How's your 3500 in the snow

[Mr. C]

I went up in the snow yesterday to get a X-mas tree and was not real impressed with the performance of my truck. It went about 20 feet before I had to throw iron. I am very aware that tread patterns make a big difference. I have the hwy Michelin tires and did not expect them to do well,but with chains on I thought it would do better. My problem may just be that I had iron on the fronts and outside rears, it was real slow going but the roads were steep and the snow about 2 feet deep. Would another set on the inside rears make all the difference??

I never did get stuck but I had to use 4 low and could not give it much power without sinking the front end. So I guess the question is do you use 4 chains or 6, and how well can you get around in the white stuff?

 

[JWhitcomb]

With near 5000 pounds in the bed mine covered 16 miles of two feet deep snow and a pass quite well without chains. Might be a diffrent story empty, I am now carrying a set of chains just in case.

 

[Shovelhead]

Many of my friends think that 2 more tires = two times the traction.



WRONG answer, especially in snow, or ice.

edit: Thanks Bill, the heavy load in the bed will help traction, maybe not MPG.



4 tires means the load on the rear tires is now divided by 4 instead of two. This means 1/4 of the load is on each tire.

Chains may help, but only to a point. It may be better to remove the inner wheels/tires for the real crappy stuff, unless you're haulin' heavy.



Having "training wheels" makes it reeeeeal exciting on slippery exit ramps.

Ever try power-sliding a 20' long dually?

 

[illflem]

What JWhitcomb said but 1000 lbs has been fine for me. Don't complain too much, any rig that makes it though 2 feet of snow even with chains is doing great. A pair on the front and back is usually enough. If you plan on this type of driving very much then narrow tires are better, they will sink though the snow rather than float on top of it.

 

[**ICEMAN**]

snow?? i cant keep it straight in the rain!!! i know weight in the bed helps alot but i shouldn't have to carry it around in the summer. when it's in 4-H i still have to be very careful in the white stuff. my next tire purchase will be anything but "bad/goodyear". i have new kelly's on the 94 and it's the same way on wet pavement. i need to find a better tire. any suggestions??

 

[illflem]

Iceman, try getting your next set of tires siped, or even your current ones if they have much life left. At $7 per tire it's well worth it, you will definitely notice a difference on slick surfaces and your tires will last longer.

 

[**ICEMAN**]

Originally posted by illflem

Iceman, try getting your next set of tires siped

ok ,,thats a new one for me.

what does siped mean?

 

[Miklos]

I run studded and siped 255-85 Cooper traction tires for snowmobile season. This last weekend I found that it was fairly easy to break the tires loose in the snow when in 2wd. I was carrying my camper and towing an enclosed snowmobile trailer, so I had plenty of weight over the tires. I used these same tires before on my V-10 and never spun them with the same load. The V-10 was SRW and an auto, so I don't know if I'm breaking loose from the dual wheels or the "too efficient" power transfer of the Cummins/6spd combo.



Nothing feels un-safe though.

 

[Happy Camper]

The problem with dual tires and chains on the outside duals is the inside duall will stay up on the snow somewhat and degrade the traction of the one chained up. I looks like dually chains would be the best way to go IMO. I have not run chains on mine yet but am considering converting the single chains to duals.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Take a look at how the front tires track in line with the center of the duals. Mostly, the snow in my area is wet and slush. The front tires part the slush right in line with each tire. Then the duals slip slid side to side trying to follow.



I find about 1000 lbs sufficient to get by. I won't even consider chaining up to leave the house. The chains are there to get me home on the backwoods roads once the main ones shut down.

 

[tcourse]

How deep

Don't know about deep snow but compact and up to 6" of slush

it was 70+ from Portland, Or to Seattle when traffic would get out of the way. Love my Dually, rain, snow, or ice.

 

[redneckdr]

siping

iceman, siping is done by cutting small grooves perpendicular to the line of travel. some tires are siped when new, such as the michelin ltx's on my truck. different tire stores--les schwab, and others will "sipe" the tires for you. improves wet and snow traction. i'm not sure about extending wear life... .....

