Winter Driving Tips

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L

Littlehouse

10 Year
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Threads
22
Messages
340
Flatlander here up in Mammoth with no idea how to drive on snow and ice. Any tips? First getting out of the drifts i’m parked in. 4WD low and locked? Driving around town on snow/ ice? Unlocked? I have KO2s with good tread and can throw on some real chains if needes.

We probably got 6” today and possibly another 14” in the next 48 hours. Below are some early pics. It snowed for another 4 hours.

Thanks!
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You can use 4Low if you’re stuck. Shift into neutral before switching to 4Low. But you can’t drive in 4Low more than a few miles an hour. And probably won’t need it. The GX is full time 4WD so should be fine once you’re free, if stuck. Just don’t drive fast. Brake early and light and give yourself more space then usual need. Just take your time.
 
No need for 4LO most likely.

Just send it. I think youll be pleasantly surprised. Take it easy, and brake early.

If you havent driven snow much or at all, it helps to test the limits of how the truck breaks loose accelerating and braking. You will find on fresh snow, or just packed snow it probably hooks up and grips really fine....just go easier if ice and slush.

It may help to use the ECT 2ND button near your right knee....that will start it off in 2nd gear so that you dont spin em as quick.

Lastly if its feeling dicey, and you have a ton of PSI, doesnt hurt to take some air out...like 30psi or the like.
 
Find an empty unplowed parking lot and experiment with your traction limits, slam on the brakes and see what happens. Turn and accelerate etc.

Also recognize that snow and traction conditions will vary a LOT depending on temperature and if there is ice underneath.
 
Do NOT lock the diffs unless you need it. With diffs locked you don't have a 'tracking' wheel, so you're far more likely to break both wheels loose on off-cambre terrain.
 
Thanks all! Will give it a go today around town and the back roads. 4low to get out, and 4high unlocked around town.

Wed night was sketchy as it rained and then froze over night. I was slipping and sliding all over. Yesterday seemed better as the fresh snow covered the ice and we could walk around without eating s***. I parked it as we didn’t really need the GX but there were plenty of people out after the snow stopped.
 
I would *almost* never use 4Lo on snow, even when stuck. I hesitate to say "never", hence my caveat, but honestly I haven't ever had to yet. 4L gets you more torque, which is not what you need in snow. You need unpacked tires and some degree of speed / momentum, and 4H is your friend in that regard. Lock the c-diff if you need to to get moving but leave it in 4H. I personally see no point to the switch that allows a 2nd gear start, since you can just modulate accelerator pressure with your foot, but I guess if it works for some people it might could be worth a try.

Mammoth is awesome. I love it there.
 
Apparently it was 11” of snow, not 6, but 4low crawled right out of the drift. Popped it in 4hi and have been cruising around no issue. Hope to get another 15-20” over the next two days and will see how that goes. Lots of vehicles with chains on but I haven’t needed them so far.
 
Soooo I tried to put on the chains and they are super loose. Even with the self tensioning. I have BFG KO2s so I’m wondering if I should have sized down because the tires tend to run small. I matched the tire size exactly. 255/70/18.

I pulled them off and will run without them tomorrow. I’d rather not have chains tearing stuff up.
 
Littlehouse said:
Soooo I tried to put on the chains and they are super loose. Even with the self tensioning. I have BFG KO2s so I’m wondering if I should have sized down because the tires tend to run small. I matched the tire size exactly. 255/70/18.

I pulled them off and will run without them tomorrow. I’d rather not have chains tearing stuff up.
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do you have the rubber tensioners? it should be snug and not flopping around.
 
After clearing the snow off again we woke up to a snow storm. Haha
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The storm picked up after this and was interesting. I came out of the neighborhood and slid directly down the hill probably 100 ft into a berm. No damage luckily. Other than that I was fine and had plenty of traction on the main roads. My buddy did the same slide with chains on his F150 and 3 peak tires as well.

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I'm up here with you brother! Just a little further north in South Lake Tahoe, which today, if you're still up there you are getting just as hammered as we are.
Were up here annually, sometimes more. What I love about our GX's and a few other vehicles like Toyota, certain models of 4R's, Subaru's, etc. is that we are All-Wheel drive. We don't have a high range, because we're already using it, so we only have a low range.
The down side of "4x4's) is that they actually only ever have one wheel providing power. When you put it into HI 4x4, then you generally only have 2 wheels providing power, one in the rear, and 1 in the opposite side in the front. When you have manual 4-HI, you can't drive on paved roads, your tires always have to be able to slip, hence 4-Hi (and 4-Low) can only be used on dirt, gravel and of course snow/ice. Now this is kind of the kicker, if you're in a "4x4" as you know driving up to Mammoth, sometimes the roads are covered with snow, great! But just a few miles down the road the snow is all clear and your one pure pavement again, then you have to pull over and shift out of 4-HI, and so it goes.
Also, it is suggested to not lock all your diff's (I actually have front and rear ARB lockers) when on those conditions unless off roading in snow or ice in slow conditions. I've heard of of vehicles being fully locked and when one wheel broke loose on some ice the wheels with traction would spin the vehicle around.
So, in short we have the very best of these conditions.
Also, you shouldn't have to use 4-lo to pull out if your tires are on pavement and the snow on/around your vehicle hasn't frozen yet.
Do you have a small Army type folding shovel? I always keep one in my rig.

