Rangers in Snow

[Curious Hound]

I agree that practicing is a good idea. But if you use a parking lot, pick a big one with no light poles or islands with curbs. YouTube us full of fail videos of people knocking over parking lot light poles. Sliding sideways against a curb can also create damage.

Eric B

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Nice to have the weight against the front of the bed so it isn't as inclined to move around on you too. Also makes the vehicle less inclined to spin out on a turn.

 

[Jim Oaks]

You definitely need some weight in the bed and good snow tires. Heck, I've plowed snow with a 2WD lawn tractor and snow chains.

I personally like mud terrains on a truck instead of snow tires. Bigger grooves to help keep snow from getting packed in the tread.

 

[pjtoledo]

You want the front to lift up a little if you only have Rear Wheel Drive, the problem with PUSHING the load is that the front tends to dig in to the snow.

But yes, good "heads up" warning that when you change weight distribution in any vehicle handling will change, in the snow or even carrying a heavier load or pulling a trailer in the summer

that works great for accelerating and going forward, but turning and stopping is where the trouble begins. there you want the weight on the wheels, not hanging in the air.

while my DD is the '05 2wd, the wiffies DD is an '00 Ranger 4wd that's been in the family since new. it would be safe to assume I know the difference in their capabilities.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

I've been following this thread for a few days now, and I need to speak up. My last car was a Honda Fit. It was front wheel drive, and I had a set of studded winter tires for it that went on on November 1, and came off on May 1. Without winter tires, that thing was rather skittish. Once I put winter tires on it, it could go through just about anything.

When I first got married, we had a 1988 Subaru Justy with AWD. Well, 4WD, but no low range. It was pretty awesome in snow, as long as the wheels were on the ground (I learned that the hard way, got the darn thing hung up!). My wife always laughed at me because we'd get three or more inches of snow on the road, and I'd hit the 4WD button on the gearshift (she told me I didn't need it!).

After the Justy, we had a 1989 Topaz. That thing amazed me! It could get through stuff that my 1985 Ranger couldn't get through. The '91 Sable, '04 Aveo, '04 Focus, '03 Sunfire, '98 Sable, and '92 Caravan were all quite capable in the snow. They were all Front Wheel Drive.

The 1991 Ranger I only drove a couple of times in the winter. It did alright, but there wasn't a whole lot of snow on the roads.

Compare that to my 1990 Ranger. Maybe I just have bad tires on my drive axle, but get it on ice, and all it wants to do is sit there and spin. Put an inch of snow on the road, you're not going very far very fast. PERIOD.

For the record, I know how to drive in snow. CAREFULLY, without making sudden moves.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Back in the 80's I had a rear wheel drive Pontiac Grand Prix. One night my sister let me drive her Chevy Cavalier to work after we got a bunch of snow. It was the 1st time I had ever driven a front wheel drive car. I couldn't believe how that thing went through snow. I felt like I was driving a snowmobile compared to my car.

When I worked for the highway patrol, we would put (4) new snow tires on every fall, and then go back to performance tires in the spring.

 

[saskbill]

A few years back, we had a sudden, deep (for Saskatoon) snowfall. I was driving the 91 ranger 2wd then, with snow tires on the rear and a bit of weight in the back. Left it in the driveway and drove my little Plymouth acclaim (FWD with snow tires on the front). Man that little car would dig through the neighborhood snow like a champ, unless it actually bottomed out/raised up on packed snow and raised its little paws clear of the ground.

The suprise, though was the 87 ranger RWD (supercab, automatic, front/rear fuel tanks and a cap on the shortbox, stud tires on the back). I had it over at a friend's getting some of the worst rust holes getting patched, and went to pick it up.

To my surprise it dug its way down the snow-packed back alley and streets at least as good as the FWD car! (more clearance, for one thing). The cap and rear tank put some weight where they needed to be, and the stud tires helped, for sure. Plus the auto trans limited the torque to the back wheels, for less spinning than the 5-speed '91.

In the slow process of putting an engine and trans back into the 87 (it died of A4LD issues, but was pushing 300k kilometers when it did.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Weight is the key. Snow plows you see on the highway are typically 2WD dump trucks. Heck, I plowed a parking lot with a Suburban one night, and didn't even realize I had never shifted in to 4WD.