 

[JWhitcomb]

I was in the snow again this last weekend with the same set up and found it hard to lose traction. This snow was old and dense. Since this is my first 4X4 I am either having dumb luck or thirty years of driving with and with out chains in snow has produced good habits. Now that said, I am sure it is dumb luck and I will soon get my just deserts. By the way when the time comes I plan on putting my chains on the front, any one agree with that?

 

[Happy Camper]

Word of caution. New chains on front and back, steep grade on rocky road in deep snow the front was brutal one the chains in putting pressure to bend the link so it came loose and started flopping around the fender. Took the chains and welded the cross members so they could not spread. Chains on the front make sense for steering but I have not tried it.

 

[Briar Hopper]

I haven't had a problem in snow, I'm running Michelin LTX M&S tires, my second set, I bought the same size and type as what came with the truck new, since they worked so well, I simply couldn't believe how well.

Yes, I lose traction sometimes, but not really bad. I've never had to turn my power down for wet roads or snow.

On wet roads, it does have a tendency towards oversteer, but I love to powerslide it anyway. It's an easy truck to maintain control of in such a situation. But I don't push my luck with it.

I really think a lot of it is the tires. Badyear tires are about the worst I've ever had, other than Fire&Brimstone. The best, other than Michelin, for snow, would have to be B. F. Goodrich AT or MT. They're just as incredible as Michelin, but better suited to a 2500.

Tool Man Tim Taylor has some MT's on his dually, and he lives in Connecticut, it'd be great to hear from him on here, just how well those tires do in snow... How about it ,Tool Man?

 

[LSMITH]

Chains on the front will work a lot better than chains on the rear, just like a front wheel drive car will go far better in the snow than a comparable rear wheel drive car. If you are in trouble and need to go pull one of the rear wheels off each side and chain all four corners. IMO chains are for getting out, not in. If you need chains to get in somewhere you have nothing left up your sleeve to get out. If you don't want to take off one of the rears the dual wheel (or two sets of singles) chains work a lot better. A good tire will make all the difference in the world. For snow and ice the narrow tires have worked a lot better for me. Also look for a tire with tons of corners and edges in the tread pattern. A really busy tread pattern will typically do well, siping is one way to get a ton more corners and edges in the tread. Hope this helps.

 

[Mr. C]

Thanks for all the input gang.

Happy Camper-that's what I was thinking,the front tires are packing the snow for the inside rears and once the outsides with chains slip the fronts dig a hole. That's what it felt like to me anyway.

Any of you guy's run iron on all 6 just wondering if it makes a big difference or not?

The state police like us to run 3-railers on the big rigs where I work,but I generally just throw a single on the outside and have never had any problem. That isn't really apples to apples, it's always on a well traveled road not deep virgin snow.

Again thanks for the input,I went down and picked up a third set of chains just in case.

Hey guy's if you haven't tried out those quick fit diamond chains they are soooo easy to put on and they don't rattle your teeth when you get a little bare pavement. The big drawback is they are spendy.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Tom,



How much does your truck weigh? I have Michelin LTX M&S's also. My truck without the aux tank on only goes 7600. I am thinking my configurartion is putting a little more towards the front end then a stock bed would. My truck hangs in there real well on wet roads. I do have to watch the exhaust brake on wet downhill curves. Think I'll throw some rubber mats all the way to the back one time, see what that does.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Originally posted by Mr. C

Hey guy's if you haven't tried out those quick fit diamond chains they are soooo easy to put on and they don't rattle your teeth when you get a little bare pavement. The big drawback is they are spendy.

Mr. C,



Gotta link to those chains your talking about?

 

[Mr. C]

Gotta link to those chains your talking about?

Sorry QRTRHS, I don't have a link but you can get em at Les Schwab if you have one in your neck of the woods. They are made by Laclede chain Co. and are called " Alpine Super Sport ". Comes in a nice storage bag with cary handles and fit under the seat just right. There are 2 versions, get the heavy duty. I'm sure if you tried you could break em but used with comon sense they should last.