I had about 300 hp in a 2wd S-10 when I was 18/19 driving it in Illinois & CT during winter blizzard conditions, less than 100 lbs in the back running on 31"tires... 2nd gear starts no matter what, and max speed of like 40 when I was driving around town. God was it fun though... Scared the hell out of all my friends....


Use less skinny pedal...

 

x2...i can get around in my grandpas 98 4cyl 2wd ranger no problem...driven that truck in 4 inches of snow already...only had trouble getting started but once i was going it was fine

 

Umm 4x4s are RWD to. It's not like as soon as it starts snowing everybody puts there truck in 4x4. They only engage it if they get stuck or if the snow/ice is deep enough to warrant it. Everybody on here 4x4 or 2WD deal with the same fishtailing as everyone else. Comes standard with every truck.


Less skinny pedal, lower gears, sand bags, snow tires (not mud tires, they suck in the snow), trac-loc axle swap if you want L/S.

The difference between my open rear end winter last year and my Torsen LS winter this year has been minimal though. I went from 4 sandbags to 3 though.

 

Wow, that's a great attitude to have. Mature as always here at Ranger-Forums. You don't have to worry though, My Ranger isn't going anywhere in the snow.

 

I barely get fish tail at all in 4x4 unless I get on it

Don't do that, be nice to your clutch.

You will fish tail no matter what if it's slick in 2wd, I barely touch the gas sometimes and I have bf A/t's, and I still fish tail.

agreed x2

 

Better tires, lower air pressure, and beyond that you just need to learn to drive in the snow. You need to learn to counter steer when the rear end slides out, it is no big deal.
I could drive any of my trucks in 2wd and get around fine. Yes they will fish tail on a corner that is sloped the wrong way, so what. Use a little bit of throttle and counter steer through it if you have to.

Go find an empty parking lot with no poles and slide around and feel it out. If the rear is sliding when you're not on the throttle, a 4x4 will do the same thing. I have a feeling that you have really crappy tires on there too, with a hard tread compound that isn't friendly to lower temperatures.

 

for the people saying get studded tires. Well, the op cant, they are not allowed in va.


op: as the other said, slow down and take it easy. Im pretty close to you and I had 0 issues that same snowfall. Hell, I didnt use the 4x4 at all

 

I drove a 2wd Ranger (4.0, LS diff) for 3 years in Canadian winters. Never got stuck once. And the first year I ran it with the crappy Goodyear RT/S tires! The next 2 years I ran BFG All-Terrains.
Sure it will fishtail a bit, but you just need to learn to use it to your advantage and it will be fine.. in fact, it is even makes it fun to drive :-)
Not sure what you're doing, but it seems that you just need to learn to drive in snow...

 

My 4wd with limited slip will fish tail on the bare pavement if I want it to, in 2wd. It goes sideways very easy in 2wd when it's slippery out, the car is much more stable on the road than the truck at speed.
What is fun in a 4wd is get on a large patch of ice in 4wd and do some cyclones!

 

The problem could well be his tires.
Uniroyal has a harder composition rubber for longer treadwear. But in colder weather it sacrifices traction.
I'm running Cooper WeatherMaster s/t2 which is a softer rubber , which works better for Winter traction. But bare road will wear them down faster.

The softer the tire compound , the better cold weather traction.

 

I talked to my brother in law earlier tonight and asked what he does to prepare his 4x4 Tacoma for winter conditions. He said he uses his BFG all-terrain KO tires year round with cinder blocks in the bed and never thinks of putting winter tires on. Last year he didn't have a problem getting out with almost 3 feet of snow either and said his truck only fish tails when turning at high speeds. His Tacoma is all stock with a 5-speed BTW.

At this point I'm pretty sure it's the cheap Uniroyal all-terrains. I had them put on 2 years ago for $75.00 per tire and my brother in law said his BFG's ran him around $250.00 each. I've been doing everything everyone here has said to do with a 2WD pickup in bad weather so hopefully this all comes down to poor quality tires.

 

x2.. were getting a storm up here and everyone is flipping out about the roads and such..people have no idea how to drive..

this.

 

We had new AT's on our Ranger when we bought it a few weeks ago and it was horrible, your going to have to spend some coin if you want good traction and piece of mind.

I went with Yokahama Geolander IT's and one sandbag in the box and I havn't spun a tire yet, these tires are amazing.

 

i cant emphasize enough how much running low psi in the tires will affect low traction capability.. bring your tires down to 12-15 PSI and you shouldn't have anymore problems!

