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| Member |
I agree, but it may have been more of a factor before ABS. Those of us that learned to drive in rear wheel drive cars with no ABS understand what you are saying. | |||
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| Member |
Leave tires at recommended air pressures. AWD is ok, but when the road is snow covered 4 hi is always better. 4 lo for when you can no longer move. 4x4 will also aid in stopping as a1abdj pointed out, especially with a heavy vehicle. Smooth driving, as in keeping everything slow. Slow acceleration, slow braking, slow turning... will help keep traction. | |||
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| You don’t fix faith, River. It fixes you.  |
I have a 100 series LC with KO2s. I drive WY, CO, UT, etc. I leave mine a factory pressure all winter and use 4H downshifted into 2nd for my pass descents. My KO2s do alright for me in the snow but they are NOT an ice tire. So I just take it slow when things get slick -- making sure I brake, turn, or accelerate only one action at a time. There are legions of Subaru drivers out there who will blow past me in the mountains -- but I count dozens every year in the ditch or worse. So I play it safe. ---------------------------------- "If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.." - Thomas Sowell | |||
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| Savor the limelight |
This is great, simple advice. Engine braking is great in 4wd until you exceed the traction available to the front wheels and lose steering. If this happens you need to get back on the gas slightly to regain steering. | |||
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Member |
Skull Leader: Yes sir, growing up in NW MT, driving in snow required tips like you mentioned. We would use the Neutral crawl down hill when in the mountains. ....and chains, nobody went anywhere without their chains. | |||
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safe & sound |
Many don't realize that the gas pedal is often more helpful than the brake pedal in several driving scenarios beyond even winter driving. | |||
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| Member |
Don't lower the air pressure. Also, don't let your vehicle make you overconfident in it's abilities on slick stuff. My informal survey over the years up here is that most of the vehicles in the ditch in the Winter have 4WD/AWD. Used intelligently, it's great, but it isn't magic. | |||
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| Member |
And in case you slid off the road, traction recovery boards are life savers. A pair can usually be found on eBay for $50. I carry 2 pairs with me at all times. | |||
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Member |
4WD gets you further into the shit, and quicker, than 2WD. Which makes it harder to get out. Slow and steady wins the race. Over confidence in the vehicle's abilities and the driver's skill, is what causes most snow and ice related crashes. Gentle power, braking, and steering inputs, coupled with intelligent reading of road conditions and awareness of current and impending weather will prevent people like me risking our lives coming to save your ass because 'you had tickets to the movie and the kids really wanted to see it' or some other irrelevant bullshit reason for being out in shit conditions. | |||
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| Savor the limelight |
I meant post, but forgot that a shovel and a bag of salt are all I ever needed when my belief in my ability to drive on snow exceeded the reality. Of course, I was between 18 and 32 and in good shape when I lived where it snows. | |||
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Yokel |
Never gear down to 4L. Too much torque will only spin the tires. A good friend had a Pontiac whatever sedan. There was a button on the dash that said snow / mud What it did was get the automatic transmission to start from a stop in second gear thus limiting the torque to the drive tires. Torque is your enemy in snow or ice. You want the vehicle to gradually start from a stop idling with as little torque s possible. Thus the second gear start. Use second gear in a manual transmission or possible even third gear. Snow or ice driving you want to keep the engine at it’s lowest possible RPM to be in the low torque range. If the tires slip the engine may flutter a bit in RPM but with low torque supplied to the drive wheels it is more likely you will again gain traction as the engine RPM flutter a bit. High torque range will just keep the tires spinning Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it! - John Steinbeck | |||
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Member |
Normal air pressure and 4L only at very, very low speed. Like stuck in a parking spot kinda speed, it's not a driving gear. As already said 4wd sucks as bad on ice as 2 wheel drive. I see as many 4wd vehicles in the ditch as 2wd, maybe more. They think because they have 4wd they can drive like it's summertime. When the back end starts to kick out on just get completely off the gas and 9 times out of 10 it'll straighten itself right out if you get it as soon as it starts to go. | |||
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| Yokel |
One more tip. If traveling the interstate for a while on rather good road conditions and you find a need to get of the interstate for say for food, gas, or a personal break. Your traction tires will be warm. Find a down hill off ramp or street. Stop there for a while and let your tires cool. Then ease into the snow-covered gas station or restaurant parking lot. Not letting the tires cool down first will only melt the packed snow under your tires and then quickly refreeze into ice under them. Now you are stuck with tires spinning on the ice. This really happens. I used to drive truck pulling twin trailers and found this out the hard way. Some older guy at the truck stop told me this trick and I never got stuck again on packed snow. Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it! - John Steinbeck | |||
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| As Extraordinary as Everyone Else  |
200 Series LC is a very capable vehicle. You should be fine if you heed what has already been said. I sometimes put a couple of 40# bags of play sand in the rear to help with the traction. ------------------ Eddie Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina | |||
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| Member |
As someone who has driven ungodly number of miles in the snow you need to show me a modern vehicle which will 100% have 4 wheel ABS how this is even remotely possible to be true. I have no issue that 4wd makes it possible to go or slow better, but it does nothing when you have reached the point of braking. “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” | |||
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| Be not wise in thine own eyes  |
I would not recommend shifting into neutral, as you sacrifice the ability to use the gas pedal to regain steering in the event of skidding. You pull out of a skid with gas, not more braking. “We’re in a situation where we have put together, and you guys did it for our administration…President Obama’s administration before this. We have put together, I think, the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics,” Pres. Select, Joe Biden “Let’s go, Brandon” Kelli Stavast, 2 Oct. 2021 | |||
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| safe & sound |
Ask and you shall receive. | |||
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Age Quod Agis |
Very interesting. Bigger difference than I would have suspected. That's a good 20 feet or so shorter, maybe a bit more. "I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation." Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II. | |||
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| safe & sound |
Even with ABS your front wheels are getting the majority of the braking pressure. When in 4 wheel drive the front braking power has a connection to the transfer case and drive line which evens everything out to all four corners. Under normal circumstances the split between front and rear is beneficial. In a situation where it's slick, you're throwing away that power, especially if the rears can still get some sort of traction. If you watch a vehicle during a hard brake you'll generally see the front wheels completely lock while the rears still have some roll to them. This is true even with ABS. | |||
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| Member |
This is what I was going to suggest. I drive a 200 series cruiser. Use the 2nd gear start if the wheels just spin on you. Not many opportunities to test that capability in N Texas but that’s okay. We get ice a few times a year and it’s a problem. Frankly, if I can’t get there safely in all season tires, I don’t believe KO2s would make much difference. Too many crazies when it gets slick. You have plenty of torque and HP as is. No need to air down and no need for 4 low. If it’s really slick you can lock your center diff. | |||
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