Drove through the Valley of Trucks

[Boondox]

<font color=blue>Better than 2wd with rwd but according to (I think it was) Brock Yates back in the ?80's? a 2wd with fwd would perform equally well exept in deeper snow.</font color=blue>

My Honda Civic with fwd and snow tires handled all but the deepest snow far better than my Pathfinder in 4WD. I really liked that car! But so far nothing has beat our Subaru for sheer stuck-to-the-road foul weather handling.

Pete

 

[crawdad]

i gotta get my .02 in .
out of all my 4WD vehicles '46 willys,52 dodge power wagon,67 jeep,'82 subaru,85 landcruiser FJ-60(4door),
1997 suburban,99 ford f-250 the landcruiser is the best in the snow on the road (highway).followed by the subaru,then the suburban.
i always run snow tires,as skinny as i can get them. for cars Gislaved,or Kleber tires.scandinavian made ,
they are the greatest,but the first day its over 45 deg.they come off. the rubber is extremely soft.
on my trucks i've run the dunlop radial rovers,BFG,and others
i personally believe that you have to run snow tires in the winter.
those "all season" tires don't cut the mustard in snow and ice as well as a skinny aggresive style snow or M/S type tire.
as said before 4WD is no good to an idiot who doesnt know how to drive anyway.
most of the people buying a 4WD these days have no clue about how their vehicles handle,work etc.
they push a button and now they can conquer the world.....until they have to slow down or go around a sharp turn then their sitting upside down on the side of an embankment. i know,im a volunteer fireman,
see it all the time.
and in my opinion if people dont want to put snow tires on their cars or trucks,they should stay off the [censored] road when theres snow so you dont slide into me and my family with my snow tires.
i was up in vermont this weekend and all the locals i know up there run skinny snows,most run w/studs.
the best is to have a set of snows on rims for at least one family vehicle. it will make your summer tires last that much longer .
and chains? i do have a set to fit the old willys. hardly ever use them but did once and that to me was worth it.
scott

 

[warren]

Pete,

I've always wanted to 'tourist' the Northeast sometime. If'n all
the people who live there have the same attititude towards tourists as you do, I'd probably have to reconnsider. Why the habitual lamentations?

Warren

 

[Boondox]

Warren -- Not sure why anyone with good sense would think giving someone traveling on tires more suited to Georgia and totally unfamiliar with driving in snow a healthy distance would be an insult. As others have said, the worst winter driving hazard is the other driver.

Pete

 

[utahmule]

The Toyota LandCruiser, from 1992 to present is a full-time 4WD(AWD). On my 94, I can lock the front, rear, and center differentials to make it a true 4WD.

 

[turnkey4099]

Now that is what I call a great design. Must be a bear to steer tho on anything less than total slop.

Harry K

 

[utahmule]

Yeah, it's never completely locked up unless it's fairly ugly surroundings. Normally I run with all unlocked. The traction is great, even on dry gravel roads. Saved my bacon a time or three.

 

[mwechtal]

Since they're advertized around here heavily, I thought I'd ask for opinions on Green Diamond tires. They have silicon carbide grit embeded in the rubber. I was fairly interested until I found out that they're only available as retreads.

I once had a retread experience that left mental scars ;-)

Mike

 

[grandad]

Exactly so. Many years ago I did a small business snow plowing with a Jeep and found the narrow, grippy snows were much better than the wide things you see on most SUV's today. That may be a factor in why so many of today's SUV owners can put their rigs in the ditch faster than you can say 'knucklehead' /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Phred]

Richard,

I had the ocassion to think of you the other day (see attached).
Not much by yankee standards but a bad gravel road plus 4" of snow and some steep hills (not shown) and I am reminded why I drive my enviromentally unfriendly and "unsafe" 4wd SUV. No problem just go slow and careful.
Would have been a problem without 4wd since we take the view that god provided and therefore god will take it away eventually.... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

For that miata if you move to the sticks just go ahead and weld some heavy tow hooks on the front and back and keep a heavy chain in the truck.
Don't worry some one will come along with a 4x4 eventually.... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Fred

 

[Richard]

I am sooooooooooooooooooo laughing... I am already IN the sticks. So far so, that the road dead ends at the house next to the dock. Though by miles, we are only say, 15 miles from town, because we are at the dead end and have the lake surrounding 3 sides of the property, we simply get no one out here. (I'm still chuckling)

I DO like the idea of the tow hooks though... maybe I can help some of the trucks I passed? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[smilingreen]

Your story sounds very familiar. I live 40 miles east of Nashville, and I see idiot drivers all the time. I think NASCAR being too thick in their blood has something to do with it. They fly along the interstate at 70 to 80 miles an hour and the roads are icy and snow covered. I guess they think their FWD truck/SUV is invincible. Yah, it might get them going a little faster from a dead stop, but they don't slow down any faster! I was pulling my tractor on my trailer to do some snow plowing that weekend. Roads were icy and snow packed. I was moving at about 25 miles an hour when I look in my side view mirrors. To my horror, some idiot (woman) driver (sorry ladies) was doing about 60 miles an hour on this 45 MPH posted road. As she blew past me, I thought, I will see her wrapped around a telephone pole somewhere. I wasn't 15 seconds later, she started around a curve, and obviousy didnt make it. She went into a steep, but shallow ditch and flipped her SUV completely upside down. Luckily, she was wearing a seatbelt, and ended up with just some bruising. And, nope, I am not a Tennessee native, either. Northern Illinois transplant.

 

[Pks]

Back in 1990, the auto companies expected any SUV to actually be in conditions where 4x4 was useful/necessary 2% of their life. I'm a little foggy about that value though. It could be 0.2% Either way, that's $3000 initial extra cost, for the running gear, for not much use.

During my undergrad years, I clocked 30k 4x4 miles in the UP of Michigan. 30" of snow... go play in it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[RoyJackson]

Originally from southern Ohio, I grew up "with" snow, however, I'm aware my experience with snow is not to be confused with those who get "real" snow ...

Good story!!!

I've had 4WD vehicles for most of the last 30 years...most of 'em pick ups.
Gotten them stuck too... Can't say I play in the snow, working night shift and 30 miles from home...I just wanted to make sure I did, in fact, get home. In rural PA, there's a couple of times I ended up walking a mile or three, even with 4WD.
It is funny to watch a new owner of a 4WD. Reckon they think they're invincible. Learning curve is pretty quick though, for most of 'em.

Me...if I'm in 4WD, reckon my top speed is around 35 MPH or so. Always figured if I was in conditions bad enough to warrant using 4WD, it was slick enough to expect braking distances to be somewhat extended.

What has always ticked my off is the morons who do have accidents driving 4x4's who blame the truck for the accident(s).

 

[Hoeman00]

I put B.F. Goodrich All-Terrain TA on my trucks as soon as I get them, the three ply sidewalls really make pulling a heavy trailer much more stable.
I still put on a set of open tread studded tires in winter because like others have said I go to work (20 miles) at 2-4:30am usually 7 days a week and don't like to be stuck somewhere.