Snow performance??

Hello all, Im new to this forum and am considering trading in my 2011 f150 crew cab for a 2013 ford explorer.

I am concerned about winter driving tho I live up a LONG and STEEP driveway
that is difficult to get up and down in the snow. Now most of our snow falls here are 4 inches or less but last year we were hit with a couple 7-8 inch snows.

I run BFG AT,s on my truck in winter months and to get up the hill in those big snows I had to turn off traction control and go peddle to the mettle, fish tailing zig zagging, throwing snow with all 4 tires and still barly made it up.

I guess my question is would a explorer have gotten me up my hill in those snows? I have owned a AWD vehicle in the past (a 06 chevy equinox) and it wouldn't come up with much more than a skimming.

Thanks for your input,

Thomas

Our 2011 Explorer with 18" Michelin LTX-MS goes better in the snow than my 2011 F150 with Michelin LTX-AT2 tires.

I live in rural Maine, lots of snow here, local cops said they really don't like their awd explorers in the snow.

If your concerned buy a set of dedicated snow tires. I have heard that with a good set of snows it is better than a lot of pickups. I'll let you know once the snow starts flying. I bought a set of Blizzaks. I should make it through anything. I'm coming from F250's and F350's. A friend of mine drives the Explorer with the police package and an F350. He said with good snow tires, the Explorer was better. We'll see.

Kevin

Smitty814 said:

If your concerned buy a set of dedicated snow tires. I have heard that with a good set of snows it is better than a lot of pickups. I'll let you know once the snow starts flying. I bought a set of Blizzaks. I should make it through anything. I'm coming from F250's and F350's. A friend of mine drives the Explorer with the police package and an F350. He said with good snow tires, the Explorer was better. We'll see.

Kevin

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Are you running the Blizzaks full time or changing them out from november - march? I wonder how they would ware if ran all year?

Welcome to the Forum thomas1984.:wavey:
Pickups are well known for traction issues in the type of weather you described. They have no weight in the back end. One Wintery day on my drive into Ottawa there were 5 vehicles in the ditch along the highway. Four were pickups including one fatality. I always run dedicated Winter tires, not just for snow traction but better and safer traction on bare cold road. I'll be installing a set of Ford's 18" steel wheels to replace the 20" OEM ones on my MKT next week along with a set of Blizzak DM-V1 tires. When I had my 2011 Explorer Limited, I used BFG Winter Slalom tires in the 17" size.

Peter

Blue91Ex said:

I live in rural Maine, lots of snow here, local cops said they really don't like their awd explorers in the snow.

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I find that hard to believe....they are loved for that exact reason....the only circumstance I can think of that the AWD would be bad in snow is with the wrong tires. Tires do make all the difference. My SHO came with summer only tires and I bought it in January (Wisconsin-salesman said they never had any complaints with the summer only tires in winter - sure) and OMG!!!...when it snowed it was like I was driving on a skating rink. No traction whatsoever. Put on the right tires and I can go anywhere almost. HUGE difference.

AWD with the correct tires for what your driving in and you will have no issues.

jmr061 said:

I find that hard to believe....they are loved for that exact reason....the only circumstance I can think of that the AWD would be bad in snow is with the wrong tires. Tires do make all the difference. My SHO came with summer only tires and I bought it in January (Wisconsin-salesman said they never had any complaints with the summer only tires in winter - sure) and OMG!!!...when it snowed it was like I was driving on a skating rink. No traction whatsoever. Put on the right tires and I can go anywhere almost. HUGE difference.

AWD with the correct tires for what your driving in and you will have no issues.

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I agree. My MazdaSpeed6 had summer tires when I bought it and the first dusting of snow was bad. The car would get up and go just fine, but turning and stopping were dangerous. I went home and order a dedicated set of winter wheels/tires. The car became an animal, so fun to drive in the snow. Tires make a huge difference.

AT tires are not snow tires. I found that out several years ago during several snows we had where I had a hard time getting up my hill in 4WD. With dedicated winter tires, you will notice a world of difference. Michelin LTX AT2 are particularly bad in the snow.

Follow Peter's advice.

I've had both an '05 F-150 Supercrew and and '11 Explorer, and the Explorer is definitely more sure footed in the snow than the F-150 was. The biggest drawback is the airdam in the front once the snow gets deep. It does act like a snowplow.

