The Blizzard If December 2010 At The Jersey Shore

[tonygxp]

it was ugly. my hands, arms, neck, body is sore and that's "with" a very capable 26" Snow Blower and three helpers.. just my driveway took almost three hours andit aint more than 22'x40'. there was more snow on the top of my Yukon than i thought could be possible lol. anyway, figure i can't be the only one that got smashed by this storm, here's my pics.

 

out my front door (i have an elevated brick/lime stone landing which is 12" higher than the the walkway to my driveway, there's a 6" limestone step then the concrete walk)

 

that's my '11 Ram SLT quadcab and my Denali and then my neighbors 33' Sun Voyager

neighborhood

 

the machine ($800 with tax at home depot last year, bought in a snowstorm and got the LAST ONE haha!)

getting to work, the wife "chippin" in (for once lol)

middle of my driveway, average snow for the area near my house

transporting the machine to my fathers required some more shoveling

drifts hanging from my roof in numerous places.. 50mph gust 25mph sustained winds

the vehicles in their respective positions for the next 3-5 days, if i can stand being coop'd up with you know who ;)

 

 

now the comparison between the AWD Yukon and the Ram 4x4. Ram is equipped with Wrangler SR-A tires, which are totally street tires. handled well, banged through drifts that were up near the top of the hood but i hate the 4x4 system in it. it uses the ABS/Trac to move torque around, it's more pronounced when it's in deep snow and everything starts going crazy, peddle buzzing, dinging, etc.. but overall not bad for a pickup with whimpy street tires on it. had it had regular truck tires on it i bet it would have been fine in the real deep stuff.

 

The AWD in the Denali felt extremely sure footed. traction control off, stability on and away it went. seemless in it's use of the front and rear axles to move it along, no jerking, bucking, etc, worked just like the 4x4 in my Tahoe, Sierra, Envoy, etc. My '07 SRX wasn't as good from a stop in the snow but maybe the tires were to blame more so than that AWD system, that was a AWD, RWD biased vehicle.

 

My impressions of snow travel on unplowed roads, parking lots?? i tell you i am very impressed with it. is it the G80 locker? the Bridgstone Duelers? or the AWD system? i can't tell you. Other than to say i made it past a stuck gmt800 Silverado Z71, with bigger tires than stock, in some 24"-28" deep snow. he was shoveling out of it just beyond the entrance to a McDonald's near my house and i just drove right around him. where he got stuck i can't figure out why? he just plowed some snow with the front end and he buried it. The Denali pushed it out of the way and just kept trucking, maybe the lower fascia of the Yukon helped it from getting high centered?

 

Anybody doubting the capabilities of the Denali/Escalade AWD in Snow or Sand is spreading BS my man. last year OBX not a problem and this year 27" snow and i'm even more impressed. the best part was driving on the hwy at 35mph and where the blacktop bleeds through i'm not thinking about taking it out of 4Hi like i did have to do with the Ram a couple hours earlier.. Loving the AWD..

 

 

Anyone else experiences in this blizzard with their ride?

[pwall]

We've only got a couple of inches of snow here in Ottawa.....

[tanked_darren]

I wish it would snow that bad here in BC...

[Chris]

im guessing you got the snowblower in feburary. i heard it was bad i was redirected to maine in a flight from germany to mcguire afb, nj

[focijoe]

Makes me want to I hate snow!!!!!

[Matthias]

@tonygpx :

 

couldn´t agree more about the Denali AWD with you buddie...the same here but in the 2010 Sierra...I love it....we´ve got the same situation with snow here in Germany like you in NJ...I don´t even think of getting the CLK out of the garage....Truck all the way baby...I tried almost everything but I does not get stucked....

[gnet158]

You must have a very good glass door for it not to shatter with that much snow pressing against it. Wow. That's the same system that flooded CA.

[Matt_]

Anybody doubting the capabilities of the Denali/Escalade AWD in Snow or Sand is spreading BS my man.

 

X2 man!!!

 

Last year (when we got 30+ inches instead of "only" 27 ) my AWD Denali was trucking through snow like it wasn't even there, while my neighbor was trying to dig out his new FX4

 

We got hit pretty hard here in Jackson. The drifts are ridiculous!

 

 

[Matthias]

@ Matt :

 

What´s better in your opinion, the Denali´s AWD or Chrysler´s 4x4??

[Stevens03]

I'm jeolous... We've got no snow yet...

[Matt_]

@ Matt :

 

What´s better in your opinion, the Denali´s AWD or Chrysler´s 4x4??

 

Depends on which 4x4 system you're talking about. Jeep has a bunch of different levels.

