ccarley
1/2 ton status
Just got back last night from a nice birthday weekend trip to Tahoe.
We left Thursday for a cabin on the North/West shore of Lake Tahoe, near Tahoe City. My wife rented the cabin, and we had some friends come with us as well. This was my first time taking hwy 80 into Tahoe. I thought it would be a quicker trip than it was, however leaving our area around 1:00 in the afternoon, we didn't arrive at the cabin until after 6:00 that evening, with only a few stops on the way!
The soft valved Bilstein 7100's in the front are a bit soft for some of the big dips in our freeways. But, the nasty tore up sections of 80 up in the mountains were smooth sailing. Our friends were having trouble with CD's skipping, while we were just riding quite comfortably. I think I'll take the compromise, and keep the valving I have.
I wasn't expecting too much snow on the ground when we arrived, but there was between 2 and 3 feet I'd guess (it was up to the railing on the deck!). Our driveway was pretty much an ice-skating rink. The weather was beautiful & clear Saturday, and the air was cool, crisp & clean! I kept checking the weather report Saturday, and was pleased to find that we were expecting snow Saturday night into Sunday.
Sunday morning we woke up early to snowfall! At around 6:00 am, there was probably 4 inches on the ground. We packed up our stuff & I threw the chains on the Suburban. Caltrans reported (as we were loading) that chains were required on both highways we were taking home, so I thought I'd throw them on anyway... I was wrong. The road we were on was not plowed until we left, but there wasn't much snow anyway. The main roads had been salted it seems... so they were very clear. We quickly took the chains off & left the hubs locked. On our way home on Hwy 89, we saw someone who thought their SUV could stop in the snow, and slammed into a "For Sale" sign on some property, while it looked like the property owner was shoveling them out.
Past Donner Summit, we stopped (somewhere, I don't know) and drove up a road that hadn't been plowed. There was better than a foot of powder on each side of the road, and we were having fun driving through a lot of it. Apparently, we were plowing with the front axle
I was really happy with the way the Suburban handled in the snow, with the big 35" BFG A/T's. I'd probably only use the chains if I could not see the road at all (completely covered in white). The chains were pretty hard-core driving on the road, and had plenty of traction for sure even in our ice skating rink of a driveway.
Seems like I've rambled on for a bit now. I have pictures I'll be uploading later.
Clay
We left Thursday for a cabin on the North/West shore of Lake Tahoe, near Tahoe City. My wife rented the cabin, and we had some friends come with us as well. This was my first time taking hwy 80 into Tahoe. I thought it would be a quicker trip than it was, however leaving our area around 1:00 in the afternoon, we didn't arrive at the cabin until after 6:00 that evening, with only a few stops on the way!
The soft valved Bilstein 7100's in the front are a bit soft for some of the big dips in our freeways. But, the nasty tore up sections of 80 up in the mountains were smooth sailing. Our friends were having trouble with CD's skipping, while we were just riding quite comfortably. I think I'll take the compromise, and keep the valving I have.
I wasn't expecting too much snow on the ground when we arrived, but there was between 2 and 3 feet I'd guess (it was up to the railing on the deck!). Our driveway was pretty much an ice-skating rink. The weather was beautiful & clear Saturday, and the air was cool, crisp & clean! I kept checking the weather report Saturday, and was pleased to find that we were expecting snow Saturday night into Sunday.
Sunday morning we woke up early to snowfall! At around 6:00 am, there was probably 4 inches on the ground. We packed up our stuff & I threw the chains on the Suburban. Caltrans reported (as we were loading) that chains were required on both highways we were taking home, so I thought I'd throw them on anyway... I was wrong. The road we were on was not plowed until we left, but there wasn't much snow anyway. The main roads had been salted it seems... so they were very clear. We quickly took the chains off & left the hubs locked. On our way home on Hwy 89, we saw someone who thought their SUV could stop in the snow, and slammed into a "For Sale" sign on some property, while it looked like the property owner was shoveling them out.
Past Donner Summit, we stopped (somewhere, I don't know) and drove up a road that hadn't been plowed. There was better than a foot of powder on each side of the road, and we were having fun driving through a lot of it. Apparently, we were plowing with the front axle
I was really happy with the way the Suburban handled in the snow, with the big 35" BFG A/T's. I'd probably only use the chains if I could not see the road at all (completely covered in white). The chains were pretty hard-core driving on the road, and had plenty of traction for sure even in our ice skating rink of a driveway.Seems like I've rambled on for a bit now. I have pictures I'll be uploading later.
Clay
You put chains on for a light dusting of snow like that