 

you need to slow down.. ist your main problem. and dont apply any gas in turn if possilble... i got a 4x4 3/4 ton but i do have a ranger, ive had 2 of them, both 2wd... ive never even got stuck and never fishtail in snow...i live in canada so we have normally a lot of snow in winter

 

you want less surface on the ground in snow....wider tire put the weight on a larger scale..really not good....here you cant have less or more then 5 psi play in your tire...75 4 fine each low or excess tires....because stupid people where bringing there tire to 15 psi in winter...cause many blow out and accidents..on rad with snow. you want the smallest tire possible

 

you gave lots of bad information..really.. 4x4 do fishtail if you put the gas...second start in second gear can make the difference between spinning and gripping. third weird you still fishtail i gt a 2wd and i have no problem with fishtalling lowering tire pressure is dangerus and wil disvantage you on snowy or icy condition.. plz take the bus man... your scary

 

its the tires. If you want good snow performance get a snow tire.

 

x2, In Ontario studded tires are illegal and we see a lot of snow. All you need are a good set of winters and some chains for the mountain.

 

4x4 and limited slip do nothing if all four wheels have poor traction...you'll just be spinning four wheels instead of 2. In some cases, that's actually worse than a 2WD vehicle. I've been in Colorado doing full 180's on a highway with 4WD on, driving easy, and with a fully loaded bed...it's just a fact of driving on ICE. In some cases, I've found an open differential to work somewhat better at low speeds on ice and snow because of the extra wheelspin..it breaks up ice and can be a good thing. Limited slip helps me a lot more off road and in rain. Ice is just tricky as hell. Even in good conditions you can expect a bit of slipping and sliding. Just keep the speed down and keep yourself in a good gear. Second gear start can help sometimes.

WINTER TIRES MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.

Any time you're in snow and ice, EASY does it...you can't just drive around like it's summer...the road is covered in ice...no tire or 4WD is going to make it easy...they're just tools that CAN help if you know how to use them properly and if conditions allow it.

My general experience with snow and ice is that lower tire pressure, easier driving, and keeping your rear end loaded is important. However, if conditions are too poor for driving, there's really no safe way to operate any vehicle.

A useful tip...if you're going down the highway and start to lose it...throw the truck in neutral as soon as you feel it get loose and steer out of the skid...the truck will right itself most of the time. Any power (even idle) to the rear wheels can be a big issue.

 

Always followed the rule of skinnier tiers in the snow and wider in the mud. You want to get through the snow to the pavement for traction and want to stay on top of mud and not sink in.

example: Sentra with 205-50/16 tires and Corolla with 185-75/14 (or close to that). Sentra had BFG Traction T/A @ $130ish/tire Corolla had $50 Wall-mart all seasons. My driveway is on a hill. Corolla made it up after plowing with no problems in forward or reverse. Senta would spin all the way up if it even made it up (in forward or reverse). All comes down to the tires. Both sets of tires were carrying the recommended 32-34psi.

I to have noticed open diffs can be better in the snow and in slippery in general (when playing that is). I had a 3/4 ton w/ open diff before my FX4 Ranger. I could easily control a snowy intersection drift (red light intersection) and get decent angle with the 3/4 ton. I almost brought the Ranger around on rainy roads doing the same thing. The open diff only has one wheel spinning under power so the other wheel will not spin (keeping some traction) and helps to keep the truck under control. With a LSD both spin and there is 0 traction in the rear.

 

*THUMBS UP*

 

Actually, studded winter tires are LEGAL in NORTHERN ONTARIO....the boundary is at Parry Sound.

Dave

 

Sorry dude better traction comes from more downward force as opposed to increased friction. When driving on wet or snowy roads the rubber tires are making contact with a thin layer of water / ice / snow. Tires have grooves to remove some water from contacting the tires. You might think this is increasing friction with the road but in actuality tread contact is grabbing and pushing snow or mud backwards. The more pushed out of the way the more the engine has to work, and the more the engine works the greater the force applied to the road. Lower psi reduces the amount of direct force placed on a road despite the f increased surface area. Added weight to the bed and proper tire pressure and tires ensures the highest possible applied force to the road despite utilizing a smaller contact patch.

In short, the more pressure per square inch of tire tread, the better traction the tire will have in the snow (even if the tire has less overall tread on the ground). Ask your local tire technician.

and if not that how about physics? http://www.worsleyschool.net/science...dfriction.html

 

Good to know, I still wouldn't buy studded tires just a good set of winters.