Oh, and enjoy the snow!! The wife went skiiing yesterday. I've caught a really nasty cold, now my wife has it. hopefully we'll get to ski more before we go home.
 
r2m said:
I'm up here with you brother! Just a little further north in South Lake Tahoe, which today, if you're still up there you are getting just as hammered as we are.
Were up here annually, sometimes more. What I love about our GX's and a few other vehicles like Toyota, certain models of 4R's, Subaru's, etc. is that we are All-Wheel drive. We don't have a high range, because we're already using it, so we only have a low range.
The down side of "4x4's) is that they actually only ever have one wheel providing power. When you put it into HI 4x4, then you generally only have 2 wheels providing power, one in the rear, and 1 in the opposite side in the front. When you have manual 4-HI, you can't drive on paved roads, your tires always have to be able to slip, hence 4-Hi (and 4-Low) can only be used on dirt, gravel and of course snow/ice. Now this is kind of the kicker, if you're in a "4x4" as you know driving up to Mammoth, sometimes the roads are covered with snow, great! But just a few miles down the road the snow is all clear and your one pure pavement again, then you have to pull over and shift out of 4-HI, and so it goes.
Also, it is suggested to not lock all your diff's (I actually have front and rear ARB lockers) when on those conditions unless off roading in snow or ice in slow conditions. I've heard of of vehicles being fully locked and when one wheel broke loose on some ice the wheels with traction would spin the vehicle around.
So, in short we have the very best of these conditions.
Also, you shouldn't have to use 4-lo to pull out if your tires are on pavement and the snow on/around your vehicle hasn't frozen yet.
Do you have a small Army type folding shovel? I always keep one in my rig.

Oh, and enjoy the snow!! The wife went skiiing yesterday. I've caught a really nasty cold, now my wife has it. hopefully we'll get to ski more before we go home.
Click to expand...

It snowed W, Th, Sa, and today. Probably got close to 4’ I’m guessing, so it was awesome. I’ve only been to Big Bear where it’s gotten MAYBE 2”. This was a trip.

I probably didn’t need Low range, but it did help last night. I had to dig a little as the snow had drifted during the storm and it was up to my tire carrier. The plows dumped the snow behind me as well. I do carry a DMOS Stealth shovel at all times and had my ActionTrax up top if it got dicey. Didn’t need them in the end.

I guess one question is what do you do as you’re sliding down the hill? I had my foot to the floor and it sure as s*** didn’t help. Do I let off and re-apply?

One great thing about hitting the berm was I told my wife, “that’s why people get metal bumpers” as we came to a stop. She said “well then, maybe you should get a metal bumper.” YES MA’AM! Haha
 
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Littlehouse said:
One great thing about hitting the berm was I told my wife, “that’s why people get metal bumpers” as we came to a stop. She said “well then, maybe you should get a metal bumper.” YES MA’AM! Haha
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Attaboy! Nice. That's exactly how I got my MetalTech bumper. :D

Now my problem is the powdercoating was thin and now I'm getting surface dust. I really need to get it redone.

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Littlehouse said:
I guess one question is what do you do as you’re sliding down the hill? I had my foot to the floor and it sure as s*** didn’t help. Do I let off and re-apply?
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Once you're sliding you are pretty much out of control. The goal should be not to slide in the first place but obviously that doesn't answer your question.

I generally drive in snow conditions with the transmission in 'S' mode, usually keeping it in 4 for normal speeds (45-55) and then using 3 and sometimes 2 to slow my speed by downshifting. I use the brakes sparingly and gingerly when I actually want to stop, and usually test braking traction well in advance of a hill or intersection by aggressively applying and then releasing the brakes to see if I start sliding, and test traction from a stop by punching the gas for a second to see if the tires easily break traction. That information kind of dictates how I'm going to drive that stretch of road.

If I reach a point where I am sliding then I usually try and get off the brakes if it's a braking related slide, or "open the steering gate" by turning the wheel back to center if it's a slide related to front wheel direction; and then reassess and reapply brakes and / or steering input. There's no way to give advice on how to handle every traction loss situation in snow because every one is different but if I were sliding down a hill with brakes locked I would release and reapply brakes several times, downshift to 3 to 2, and try and reset steering as I could. Failing that, brace for impact!
 
Littlehouse said:
It snowed W, Th, Sa, and today. Probably got close to 4’ I’m guessing, so it was awesome. I’ve only been to Big Bear where it’s gotten MAYBE 2”. This was a trip.

I probably didn’t need Low range, but it did help last night. I had to dig a little as the snow had drifted during the storm and it was up to my tire carrier. The plows dumped the snow behind me as well. I do carry a DMOS Stealth shovel at all times and had my ActionTrax up top if it got dicey. Didn’t need them in the end.

I guess one question is what do you do as you’re sliding down the hill? I had my foot to the floor and it sure as s*** didn’t help. Do I let off and re-apply?

One great thing about hitting the berm was I told my wife, “that’s why people get metal bumpers” as we came to a stop. She said “well then, maybe you should get a metal bumper.” YES MA’AM! Haha
Click to expand...
Did you try using your DAC? You should have. It's like Crawl Control,but for only going down hill. It'll let the computer determine wheel speed and braking.
 
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