I could definitely tell a difference in how well my lawn tractor plowed snow if I didn't have the wheel weights on.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Weight is the key. Snow plows you see on the highway are typically 2WD dump trucks. Heck, I plowed a parking lot with a Suburban one night, and didn't even realize I had never shifted in to 4WD.

I could definitely tell a difference in how well my lawn tractor plowed snow if I didn't have the wheel weights on.

I push my driveway off with a 2wd tractor. When I bury my 4x4 Ranger in a snow drift messing around I kick it into neutral and drag out dead stick with said tractor. Weight is king, it has all the right junk in all the right places to be a 5k lb friggin tank... and if I need to (generally after consecutive large snows) I have chains to put on it too.

I have never driven a 2wd Ranger, my Ranger in 2wd isn't really helpless though. I drove it all over with two bags of sand in the back and the cheap car tires it came with when I was in high school.

 

[holyford86]

Been driving a 1998 4x2 with a 2.5, manual trans, and limited slip 3.73 axle for a few years in the snow, It goes better than my 86 (see signature) ever thought of going through snow. Mind you I run the same brand and model of tire on both and have never put any weight in the bed of either, as I still need to use them as trucks and would rather not deal with lugging bags of sand out of the bed. The one exception is when you can measure snow on the roads in feet, the 86 excels at this and only this. It is all in the driver, and learning to steer with throttle really helps out.

 

[racsan]

ive not had a problem with the 2wd rangers iv owned in the snow. just have some weight, the right tires, and know what youre doing. ive only ever owned 1 4wd ranger, loved it but really only needed 4wd rarely. if anything 4wd gets people in to trouble, they dont realize how bad the roads might be, then find out they cant stop any better, even though they can sure "go" better. i always went out on the road in 2wd with my 4wd and got a feel for the road before putting it in 4 wheel, just so i would know what i was really driving on.

 

[Dangerrangers]

2 Wheel Drive Rangers suck in SNOW

Wow and only your 2nd post.

 

[Broo]

2WD isn't that bad. Is it worse than 4x4 ? Certainly.

Is it THAT bad ? maybe if you drive like it's summer without carrying anything in the bed.
I live in Quebec where we get quite a lot of snow. My Ranger is 2WD only. Whenever we have more than a couple inches of snow, I use my truck instead of my subcompact daily driver car due to ground clearance.

Good studded snow tires all around and some landscaping tiles in the bed make it much better. Of course I don't put myself in trouble on purpose and carry a set of traction aids, but I never had to use them yet in 8 years. I still carry them since I know the day I don't have them with me is the day I'll need them.

 

[wildbill23c]

My 84 Ranger did fine in snow. Most of the problems is the driver's lack of driving skills. A good set of tires helps but if you can't drive worth shit nothing will help you.

The smaller pickups seem to do better in snow because they are more weight balanced front/rear than a full size truck with a big heavy V8, V10, or diesel engine causing the front end to plow...fix for that is several hundred pounds in the bed.

 

[wildbill23c]

ive not had a problem with the 2wd rangers iv owned in the snow. just have some weight, the right tires, and know what youre doing. ive only ever owned 1 4wd ranger, loved it but really only needed 4wd rarely. if anything 4wd gets people in to trouble, they dont realize how bad the roads might be, then find out they cant stop any better, even though they can sure "go" better. i always went out on the road in 2wd with my 4wd and got a feel for the road before putting it in 4 wheel, just so i would know what i was really driving on.

Even at that, the conditions can change within a few feet. Its nice to get a feel of what you are driving on but that can give you a false sense of the conditions as well.

Man every snow storm the first vehicles sliding off the roads are AWD's and 4WD's. Those with 2WD just keep on going because they are far more careful drivers. Its those in their lifted 4x4's that cause most of the problems around here in Idaho. Between their total lack of driving ability, and having horrible tires they are more of a danger to everyone than someone driving an old 2WD truck.

I've found I rarely use the 4WD even in snow because around town the speed limits are so low anyhow it doesn't matter about the extra traction from 4WD, people drive so damn slow anyhow the 4WD is just pointless. Having a manual transmission helps too, start off in 2nd gear rather than 1st it helps keep wheel spin to a minimum...hell even my 88 Bronco 2's automatic allows me to start off in 2nd gear, unlike today's electronic transmissions that drop you to 1st gear regardless.