Explorer in the snow

This is my first explorer and coming from driving a Jeep Wrangler, I was surprised at how well my 2010 Explorer did in the snow so far this year. PA has has some decent volume of snow so far and with tires that have about 38K on them I had to problem on unplowed roads. In fact the Explorer seemed to do better than my Jeep did overall, probably due to it being heavier and a longer wheelbase front to back. I was also surprised that there did not seem to be much difference in overall traction between auto 4x4 and full time 4x4.

Yes, they are very fun to drive in light snow. However, when you get into the deep stuff and start hitting the lower valance on the bumper that's when you are going to wish that the radiator was a little more protected on it. I am in the process of making a custom skid plate in that area just for the radiator because I cracked that lower valence off the other day in deep snow and got lucky that I didn't damage/hit anything else.

Flag Gibby said:

Yes, they are very fun to drive in light snow. However, when you get into the deep stuff and start hitting the lower valance on the bumper that's when you are going to wish that the radiator was a little more protected on it. I am in the process of making a custom skid plate in that area just for the radiator because I cracked that lower valence off the other day in deep snow and got lucky that I didn't damage/hit anything else.

Click to expand...

Really?

My 04 (same valance height and frame really) as well as my 02 have gone through TONS of snow with no issues. I have plowed through 15 inches of snow a few days ago to get to a trailer I had in the field and even had to back it uphill in the deep snow and I have never slammed the radiator.

I have done a lot of mudding in the 02 as well and never had an issue. Maybe the design is just different enough but I feel as though your issue may have been a fluke??

Maybe not ours are a little different. Just throwing it out there thats all

When you are in deep snow you cannot really tell what you are about to drive over, a tree stump, big rock, more of a drop off on one side and not the other, etc.is/was the issue. Look at some of the pictures of the modified 4th gens that go off road and you will notice that the lower valence is missing on them because that small 3" lip is the first thing to get hit before your tires start to roll objects and lift the front end up. The radiator bottom actually sits at the same height of the bottom of the valence but about 8-12" further back. So if you are not clearing that lower valence you are running the risk of taking out the radiator (when driving forward). Reverse is not the issue because the front cross member is so low compared to everything else that it protects the radiator.