4wd high or low for snow?

[Bj Binette]

Disable your ESC. Press and hold ESC button until it disables it. Check out this video

RAM 1500 Unlocking Off-Road 4x4 Performance | How to Turn Your Traction Control ALL The Way Off

How to easily improve and unlock your off-road performance in your RAM 1500. the key is to FULLY turn off your traction control aka also turn off your Electr...

youtu.be

 

[joelmic]

Couple of things, 4 Lo completely defeats the SCS (Stability Control System) and the TCS (Traction Control System). Both of these can get in the way when trying to navigate deep snow or mud as both limit power to the wheels. TCS tries to stop wheel spin, and SCS tries to stop fish tailing. On my 2500, I can turn both off in 2 Hi or 4 Hi, by holding down the TCS button, near the tow haul and parking sensor buttons, for 10 seconds. First bing after a short push shows TCS off, if you continue to hold the button down it will then show SCS off.

Turning these two off will get you a whole bunch better performance if you don't want to use Lo for some reason.

Disable your ESC. Press and hold ESC button until it disables it. Check out this video

RAM 1500 Unlocking Off-Road 4x4 Performance | How to Turn Your Traction Control ALL The Way Off

How to easily improve and unlock your off-road performance in your RAM 1500. the key is to FULLY turn off your traction control aka also turn off your Electr...

youtu.be

I think the OP should definitely try this before any other expensive choices... seeing as the ice could be gone the first warm day...

Anyway, I learned something new I'll be using one day

 

[RamDiver]

Disable your ESC. Press and hold ESC button until it disables it. Check out this video

RAM 1500 Unlocking Off-Road 4x4 Performance | How to Turn Your Traction Control ALL The Way Off

How to easily improve and unlock your off-road performance in your RAM 1500. the key is to FULLY turn off your traction control aka also turn off your Electr...

youtu.be

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[MeatCurtains]

You'll want good tires and you'll want the least amount of instant torque to hit the wheels as possible. You want to bring the power on slow.

For me, narrow winter tires with bfg ats and 4wd high when I need it. I keep about 1100lbs of sand bags in the bed. You'll have to find what's best for you. Too much and the back wants to slide out, too little and the back wants to just not grip at all

 

[4xdad]

4low isn’t needed imho wheel spin can be used in certain situations. If it’s that slippery it’s not going to matter what gear you’re using because traction is the limiting factor. On a power wagon you can lock up all four wheels. But that’s hazardous on an icy slope

 

[star_deceiver]

Better tires will solve all your problems.

 

[RamDiver]

For me, narrow winter tires with bfg ats and 4wd high when I need it.

I use 245/75/17 E-rated BFG AT KO3s. They work great in deep snow.

Although they would have no problem with that laneway when new, they would need to be aired down after a year or two of winter use.




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[David Oakes]

Tires make a big difference. Big aftermarket mud tires are not good. In snow country people use relatively narrow tires with treads made for snow.
In the Rockies I used snow tires with the spikes in them for about 6 months out of the year when it was legal. Sand tires are the worst.

From personal knowledge, studded tires are still very legal for sure in Montana, Washington (but they don'tlike them in the Seattle area), Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and British Columbia (outside of Vancouver and Vancouver Island). Might even be legal in Indiana and Wisconsin but I haven't checked.

Personal preference is really good snow tires and dually chains for those very rare instances where snow tires aren't enough.

I was visiting Seattle to see family during a big snow dump. The City has little snow removal equipment. The locals have limited experience in snow unless they are skiers.

I learned how to drive in Southern Ontario, where a good plowing of the 400 Highway and the highway from Barrie to Collingwood meant 3 inches of compacted snow and ice for most of January and February in many years. I always get a laugh out of the people creeping along at minimal speed with a little dusting of snow on the road. Doing that in Southern Ontario in the 70s or 80s would have gotten you rear ended or forced off the road.

I don't know how many times I followed an OPP officer on the highway to Collingwood, maybe eight feet off his bumper at 40 or 50 kmh, massive whiteouts, minimal traction and he stops at the other end to close the highway behind us.

 

[Wild one]

Depending on snow conditions and road,sometimes i like slow.If it's a drifted in road,i prefer to idle into the snowbank,and when things stop going forward,back out,and idle in again,eventually you'll have a path through the snow, in mud it's always hammer down to keep wheel speed and momentum up

 

[4xdad]

It’s all part of wheeling/living in the country you eventually learn to drive safely. If you’re on a snowy road that you know well as long as you’re alone let’er rip. But be prepared if things don’t go as planned. I put my pw in the ditch last year and had to winch across the road to get out. You are only young once but you can be immature forever. It was only 50ft from my driveway and on my property

 

[Djs hemi]

If it’s snowing like a *****, I’ll use 4 auto or 4 lock. If I’m riding logging roads or light wheeling in snow or similar it’s in 4 low. The crawl power is unbelievable. Have learned to slip into neutral on downhill grades in slippery conditions

 

[LouM]

Steep slippery down grades are a good place for 4 low and low gear. If it starts to take off you can easily go up a couple of gears to get the tires rolling again.

 

[turkeybird56]

Depending on snow conditions and road,sometimes i like slow.If it's a drifted in road,i prefer to idle into the snowbank,and when things stop going forward,back out,and idle in again,eventually you'll have a path through the snow, in mud it's always hammer down to keep wheel speed and momentum up

Ditto on the mud. Really fun on a wet field with grass and hay, Just as slippery as ice. Makes for a long day afterward getting the mud off of the truck!!! But of course my problem is mud, water level over road and during a freak snowstorm, like 2021.

 

[ppine]

In Nevada there are always some new people from California in the ditch or off the road driving, Jeeps, SUVS and pickups. They just drive too fast think 4wd makes them bullet proof. 4wd just gets you stuck in worse places.

 

[diymirage]

In Nevada there are always some new people from California in the ditch or off the road driving, Jeeps, SUVS and pickups. They just drive too fast think 4wd makes them bullet proof. 4wd just gets you stuck in worse places.

Same here in Michigan, i always tell em "4wd doesn't mean you won't slide off the road, it simply means you will slide off so far I'm not gonna be able to pull you back on!"

 

[DILLIGAF]

If you hit the ditch and cant drive out, your truck isnt lifted enough.

 

[4xdad]

I tell my missus 4 wheel drive doesn’t mean 4whee stop. The road was a skating rink yesterday. The freezing rain is apita.

 

[4xdad]

Use 4wheel drive to get out of trouble not in to it. If you hit the ditch at high speed it’s not going to be good. Right now we have about a two foot windrow beside the hwy. what some people don’t realize is that once snow is moved it becomes hard.