Thanks for the reply's guys, I think Im gonna make the switch and put on some good winter tires for winter months, Is a 2nd set of rims a must or will it hurt the tires to have them broke down and re mounted twice a year? Considering this will only happen about 6 times during the tires life it shouldn't compromise the side walls to much should it?

thomas1984 said:

Thanks for the reply's guys, I think Im gonna make the switch and put on some good winter tires for winter months, Is a 2nd set of rims a must or will it hurt the tires to have them broke down and re mounted twice a year? Considering this will only happen about 6 times during the tires life it shouldn't compromise the side walls to much should it?

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I went with a 2rd set of rims for my snow tires, rims are only $80.00 that way you can do the summer/winter change yourself

Brian

BrianT said:

I went with a 2rd set of rims for my snow tires, rims are only $80.00 that way you can do the summer/winter change yourself

Brian

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Thats a good price, The local salvage yard quoted me $800 plus tax for a set of used 18" rims for my f150

BrianT said:

I went with a 2rd set of rims for my snow tires, rims are only $80.00 that way you can do the summer/winter change yourself

Brian

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I have never seen rims for $80 where did you get them?

Halwg said:

I have never seen rims for $80 where did you get them?

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I purchased them from my Ford dealer, 18" steel police interceptor rims.
If I remember correctly they where $84.95 ea. p/n DG1Z 1015A I also ordered 4 centre caps p/n F87 1130GB $20.00 ea, added 4 x TPMS for $90.00

Hope this helps.

Brian

From other posts I've read here over the past 4 years, it seems that American prices on the steel wheels are at least 2 or 3 times what we pay here.

Peter

Granted, I have a first gen explorer (1993), but my experience is the same as most of the above replies... With dedicated winter tires in 4x4, my explorer will plow through almost ANYTHING without any trouble! I have Firestone Winterforce tires (they have the option to be studded as well). The last couple winters where I live were terrible and we had several occasions of more than TWO FEET of snow. I made a 2.5 hour trip accross the state to rescue my fiancee and her parents who had their ford pickup stuck, their trail blazer stuck, and their chevy cobalt stuck. They live on a county road and it had not been plowed at all. Full two feet of snow with drifts approx 3 feet. I put the old explorer in 4x4 and hammered down their unplowed road with no problem, snow drifts busting over my front bumper and grill. I then proceeded to dig out their pickup and their trailblazer (both stuck in the middle of the county road), hooked up a big ol strap and dragged them all the way back into their driveway. It was awesome! I've never been so impressed by my old explorer. And it has 220,000 miles on it, we have owned it since it was new.

So in short, yes...good winter tires make a WORLD of difference! And the first gen explorers were bad@$$

As most people have said, snow tires are the way to go. A small FWD car with snow tires can embarrass and AWD/4WD vehicle with all seasons.

Its your choice really if you want to get another set of rims but in my opinion its much easier and will pay for itself over the life of the tire. If you use stock rims, you will have to have them mounted/balanced at the beginning and end of each season. 80 bucks to mount and probably another 40-50 to balance, so about $240ish for installation per season. A cheap set of rims would be paid off in two seasons. Also, you run the risk of getting your rims scuffed up if they are constantly having tires installed/removed. With a second set of rims you will only have to switch them out and have the tmps sensors reset (dealer can do or you can buy a $40 tool to do it yourself).

Do NOT use winter tires in the summer. Snow tires are made from softer compounds for improved traction and in the warmer months will wear very very quickly. They will also tend to be much noisier than a summer/all season tire and will give the car different handling characteristics. Its always best to remove the snow tires when summer temps arrive.

Also, never ever ever put snow tires on just two of your wheels. I see people do it all the time to save money buts just a plain old bad idea. On FWD your much more likely to spin out of control since the rears will have much less traction and on RWD you'll have less steering capabilities. Both scenarios you lose braking performance.

Hope this helps!!

Josh

Mounting and balancing isn't that expensive. $58 for the 4 wheels, so it's not terribly expensive. Granted, another set of wheels is more convenient, but like Peter said, it's going to cost me around $600 for a set of wheels and then I need the TPMS. So I'll just keep changing them out for each season.

Halwg said:

Mounting and balancing isn't that expensive. $58 for the 4 wheels, so it's not terribly expensive. Granted, another set of wheels is more convenient, but like Peter said, it's going to cost me around $600 for a set of wheels and then I need the TPMS. So I'll just keep changing them out for each season.

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Wish it was that cheap here. Most places charge $100+ where I live. Only exception is wal-mart but my local one cant balance tires properly.