Originally Posted by FlyNavyP3
Originally Posted by Dave9
What were you thinking? You should not have a 2WD (RWD, assuming it's really a "truck") out in a foot of snow, particularly with hilly areas, unless you have studs or chains on. A bag of salt isn't going to make much difference if you have either of those remedies for a vehicle not suited for the environment. That bag of salt will not help a lot while you're driving... well, given enough bags of salt, in the back of the bed will help slightly, but forget I mentioned that.
Seriously? I hope I missed the sarcasm here. I drove a 2wd truck year round in an area that had 150-225 inches of snowfall a year for YEARS. Studded tires are illegal as are chains where I was at the time. The best snow tires at the time were a Goodyear Plus 32 or something of the like, I couldn't afford those so the truck wither had Bias Ply Power King or Goodyear Xtra Traction lug tires on the rear and Goodyear Bias Ply Multi-miler ribs on the front. The last year I had it I was able to upgrade to a Firestone Town and Country snow tire. It did JUST fine in the snow, you just had to pick and choose your line, and where or how you parked it. Driving a 2wd truck in the snow teaches you how to manage momentum and handling a vehicle at the limit of the traction available. To this day I prefer being in 2wd in a 4wd capable vehicle at any speeds over 23-30, if I need 4wd to be going any faster than 30 I'm going too fast for conditions.
Yes seriously. That you aren't wrecking does not change the fact that the odds are higher as well as higher odds of getting stuck. It is not as though 4WD or AWD is a rare feature on trucks in particular, you are simply making bad choices.
Too fast for conditions has much to do with driving a RWD vehicle. Even a FWD, 2WD vehicle can go significantly faster, safely, in the same conditions as a RWD truck... given the same tires, on fluffy snow the FWD (car) may have street tires which aren't as good as A/T truck tires, but still wins in icy or hard pack snow conditions. This means that if you are driving safely, you're
that guy holding up traffic.
"Choose your line" means very little if you have icy curves and hills. You'll still slide right off the road and slide to stops unless you live in a quite flat area, which in itself also tends to mean much fewer curves in roads because the road doesn't follow the cuts in hills.
It is utter madness to "prefer being in 2wd" and non-applicable. There were many options onto it being the norm for the past 20 years that vehicles that were 4WD instead of 2WD, auto-engage 4WD from sensing wheel slippage. If you're talking about an ancient manual 4WD system and there are some bare pavement sections then sure, but otherwise if you're going 23-30 that's a danger in itself because a lot of other people who can drive faster safely, will be trying to pass you, and if you're hogging that "best line" through the snow, you're causing everyone else to pick a different one to go around.
I am quite the advocate for "just drive slower" but in this case, you can do both, drive slower and drive a vehicle appropriate for the environment. 4WD/AWD exists more for exactly this, than people who are taking their vehicle off-road. The # going off road may be 1:1000 compared to those who drive in snowy winter weather.
I can use a wrench to pound nails and make arguments about how it works fine with the right technique, but that doesn't make it the right tool for the job.
