first snow experience in my K-5

[MEPR]

Well i drove back over to the folks' house for the weekend. Over Snowqulami pass the weather was kinda rough (30* snowing whith slush on the roadway). Now im used to driving a 2600lbs mini truck on all terains so normally i would have had to go 30or less to stay on the road but the K-5 did perfect at 45 It was freakin sweet, at 2am i was the only one on the road so i was just cruisin through all the slush and shooting it everywhere. The trust k-5 never even wavered. I love it!

 

[BIG*RED]

Yeah k-5s are sweet in the snow. i run circles around my friends in their 'yotas and heeps..

 

[cbbr]

I recently had to drive my fully loaded (5 guys and gear for a week) Burb over 30 miles of roads closed because of heavy snow. Much of it down a mountain. The Burb did great, but never again.

 

[pvfjr]

And you still won't get rid of the Luv.

 

[PhoenixZorn]

How the hell do you guys get snow traction?? I have BFG Baja Widetrack 31x10.5x15s, and my back end does faster than my front end in 4wd... same gearing front and back, but my back end always wants to creep around. The crappy thing is, I've seen guys on 29s that can't lose traction in the snow if they tried, as well as guys on 35s+ that can't lose traction... What am I doing wrong with my 4 speed?

 

[diesel4me]

Wanna" go in the snow"??

I've found the secret to good traction in the snow is dependent on 3 things--tire width and height,how much weight you have on board,and type of tread or studded or chains...

I can plow snow with my stock sized 16" tires (245/75/16) MUCH better than my other tires that were 12.00/16.5--the wide tires reduce traction immensely,the truck tends to climb up onto the snow's surface and floats all over the place,makes you slide sideways when trying to push heavy snow much easier..(dual rear wheels suck in the snow for the same reason..)

Put on tall skinny tires and you can push it with no trouble at all,no sideways slipping at all,if your trucks heavy enough..

Adding about 1500 lbs of sand to the bed helps a lot too,if the truck is too light the ass end will dance all over the place,even with the skinny tires(though not as severe as it will with wide ones)...

And if your tires spin too easy on ice,its time for studs or chains!--we have had a few storms where chains on all 4 wheels were nessasary,the snow was so heavy and wet--and 36 inches deep!--we had a bad blizzard almost that deep this year--but it was powdery snow,so the chains didnt get installed this year!--and I'm glad,they can be a PITA to take on and off!...

 

[MEPR]

well i grew up in Eastern Washington so we have bad winters sometimes and i drove a LUV for 4years. The rear end on that is light enough that myself and pvfjr lifted the rear clean off the ground. So that little rear end wieght gave me alot of experince on how to handle a truck in the snow realy quick. Tires have a big impact on traction too, me personally i hate the BFG A/Ts. They hydroplane and pack up realy easy, just look at the tread and you can see theres no where for stuff to go. I have run Les Schwabs wildcat all season a/ts and they are an awsome tire. Then i whent to BFG all terains on the same truck and was slipping around in half as bad a winter. So it has alot to do whith tread design too.

 

[BIG*RED]

How the hell do you guys get snow traction?? I have BFG Baja Widetrack 31x10.5x15s, and my back end does faster than my front end in 4wd... same gearing front and back, but my back end always wants to creep around. The crappy thing is, I've seen guys on 29s that can't lose traction in the snow if they tried, as well as guys on 35s+ that can't lose traction... What am I doing wrong with my 4 speed?

never had a problem with traction, i run les scwab wild cat ext i beleave, its raining right now and i don't want to go run out and check...anyways they are 35x12.50x15 m/ts and they are studded..both my axles are "open"..i air down to about 12psi put the tcase in low, and the sm465 in 3rd or 4th and away i go..my friends won't listen to me, but i just let out the clutch and let it pull its self, and i drive right past my friends sitting there spinning their tires trying to "gas" it through..i have always found it best to just let the truck crawl..but on highway driving, its 4hi and away we go.i've done 60 plus on donner pass at 3 in the morning in snow and ice and never slid..but more than anything, skill comes with time..there are times when it just "doesn't "feel" right so i just creep along..but eaither way the only time my rear end spins or slides is when i make spin or slide

 

[Jonny-K5]

Tires have a big impact on traction too, me personally i hate the BFG A/Ts. They hydroplane and pack up realy easy, just look at the tread and you can see theres no where for stuff to go. I have run Les Schwabs wildcat all season a/ts and they are an awsome tire. Then i whent to BFG all terains on the same truck and was slipping around in half as bad a winter. So it has alot to do whith tread design too.

wow, i love my bfg a/t's in the snow. even on ice i think they work great. they probly work better for me since my blazer is heavier in the rear than a mini truck.i guess those les schwab tires must be awesome if you think a bfg is crap.

 

[MEPR]

well im running the BFGs on my K-5 right now as i dont have cash for new tires. I think the LUVs lightwieght just makes it more suseptiable to hydro planing. As of yet the K-5 has yet to show any signs like the LUV did. I guess 3500lbs extra makes a diference...