Jump to content

Handling in Snow and Ice


Recommended Posts

Was going to post this in the snow plow section but figure I would start here. This is my first 2500. It seems this truck slides much more than the 1500's I have had in snow and ice. All my trucks have had stock wheels and tires.

 

Not sure how much the higher air pressure in the HD's impacts the ability to handle snow and Ice. Any of you not running plows but living in cold weather areas run winter/snow tires? Thanks

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you saying it slides more WITH a plow than your previous trucks? Or are you comparing all of these trucks WITHOUT plows on them? The HD's do have higher air pressure in the tires, and mine only came with 245's. I think the 1500's come with 265's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you saying it slides more WITH a plow than your previous trucks? Or are you comparing all of these trucks WITHOUT plows on them? The HD's do have higher air pressure in the tires, and mine only came with 245's. I think the 1500's come with 265's.

I don't run a plow. I am comparing the 1500's to the 2500's stock tires, wheels and no plow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe the HD is heavier in front than the rear in proportion to a half ton?

 

I wouldn't hesitate to run snow tires if I lived somewhere with snow down all winter. Granted most all terrains are very good in the snow compared to some stock tires.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When at stock weights, I run lower pressures on my tires and that helps considerably. Remember, the psi listed on the side of the tire is max, and the OEM recommended pressure they stick on the door is for when the pickup is at max GVWR. You do not need that kind of pressure when empty or even lightly loaded. Unfortunately, they do not have load/pressure tables on these kinds of tires like they do with heavy commercial truck tires, but it is well known that you can be both overinflated or under inflated based on the load on the tire. Running OEM pressures on a unloaded 2500 is too much to gain maximum tire contact and best handling. For mine, when empty, I run 55 PSI all the way around on my stock Micheline LTX AT/2 tires instead of the 60 front 70 rear OEM thing. I have no problems with snow and ice. If I know I will putting a load on, I air them up. Running the 55 causes my TPMS to have a fit, but I am shopping for a dealer shop that will take their Tech2 programmer and reset the tire pressure alert levels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also find my new 2500 to not be as good in the snow as my 1500 was with with stock air pressures. My 1500 was completely useless in 2wd, I would literally get stuck trying to go up the tiny slope at the end of my driveway, but when I put it in 4wd it was a tank with both its stock tires and the Nitto HD Grapplers i had on it. The 2500 I find does better in 2wd probably due to the extra weight, but in 4wd it seems to want to spin the fronts quite a bit and it really gets a lot of understeer (pushes the fronts badly) I'm not sure the cause of this I would have figured with all the weight of the Dmax up there it would grip well on the front but then again it could be the lower gears 3.73 vs 3.42 and all the power of the Dmax. I also find with the really jacked up power steering the front wheels tend to get wanderitis and like to try and follow every little rut or groove in the road. I have also read numerous reviews that the Michelin LTX AT2 tires aren't all that great in the snow. What ever is causing it, I was rather disappointed with the trucks stock performance in the snow, my wife's AWD Terrain with 3.6 and stock tires does better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

68psi all around in my winter wheel/tire set which is factory 17" aluminum wheels and Goodyear Silent Armor Pro Grade 265/70/17. No weight in the bed and the only time I've used 4x4 was getting up my driveway and a couple nasty days going to work. Drives way better than my 2012 1500 that had snows on it.

 

So far, the only thing I did notice was the steering likes to bite snow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tires is everything in snow, ice is a different story, studs are best. I used to have winter tires/wheels, and summer tires/wheels. Best investment when you drive a lot. Some weight in the bed helps immensely, but not too much that causes the front tires to push in the turns. My suggestion would be to ask the snow plow guys what tires they're running

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The front to rear balance on the 1500 is slightly better. The 2500 and up I find are more nose heavy. You feel it allot when turning corners on snow and ice the nose slides more than the 1500 does.

 

Now I've taken 2500 and bigger through much deaper snow than a1500 can put the extra weight to good use...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tires is everything in snow, ice is a different story, studs are best. I used to have winter tires/wheels, and summer tires/wheels. Best investment when you drive a lot. Some weight in the bed helps immensely, but not too much that causes the front tires to push in the turns. My suggestion would be to ask the snow plow guys what tires they're running

Yes for sure tires make a huge difference, I thought about buying a winter set, but aside from cost (which is way too much) I just found something fundamentally wrong with putting snow tires on truck lol. It would be way cheaper just to trade the Michelins for something better in the snow (Duratracs or something) and run them all year long but I kinda like how the Michelins work in non-snow ice so I figured I'll just live with them, its not like they are terrible, just not as good as my 1500 was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When at stock weights, I run lower pressures on my tires and that helps considerably. I run 55 PSI all the way around on my stock Micheline LTX AT/2 tires instead of the 60 front 70 rear OEM thing. I have no problems with snow and ice. If I know I will putting a load on, I air them up. Running the 55 causes my TPMS to have a fit,

 

Same Here in summer I run 40 rear & 45 front, In winter plowing snow I run 45 rear & 55 front. the truck rides very good year round though better in summer, My Michelins are very good plowing and a good ride when not at 60-70 psi ... I just get used to the Tire Pressure Monitor on all the time... With the 60-70 psi the truck feels tippy and I can feel any tiny imperfection in the road. I get good tire wear (75,000 miles) with rotations at 10,000 -15,000 miles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.