hood, so be gentle on the throttle. This is why I take out the wife's awd Kia in the snow, barely enough power to spin the wheels on ice, and I don't want salt on my truck lol

 

[millerbjm]

Winter tires, 4wd auto, accelerate slow, slow down, leave extra following distance. I feel lucky my 2019 came with the nexen tires and not the Bridgestone they switched to but I run blizzaks in the winter and rarely need 4wd. Our Subaru is still better than my ram though - hard to beat the subaru AWD in snow.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Yep, summer tires on snow in an unloaded truck, with a torquey engine, is a bad combination. It would have mattered if you had 4A or were in 4H, it would still have sucked, just slightly less so. Likely most any empty hemi 4x2 with good snow tires would have outperformed your truck with touring treads.

 

[Willwork4truck]

Winter tires, 4wd auto, accelerate slow, slow down, leave extra following distance. I feel lucky my 2019 came with the nexen tires and not the Bridgestone they switched to but I run blizzaks in the winter and rarely need 4wd. Our Subaru is still better than my ram though - hard to beat the subaru AWD in snow.

Really an outstanding combination that Subie is. I still like watching YT videos of just how capable they are.

 

[millerbjm]

Really an outstanding combination that Subie is. I still like watching YT videos of just how capable they are.

Yeah - I had an 02 outback with all seasons on it and it was unstoppable in snow. Was at a friend's cabin a few hours north of the twin cities were I live grouse hunting and didn't realize a big snowstorm was hitting the twin cities. We went to drive home and the highways were a mess - tons of 4x4 trucks and suv's in the ditch etc. I just kept it slow and steady as I weaved between all the stranded vehicles and made my way home with no problem including unmoved side streets with over a foot of powder. Saving up for winter tires for our 20 outback now to make the ultimate snow machine.

 

[Sascwatch]

My rebel has no issues in the snow, I have driven in close to two feet of fresh snow without issues. Also driven in a foot of snow, with 2-3ft drifts mid snow storm towing a tandem axle enclosed trailer with no issues.

Slow and steady is the key, the torque of the diesel is amazing in 4wd with some load in the truck and duratracs, I am really impressed coming from a 2wd truck.

 

[RickWaz]

My stock tires were Falken Wildpeak A/T 3w and they did VERY well during their 1st MI winter, in AWD or 4WD, depending on the conditions. I wanted to prolong the life of the Falken's, so I opted for Michelin's Latitude X-Ice Xi2 this winter. It's been a relatively snowless MI thus far, so they haven't been tested ... YET! But we've used this same tire model on my wife's Grand Cherokee for multiple winters and they still rock!

​

 

[Neurobit]

Yep, tires are the single most important element in snow driving. Even more important than having 4WD in my opinion.

 

[mikeru82]

The stock tires do suck.

Have you used the new tires yet.

Assuming your truck is 4wd...it should not struggle in the snow.

I assume you were properly engaged in 4wd.

Do you have an open diff, anti spin, or eLocker?

Using a blanket statement saying that stock tires suck is misleading. There are several very different types and brands of tires our trucks can be equipped with from the factory. Some really are bad in wet or winter conditions, but some are quite good. Before we can blame the tires we'd have to know which ones he had. It's obvious that he probably didn't have the Falken Wildpeaks that come with the ORG, since they do very well in the snow. But if someone is inexperienced at driving in low traction conditions, they can have the best snow tires known to man and still have problems driving in snow. Another variable is the type of snow. Wet snow and slush is one of the worst conditions you can drive in, while dry powdery snow is much easier to get around in.

The best tires for all winter conditions are dedicated snow tires. I won't get into which brand I think is the best. Suffice it to say that for driving in winter conditions, the worst snow tires are better than the best all-season tires. So if you really want to be safe buy some snow tires, and swap them out seasonally with whatever tire you want to use the rest of the year.

 

[devildodge]

Using a blanket statement saying that stock tires suck is misleading. There are several very different types and brands of tires our trucks can be equipped with from the factory. Some really are bad in wet or winter conditions, but some are quite good. Before we can blame the tires we'd have to know which ones he had. It's obvious that he probably didn't have the Falken Wildpeaks that come with the ORG, since they do very well in the snow. But if someone is inexperienced at driving in low traction conditions, they can have the best snow tires known to man and still have problems driving in snow. Another variable is the type of snow. Wet snow and slush is one of the worst conditions you can drive in, while dry powdery snow is much easier to get around in.

The best tires for all winter conditions are dedicated snow tires. I won't get into which brand I think is the best. Suffice it to say that for driving in winter conditions, the worst snow tires are better than the best all-season tires. So if you really want to be safe buy some snow tires, and swap them out seasonally with whatever tire you want to use the rest of the year.

Sorry. My point of saying that was to see if he has driven with the new ones. It was in the context that he had already swapped them out.

I forget sometimes that sarcasm and a simple request for info has to lead to an all out description.

My point of the context was he gave us very little info about his truck.

 

[mikeru82]

Sorry. My point of saying that was to see if he has driven with the new ones. It was in the context that he had already swapped them out.

I forget sometimes that sarcasm and a simple request for info has to lead to an all out description.

My point of the context was he gave us very little info about his truck.

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.

 

[moosem]

My truck was horrible in the snow with the stock Bridgestone Duelers. I switched to GENERAL Grabbers ATx’s and have driven it in two snow storms so far.. and it has handled awesome. Very confident driving in snow with the new tires.

 

[Kicker]

Yep, tires are the single most important element in snow driving. Even more important than having 4WD in my opinion.

Actually the person behind the wheel is the most important element, then tires.

 

[WasatchBack]

Hmmm, I have zero problems in snow.

 

[jeffauclair]

It’s a law where I live. From decembrer 15th to march 15th, all vehicles must have winter tires(with the 3pike mountain logo). Any M/S, A/T, M/T or whatever other terminology aren’t accepted.

Ghoststats, do you know that to be consider a “winter tire” and pass the test and be approved as a winter tire you must be able to beat or be egal to the...

Uniroyal Tiger Paw 1st gen winter tire

Yep, that is the “reference “ they still use when a manufacturer wants to market and sold a winter tire. a fat bike is better in the snow than a Uniroyal tiger paw lol