How to get un-stuck

[smackitsakic]

My wife and I live in an apartment and our landlord pushes all of the snow off of the parking lot onto the street. It's easy for him, but creates a huge amount of snow to go through when backing out of our parking spot.

We got about 6 inches of snow last night, and about 6 inches of snow yesterday. The wind is up and the snow is drifting and blowing higher and higher.

When I came home for lunch today I decided to use my 07 T4R to pack down this barricade of snow. It is about 2 feet high, 8 feet wide, and goes for about 150 feet. Tons of fun!

About halfway through the snow the stupid VSC kicked in, killed my power (and momentum) and sunk me down deep into the snow. In 4HI I couldn't get jammed loose. I put it in neutral, locked the diff., back into drive, and after a couple of quick reverse to forward shifts, was able to get myself out.

My question is for the time (I know it will come some day!) that I get stuck deeper. What is the best way to get yourself unstuck if you're really stuck? Is 4HI with the diff. locked the best? Or is it better when stuck so badly to go into 4LO with the diff. locked to try to wiggle yourself out?

I am already excited to replace my less than stellar Bridgestone tires, which will certainly help on days like today!!

If you can share your 'stuck' tips with me that'd be great!

 

[CJ3Flyr]

My wife and I live in an apartment and our landlord pushes all of the snow off of the parking lot onto the street. It's easy for him, but creates a huge amount of snow to go through when backing out of our parking spot.

We got about 6 inches of snow last night, and about 6 inches of snow yesterday. The wind is up and the snow is drifting and blowing higher and higher.

When I came home for lunch today I decided to use my 07 T4R to pack down this barricade of snow. It is about 2 feet high, 8 feet wide, and goes for about 150 feet. Tons of fun!

About halfway through the snow the stupid VSC kicked in, killed my power (and momentum) and sunk me down deep into the snow. In 4HI I couldn't get jammed loose. I put it in neutral, locked the diff., back into drive, and after a couple of quick reverse to forward shifts, was able to get myself out.

My question is for the time (I know it will come some day!) that I get stuck deeper. What is the best way to get yourself unstuck if you're really stuck? Is 4HI with the diff. locked the best? Or is it better when stuck so badly to go into 4LO with the diff. locked to try to wiggle yourself out?

I am already excited to replace my less than stellar Bridgestone tires, which will certainly help on days like today!!

If you can share your 'stuck' tips with me that'd be great!

Lock the center diff in 4hi to overcome the hurdle. The locked diff mode causes the VSC to turn off.

- Don't drive on dry pavement with the diff locked.
- If you get stuck or are mid-adventure in a snow pile be gentle with the gas until the locking process is complete (dash lights steady, not flashing). If you are stopped push the button and cycle it D to N to R and back to D. That's usually enough to get the cycle complete without placing undo stress on components.
:cheers:

 

[Will_4R]

:iagree:

Stay in 4hi. It lets you spin the wheels faster to clear the tread and dig deeper to firmer ground. I wouldn't call VSC stupid. It is great and reportedly works as intended. You just used it in the wrong situation so it hindered you. You definetly want the centre diff locked when going into a snow bank like that.

In terms of getting unstuck, I find the rocking from forward to reverse like you did works pretty well. At the same time turning the wheels back and forth to help get better purchase.

Get traction mats/irons. I find them infinetly useful for getting unstuck from situations like you describe. I used them reguarly when I lived in Montreal getting in and out of parking spots.

 

[charlier180]

My wife and I live in an apartment and our landlord pushes all of the snow off of the parking lot onto the street. It's easy for him, but creates a huge amount of snow to go through when backing out of our parking spot.

If the street the landlord pushes the snow onto is a public street he could possibly be violating a local law.
Some municipalities have laws against doing this very thing.
Ultimately, it comes down to what the fine for this offense is and whether or not the law is actually enforced.

If your local area has such a law and the landlord is an S.O.B. leave a printed copy of the law in his mailbox.
If the landlord is a nice guy tell him he might want to stop doing this because someday, someone, will report him and he will be cited & fined.

 

[VNT]

or if he is an SOB, find someone with a plow and when the landlord is out and about push it all back in his spot,

 

[smackitsakic]

Ha, great landlord, just has a ton of snow to shovel and does it with nothing more than a shovel and some arm strength. I don't mind, especially given how hard he works...in fact, it gives me some fun snow to plow through.

So, after reading this post and others I am beginning to learn the T4R technology more and more each day. I just realized that I don't need to be stopped to lock the diff., just need to be in neutral, which makes a big difference.

With the diff. locked I went plowing through this same snow pile with NO problems whatsoever, barely need to put my foot on the gas to get through it.

There is still a fair bit of snow in and around the city - maybe tomorrow i'll try to get some pictures of our T4R and post them on here. We have no pics of our stock Runner, and it would be nice to get a few anyway!

Thanks for the suggestions and tips, as always. Hopefully the snow keeps on coming!

 

[Mark86]

I had the same exact thing happen to me. I couldn't wedge my truck out of at least a 3 foot drift. Like an idiot, I stopped to see what my 4Runner can do- I misjudged!

 

[TechWrench]

Just remember, it doesn't matter how many wheels your vehicle can put power to, or what type of traction system you have. If you go in deep enough to get the body stuck, and the wheels no longer make contact with the ground, you are STUCK until someone else pulls you out, or you have a winch or a shovel.