4wd, snow driving questions

[jayhawkexplorer]

A little off topic...I don't know what I'm missing, but I think anyone who puts chains on the front wheels of a front wheel drive car is nuts. Those are you steering and driving wheels and if something would happen to the chains, like if they broke, you could end up losing your driving and steering ability.

To get back on topic, I would think driving in the snow with a good set of M/S tires should be sufficient. If the weather is hardcore enough that you need to have chains, why are you out driving anyway?

 

[Deldawit]

I have to agree with Telfords post.
Do not let air out of your tires . with loose snow or compacted snow on Paved Steets. Reducing pres. does flex the sidewalls too much, and with low pressure you have less traction as the tire cups up in the center pushing the high treads
together. With the treads pushed together it makes the tire bottom smoother causing a hollow ski effect.. Agressive tread tires that have been sipped are the better choice --next to driving to the hiway conditions and slowing down...

 

[Con Seann3ry]

I'd say the rear, there is less weight in the back so the back probably needs it more. And as far as airing down I think for most onroad driving that won't help enough to make it worth it, if you're on some unplowed road where the snow is too deep to dig under, then airing down to float on top would make a lot of sense, but I don't really see that as a frequent occasion. Getting your tires siped would help a lot too on ice and stuff. Studded tires on a 4wd is my ideal setup but some siped mts will work nicely too.

 

[410Fortune]

Oh my god, have you guys who are posting about not reducing your tire pressure for snow ever tried it?
I am not talking about taking a stock size tire down to 8 psi, I am talking about taking out 5-10 psi, and when the snow is melted, air back up.
I drive a LIFTED Bronco II, one of the most roll over prone vehicles ever built, I have driven it daily for 8 years, in Colorado winters, reducing tire pressure increases traction because the contact patch size on each tire increasses in size. You would be amazed how much a few # of tire pressure will help you climb that icy hill. I have driven my truck 150+ miles with my tires at 12 psi on the dry pavement, yeah the sidewalls flex, so what do I do? SLOW down.......

If you get stuck on ice, or snow, or mud, try it, take 5 psi out of each tire, 5 psi at a time, see how it gets you moving again.....

 

[Ian's 91ex]

^^I'm with him^^^

It's even more effective when offroading on snow, you just have to adjust your driving style.

 

[TPLYNCH]

DITTO 420 and Ian

If your driving in snow with aired down tires, you should not going to be driving fast enough to generate the heat required to cause the tire problems like with the Crapstones.

 

[old mechanic]

Acording to www.Tirechains.com and my experience in the snow, 4 sets of chains is needed for optimum stop and go. One thing I know for sure is that you will stop a lot shorter with 4 chains than anything else. But get the right chains for your driving.
As for going I don't put chains on unless i'm somewhere that the plow hasn't been yet and the snow tires are not cutting it, and I have to continue like while in northern Maine hunting.
The narrower the tire the better in most snow conditions (the less snow you have to plow thru) but in heavy snow (which most of us will never be in) all the pros will air down or else you will just dig down and you will get buried. I have been with the pros in 2-3' of snow and they use a wider tire and airing down really helps. I have seen some guys air down to 8-10lbs with narrow tires (off roading in the snow only). These are the guys that go off roading into deep snow just like some go off roading in mud and rocks.
Me, my son and friends will never head north hunting without snow tires, 4 chains, extra links and a snow mobile.
If you look at the newer snow tires, they are putting many sipes on their snow tires now and less big lugs, sipes are especially good on hard packed snow or ice for going and stopping which is what most of us drive in. My son uses Cooper Discover M&S ( non studed) on his 2003? Ford F350 Super Cab and we find them the best for all around going and stopping especially for plowing.

 

[Ian's 91ex]

Of course they say 4 are best. They sell them. I would not disagree. My buddy uses 4 on his jeep in the bush.I personally think airing down would be better in deep stuff than chains.Of course 4 chains would kick @$$ on ice. I personally think if you need chains on a 4wd, you shouldn't be there. I would stud before I would buy chains.

 

[N7XME]

I didn't look up the law when I posted before, but I know from experience that when trying to buy snow tires in Washington and Oregon, they will only sell them as a set of four if they are going on a 4WD or AWD vehicle. There is a sign saying as much in all the local tire centers I have been too over the years. I drive up to Mt Hood a lot and the state patrol will pull you over if you have a 4wd or AWD with only one pair of chains or none, if chains are required as posted. Most of the time you can drive a 4wd/AWD for a longer period of time before the chains are required. I have yet to use a set when driving over the mountain. I just love the feeling of passing the chain-up place, in 4wd, with all the sedans and imports pulled over freezing their butts off trying to figure out how their chains work. Personal preference over where to put the chains wins out whenever the law doesn't state otherwise.

 

[old mechanic]

Of course they say 4 are best. They sell them. I would not disagree. My buddy uses 4 on his jeep in the bush.I personally think airing down would be better in deep stuff than chains.Of course 4 chains would kick @$$ on ice. I personally think if you need chains on a 4wd, you shouldn't be there. I would stud before I would buy chains.

Agreed. 4 is best and airing down is best in deep snow. When someone sells chains they give you the same true facts that the snow tire manufactures give you, 4 is better and recommended by them both. Guess you never ventured anywhere that you wanted to go and had to use chains. When you go 1-3 miles in the woods up north in deep snow to hunt you will never get there without chains. Studs are useless there. Studs are ok in a few inches of snow or on ice but when you travel thru different states they all have different laws about them from not using them at all to only using them in certain months making it hard to put studs on if you travel a lot.
There is NOTHING better than the right set of chains comming down a mountain side or hills with ice on them.

 

[Glacier991]

I think a lot of this advice is based on where you plan to drive. If I was in essence "4 Wheelin'" offroad in snow, maybe I would want 4 chains on 4 wheels. I assumed the original poster was talking on about driving regular highways and roads.

If I had little experience in snow, and was driving on highways, I'd make sure I had good M+S tires and slow down. Use common sense. If you want chains, get em... but up on I-80 at 7000 feet I've never needed em. If you felt safer, go for it, I'm not criticiizing that, nor pretending to be some yahoo that thinks his 4WD will go everywhere in any condition...there are times I pass on driving in a storm... but I'd find it silly to (and never have) seen a 4WD chained on all 4 wheels on maintained highways and roads.

 

[Telford Weister]

If you can get a tire engineer from Goodyear, Cooper, or one of the other major tire companies to endorse that concept, I'll consider it. The point about sidewall flex and heat damage still stands.

 

[Ian's 91ex]

Hold on....I am looking under "Tire Engineer" in my PDA.

Hm. No hits. Geuss we can't ask them.

 

[old mechanic]

If you can get a tire engineer from Goodyear, Cooper, or one of the other major tire companies to endorse that concept, I'll consider it. The point about sidewall flex and heat damage still stands.

Good point but driving on snow and ice at low speeds aired down doesn't seem to bring on any heat problems to any one that I know that has done that.
One company that seems to endorse aring down is B F Goodrich. On The Tire Rack site the BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO states that their "shoulder lock" upper sidewall traction bars maximize "aired down" traction and later says that their Rim protectors help shelter the tire especially during "Aired Down" situations.
I have my CHEPO Pep Boy Scramblers aired down to 26 pounds and notice a big difference in traction on snow and ice. However, I the furthest I drive is 3 miles one way and 3 miles back in the winter and the fastest I drive is 30 MPH. When winter is over I air back up to 35 pounds.