Driving in snow?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
F

Fordraptorrrrrrrr

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2019
Posts
542
Reaction score
201
Location
Idaho
Well they might not be ideal as a snow oriented tire their is some siping on the tire and it says M+S on the sidewall. If I decide to live up here permanently I'll definitely get a more winter oriented tire.
 

tahoeacr

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Posts
128
Reaction score
67
Location
Lake Tahoe,Nv
Tons of tread mean nothing...if it is the wrong tire compound, they could be as hard as hockey pucks. And in snow, mud tires are horrible. Mud tires eject mud / snow so the treads are clean.

In the snow, you want your tires to hold the snow, snow on snow is what provides traction. not rubber on snow.

Snow rated tires have small sipes designed to retain snow for winter driving.

sipes
Sipes-678x381.jpg

tire-sipes-1280x720.jpg

mud vs mountain rated
Blog_mud_vs_all-terrain_001.jpg

How could you possibly know this living in St Louis? lol. You must be a mountain man at heart. It's funny how so many people think you need tires to dig down to pavement to get traction. Apparently they have never seen the pavement under all that snow. Usually, it's just a layer of ice. If it's not ice it's so damn cold there is no traction on it.
 

tahoeacr

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Posts
128
Reaction score
67
Location
Lake Tahoe,Nv
I'm in snow for the first time with my 2019 and wow the ABS seems very touchy. Is their a mode I can use to get rid of this? I'm in the Slippery mode and an 4A. Thanks in advance!

Try 4H and manually downshift. This keeps the wheels locked together and allows you to use compression braking from the engine. This really helps on icy downhills. To me, it seems that ABS can kick in with just one wheel locking and you loose the braking to the other 3 wheels. I couldn't stand 4A in slippery mode. If you like slippery mode, try it in 4H. Slippery mode in 4A around here just let the truck get to out of shape before it would pull things in and cut back. Your snow may very.
 

04Ram2500Hemi

It's Just a Username
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Posts
1,297
Reaction score
2,012
Location
Western Montana
Running Toyo RT Open Country tires at about 37psi

The Toyo R/T Open Country is the love child of an A/T and a M/T tire. It’s a pretty popular tire on the Power Wagon Forums. It does have some compromises because it’s more of an All Season than snow tire (according to Toyo anyway: https://www.toyotires.com/product/open-country-rt ).

After coming from two different Ram HD trucks I was amazed at how good the Raptor is on snow and ice. By far it’s the best winter vehicle I’ve had. I also don’t mess with any of the modes. If it’s 2” of snow or less I run in 4A, and anything more gets 4H.
 

goblues38

FRF Addict
Joined
Oct 27, 2018
Posts
2,697
Reaction score
3,982
Location
STL
How could you possibly know this living in St Louis? lol. You must be a mountain man at heart. It's funny how so many people think you need tires to dig down to pavement to get traction. Apparently they have never seen the pavement under all that snow. Usually, it's just a layer of ice. If it's not ice it's so damn cold there is no traction on it.

I am a car nerd at heart and do my research.

we get 2-4 snows a year in STL. enough to know what works and what doesnt. you see plenty of idiots stuck on the side of the road because they think FWD = great for snow. When in reality, what kind of tire you have makes all the difference in the world.

I present this as my evidence from 2 weeks ago.

 

tomcruise

Active Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Posts
94
Reaction score
74
Location
Park City, Utah
Well they might not be ideal as a snow oriented tire their is some siping on the tire and it says M+S on the sidewall. If I decide to live up here permanently I'll definitely get a more winter oriented tire.


R/Ts are plenty decent in snow, If you know how to drive and put some weight in the bed you won't need a dedicated winter/snow tire for where you live.
 

DanT

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Posts
216
Reaction score
115
Location
North Texas
With recent “snowvid” in Dallas - I took to the streets and Tollway - snow/slippery mode (4A) and drove every day without any issues with handling or braking. Felt very secure - then there were the A-holes driving like it was kid-summer!
 

NHDude4

Full Access Member
Joined
May 30, 2018
Posts
418
Reaction score
256
Location
Southwest, NH
Not sure if a bunch of you drive 5mph in the snow but the Raptor is TERRIBLE at stopping in snow and it's specifically because of the ABS as Ryan said. It's extremely overactive and actually makes stopping distances significantly longer than just locking up. I know because in Mud and Sand mode (in my 2018) the ABS is dialed way back and the truck stops much better. An ABS disable function would be great in the snow. The truck drives fine in Normal 4A in snow but it can't stop for its life.
 

Oldfart

FRF Addict
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Posts
5,961
Reaction score
14,770
Location
Saggy Balls Division of Trump Army
Not sure if a bunch of you drive 5mph in the snow but the Raptor is TERRIBLE at stopping in snow and it's specifically because of the ABS as Ryan said. It's extremely overactive and actually makes stopping distances significantly longer than just locking up. I know because in Mud and Sand mode (in my 2018) the ABS is dialed way back and the truck stops much better. An ABS disable function would be great in the snow. The truck drives fine in Normal 4A in snow but it can't stop for its life.

I'm thinking they may have changed some parameters, if that's the case with yours. My '20 has really great braking.
 

FordTechOne

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Posts
6,657
Reaction score
13,030
Location
Detroit
I don't think severe, just says M+S on the sidewall

That’s your issue. M&S doesn’t mean much, it’s just an all-season tire. The severe snow service rating makes a huge difference, especially in braking. I have General Grabber AT2’s on my Grand Cherokee (not severe snow rated) and the difference between that and the Raptor in the BFG’s is night and day.
 
Top