How much weight

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Originally Posted By: Kestas
I can't understand why you would need to add weight for traction with a 4WD.


Well the 4wd system in those trucks cant be used on dry pavement.
so in the winter if you are driving along on dry pavement.

Hit some blackice..say from snow melting and refreezing overnight.. and you simply remove your foot from the gas pedal causing a mild deceleration. You can end up doing a 180 or 360 into a ditch.
The weight keeps the rear end more planted and less susceptible to spinning out.

It doesnt help with braking or when in 4wd much (if at all)

but since you cant run it in 4wd unless the road has snow on it....

I used to run 180lb or 240lb in the back of my 2002 4x4 ranger .. after an incident.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I can't understand why you would need to add weight for traction with a 4WD.


No matter which axle the weight shifts to its driven!
 
Yeah that's what we'd call overkill.

More weight in the back is still a solid idea with 4WD so you can help keep it planted and prevent fishtail.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I can't understand why you would need to add weight for traction with a 4WD.


In a regular part time 4x4 you can't be driving around in 4Hi all the time. When road conditions are swapping between wet pavement, slush, snow you need to be in 2wd on bare pavement, most likely still in 2Hi on slush, and leaving only 4Hi for snow.

Hard on the diffs and tires otherwise.

Now if you have diff in the center, different story.
 
I actually consider my 4x4 truck to be my worst snow vehicle I've owned. I'm kinda/sorta going back to all seasons on my cars, but for the truck I felt "forced" to get it snow tires. Much better than adding ballast, although I might still add some for winter.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
I actually consider my 4x4 truck to be my worst snow vehicle I've owned.


Quite true. I did consider my truck terrible in the winter. the 2007 focus with winter tires was 10x the vehicle in heavy slush on the highway.

Now the truck wont get stuck in 18" of snow either but part time 4wd systems cant really be used at interstate speeds.. and then you have the "push" through turns when in 4wd as well... and the binding.
 
Although my new truck was a good buy, to replace my ageing jeep grand, and has 2-3 times the utility, my old grand was much better in the snow

The po put 200 lbs back there previously, in my short box regular cab. Ymmv
 
This is exactly what I've noticed too. A lady at work has a 4x4 with those big mud type tires and the thing is downright dangerous in the snow. My BMW with real winter tires is far more capable.

Originally Posted By: supton
I actually consider my 4x4 truck to be my worst snow vehicle I've owned. I'm kinda/sorta going back to all seasons on my cars, but for the truck I felt "forced" to get it snow tires. Much better than adding ballast, although I might still add some for winter.
 
Yep.

Last night gave a ride to a friend of mine, and it turns out she was thinking of changing from a V8 4Runner to a Tundra. I let her drive mine, see what it was like: but I made it clear that I thought it was the worst snow vehicle I've had. She likes how her 4Runner goes in snow, and I tried to make it clear that the 4WD systems are different, and that the truck was not "good" for snow. She's in no rush to trade so if we get a chance I'll let her drive my truck next time we have a good storm. [She's a pickup gal but hasn't owned in a long time, so maybe not an issue for her, dunno, but we had a good conversation about it.]

Foot of snow? No doubt, it's great. The rest of the time? Eh...

Edit: I have to say, when I bought my truck, I was thinking the same thing too. "Part time 4x4 system? Gotta be good! It's a truck!" I still like the vehicle, don't get me wrong, but talk about a wakeup. Or a dream shattered, whichever.
 
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Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I can't understand why you would need to add weight for traction with a 4WD.


Well the 4wd system in those trucks cant be used on dry pavement.
so in the winter if you are driving along on dry pavement.

Hit some blackice..say from snow melting and refreezing overnight.. and you simply remove your foot from the gas pedal causing a mild deceleration. You can end up doing a 180 or 360 into a ditch.
The weight keeps the rear end more planted and less susceptible to spinning out.

It doesnt help with braking or when in 4wd much (if at all)

but since you cant run it in 4wd unless the road has snow on it....

I used to run 180lb or 240lb in the back of my 2002 4x4 ranger .. after an incident.


Agree, I always add some weight I the back of my z71. I normally only use 2wd in our relatively mild Indiana snows. 6-8" is a good snow for us.

If things get super slushy or if I think I may need extra traction I use the "auto" feature. It also works great if I let the lady drive it in poor or possibly poor weather. I can be confident she will have traction and the 4x4 system won't be harmed from being in 4 Hi.

I only use 4hi for deep snow back roads/ steep drives etc. 4-Lo I use to pull stuck motorist out of ditches.

I love my "auto" feature. I service the transfer case before every winter to account for using the feature in inclimate weather.
 
Originally Posted By: hansj3
Although my new truck was a good buy, to replace my ageing jeep grand, and has 2-3 times the utility, my old grand was much better in the snow

The po put 200 lbs back there previously, in my short box regular cab. Ymmv
Nothing better in snow than the old Grand Wagoneer or sand. They just loaf along barely above an idle. My 528s were [censored] for laying 4 cement blocks between the rear wheels and just aft of the stern bulkhead. With the LSD and a good shovel, I had no drama getting commuting in the [censored] weather. The main reason I bought a 528e was gas went above $1.25 a gallon. The savings in gas and repairs equaled 5/8 of the small loan I took to cover the buy.
 
My Ram is great in snow in 4WD-nothing like 1200 pounds of engine, 400 pounds of transmission, couple hundred pounds of front axle, & who knows how much Mega Cab weight pressing down on the front wheels in 4WD. I would much rather drive the xB with it's dedicated winter tires (Conti Winter Contact studless snows) on ICE, though! The Dodge does keep 2-300 pounds in the bed (& the weight of the cap/topper) to balance it out a little.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I can't understand why you would need to add weight for traction with a 4WD.


If the truck is a regular cab with an 8ft bed their is not a whole heck of a lot of weight on the rear tires.

In any kind of snow 300-400 pounds of weight helps matters greatly, regardless of 4wd or tires used.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
I actually consider my 4x4 truck to be my worst snow vehicle I've owned. I'm kinda/sorta going back to all seasons on my cars, but for the truck I felt "forced" to get it snow tires. Much better than adding ballast, although I might still add some for winter.


An AWD sedan with snow tires will run circles around a pickup on most winter roads, the only advantage the truck has is ground clearance.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
So why don't more vehicles (trucks??) have the Jeep Slectrac kind of 4WD as it does not have any of the issues mentioned (I don't think).


Most modern pickups do, and it works great in the snow.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
So why don't more vehicles (trucks??) have the Jeep Slectrac kind of 4WD as it does not have any of the issues mentioned (I don't think).


It's a heck of a good question. Which I don't know the answer to. Well, I do: cost.

Some (at least the GM's) have an "auto" feature, which I suspect in years past was just a center open diff. Which could be "locked" in 4Hi when in really bad stuff. Today it's probably some sort of limited slip diff, maybe with some brains even.

No idea why Toyota decided to cheap out on mine. One of my biggest pet peeves for my truck.
 
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