driving in freezing rain and snow advice

raty4R

raty4R

Member
So I'm from San Diego, Ca and have to drive to Dallas.
Looks like rain, freezing rain and snow most of the way. Can I get some advice on driving in snow or freezing rain :confused:(whatever that is)? Can I drive in 4x4 on a regular road in the icy rain or snow covered? use the rear locker or not? I have a 99 SR5 4x4 with the shifter not the push button 4x. I have Goodyear Duratracs. Thanks!
 
Register to hide this ad
At highway speeds 4wd is not going to make a difference. The only time I use 4wd is if the road is slippery or snow packed and I'm going under 40 mph.

Best advice: slow down, fill your wiper reservoir with a good de-icer wiper fluid, carry a back up of wiper fluid, and a bag of cat litter (works great if you get stuck and you put it under the tires).

But 4wd will not make a difference in traction at highway speeds
 
I will contradict the poster above me and say that running in 4Hi can make all the difference, even at highway speeds. Having torque split 50/50 front to rear might prevent loss of traction in the rear in the first place by virtue of having less power to break tires loose. In the situation that the rear end does start to drift out, applying more gas when in 4wd can 'pull you out' of the drift. In 2wd you better get the counter steering right, especially at higher speeds.

I'd say take it nice and slow, don't think you have to prove yourself in front of traffic just because you're driving a big bad 4runner. Watch out for expansion joints, they can upset the suspension and cause a loss of traction. Watch out while driving on overpasses and bridges, they ice over sooner than the rest of the road. Combine that with the expansion joint issue and things can get hairy real quick.

Just take your time, run in 4 Hi if it is really slick, and be aware of shifting weight and how that can affect available traction.
 
Go slow, don't tailgate, have good tread. Use your gearing to go slow down hill instead of your brakes but be careful not to put it in gear where the revs will shoot up as you will lose traction. I agree that 4x4 doesn't help at highway speeds and of course doesn't help you slow down (most 4x4 owner believe it or not, think it does) I don't think w/o the MM transfer case you're even suppose to go above 40mph? could be wrong. NO LOCKER!
 
Last edited:
You MUST realize. 4x4 helps you accelerate. IT WILL NOT HELP YOU BRAKE. so with that being said realize you have diminished traction which translates to diminished braking power. be gentile on the brakes and give yourself enough room to where you can stop; AND the person BEHIND YOU has enough space. if you start to feel uncomfortable about your ability to slow yourself down because of conditions or if traffic is pushing you beyond your comfort. DO NOT DRIVE; pull over wait it out. Worst idea is to pull a "I got this." you see a lot of people in the ditches pulling an "I got this," You should be fine; if you are travelling interstate; they keep that stuff plowed; DOT is mostly on top of it, well at least up here in the north. Bridges freeze before the roadway. do not use your locker it will change the behavior of your rear end and if that is something you are not use too.... (:
 
I also would say 4x4 is very helpful at any speed. I know this from experience having owned a few 300-400+whp AWD vehicles.

In our truck 4x4 I like to not go over 50mph. But if the road is really bad 50mph is the most you would really want to be driving at. Also good A/T tires. Mud tires not the best for snow pack and ice. Great for deep snow but that not normal once the the roads are plowed.

Another thing thats hard for people to figure out is with 4x4 or awd you want to use throttle to get around the turn allowing the tires to grab and pull you through. This takes some practice to learn. If you start to slide you dont want to use brakes, your first reaction is take off the gas and hit brakes. This is bad, you want to release throttle and steer it out and sometimes giving it gas can actually help. There are lots of Subaru videos online showing AWD techniques in snow. They can teach a lot.
 
Freezing rain is exactly that. It's rain in the air and freezes on contact whether it be the road or your windshield.

4WD, slow and easy.
If you start to see the tire tracks where everyone usually drives start to shine up from use, just move over a bit to a less traveled side. You'll get more grip on frosted ice vs shiny slick ice.

If you can't get a small bag of road salt to carry with you, kitty litter or sand will work ij a pinch on really slick stuff.

Good luck and stay safe.
 
mxer said:
Go slow, don't tailgate, have good tread. NO LOCKER!
Click to expand...

Excellent advice. I run 4x4 in snow/ice unless the roads are dry/partially dry. Take a good shovel with you so you can dig out if something happens. Take your time, stop driving if it becomes unsafe.

Find an icy, empty, flat parking lot and lock up the brakes repeatedly. Get comfortable with sliding and figure how long it takes to stop. If your rear end slides out/fishtails, take your foot off the gas and it will straighten out. Take your time.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the great advice everyone! I'm off to pick up some 'de-icer wiper fluid', a bag of kitty litter, RainX, and get my camping shovel. oh and Drive SLOW.
 
Watch out for all the people that don't know how to drive in the snow. :cowboy:
Go slow over bridges as they will ice first.
They don't have road equipment to deal with it an roads may be closed.
When you goto stop and your front brakes lock up, let off the brake if you want to steer or you will just go for a ride.
Just a few things
 
Drive slow.

You can use H4 if the tires are able to slip like snow or slush. You can shift from H2 to H4 under 50 mph and from H4 to H2 at any speed. Shift when your wheels are straight ahead. If there are dry patches be careful on corners cos it will bind up in H4. Probably wont need it on ploughed and gritted highway.

And remember H4 doesn't help you stop any better. Just go slow.

Fill up the washer/deicer fluid, clean off your lights.

Carry a jug of ice melt, maybe a little shovel and remember you can use your floor mats under the wheels if your stuck (if you dont care about them too much). Also a sleeping bag or thick blanket and cell phone charger, stuff like that.

Brake super early and lightly to test out the surface when your gonna have to stop. And pump the brake like someone said. The ABS doesnt work very good. Turn into skids.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Diezel
Limited Slip front and rear diffs + snow pavement ?
Replies
4
Views
2K
Diezel
Diezel
9
4x4 conversion. Rear diff e-locker conversion.
Replies
3
Views
6K
9mmParabellum
9
T
Automatic Transmission Problems :)
Replies
6
Views
1K
phattyduck
P
A
DIY: Fixing AWD Actuator
Replies
1
Views
7K
johncibulsky
J
B
Well this escalated quickly... engine being rebuilt, need advice!
Replies
11
Views
3K
brillo_76
brillo_76

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 551 (members: 1, guests: 550)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,112
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top