 

My jeep has QuadraDrive-II which i definitely put above the Denali's AWD. It is full time 4x4 with electronic locking differentials in the FRONT and the rear. It also has a 4-Low which, when engaged, locks both the diffs so everything is 100% locked.

 

Check out this video:

 

Edit: when playing around in the snow today the jeep would start getting stuck and then the lockers would kick in and get it moving again. When i threw it in 4-low i basically idled around like snow wasn't there.... it was pretty damn impressive.

 

The standard 4x4 system for the commander is the QuadraTrac-II which doesnt have the front and rear lockers. I think the rear is just an LS and it uses the ABS system to transfer torque. So in terms of that... i don't have any experience there so I'd refer back to Tony's original post since it seems like thats the system (or similar) that the Ram had...

[Matthias]

Yep...nothing like a front and rear locker...loved the JK Rubicon system when we went offroading with my buddies Wrangler...in that case Chrysler wins...I thought you had the QuadraTrac-II that´s why I asked and wanted a comparison from someone who tried both systems...

 

...the video shows what a ramp is made for....

[tonygxp]

im guessing you got the snowblower in feburary. i heard it was bad i was redirected to maine in a flight from germany to mcguire afb, nj

 

 

you would be correct lol.. when i traded in my Tahoe for the Denali in late Feb '10 i had to knock 16" off my Tahoe before i could treck up to the dealer in SeaGirt.. it started on a Sat morning, i got up at 8am and was in the lacey Homedepot by 815. they had none left so the woman tried the Manahawkin store and they said they were out, as the woman was hanging up the other clerk in the Manahawkin store shouts, "Wait!" then i could hear her telling some guy, "Sir, you're either buying it or it's going to the guy on the phone." I was crossing fingers, toes, eyeballs, etc. and she held it for me. i walked into that store (after witnesing about 20 spinouts on the parkway on a 10 mile stretch) and was practically linched on the way out. 2 seperate guys chased me out offering me $1,000 cash for it. i said OK after i use it at my house come by and pick it up lol.. needless to say i kept it. it's already paid for itself between last winter and the start to this one for sure..

 

X2 man!!!

 

Last year (when we got 30+ inches instead of "only" 27 ) my AWD Denali was trucking through snow like it wasn't even there, while my neighbor was trying to dig out his new FX4

 

We got hit pretty hard here in Jackson. The drifts are ridiculous!

 

what did you get over there? i'm in Forked River/lanoka Harbor area.

 

You must have a very good glass door for it not to shatter with that much snow pressing against it. Wow. That's the same system that flooded CA.

Ha! first thing i thoguht was like "omg, this door is gonna blow up!" but i was able to shove some of it away and it held. the wind is ridiculous.. STILL at 6pm 50mph gusts??? what the hell? when i was kid i would visit down here from NYC and they got MAYBE 3-4" in a storm. now it's like 12-18" is the norm? why cause i moved here lol..

 

 

What´s better in your opinion, the Denali´s AWD or Chrysler´s 4x4??

 

I would say hands down AWD in GM Yukon/Sierra over the Ram 4x4. but remember this isn't a Hemi, no posi rear and has street tires. i just KNOW that when i got another one stuck in front of my house in about 18" of snow(last January/February, identical truck in silver though and that was a '10) it was freaking out with the TC turned off, abs pulsing, like i said. having said that it still got out but is was one of those "let me get the shovel out" moments about 2 minutes before it got out. The lack of a Posi is probably it's biggest problem. Curious to see what guys with Posi rear Ram's and this new 4x4 system say?

[tonygxp]

I'm jeolous... We've got no snow yet...

 

last couple of years we've gotten hammered here. but having said that THIS snow was wet and heavy. i was probably borderline braking a shear pin today and i've used this blower and my brother's Craftsman, friend's Yard Machine, Honda's etc. and never came this close just cutting through regular untouched snow to bogging down. the wet snow under this was heavy.. i'll take double the amount podwer as opposed to 12" of this crap.

[Matt_]

Yep...nothing like a front and rear locker...loved the JK Rubicon system when we went offroading with my buddies Wrangler...in that case Chrysler wins...I thought you had the QuadraTrac-II that´s why I asked and wanted a comparison from someone who tried both systems...

 

...the video shows what a ramp is made for....

 

Im on a commander offroad forum where the majority of guys have the QTII system. From what i've seen it's still pretty damn impressive since the brake system has the ability to apply pressure to each wheel individually, acting like a really really strong LS but just short of a locker. They have some pretty sweet off-camber pics.

 

But i think the biggest complaint is the same as mentioned in the previous system... when it's working its loud and obnoxious. So if you're not ready or used to it you may think something is breaking . Functionally it's supposed to be really good, the biggest issue is it still allows a lot of wheel spin.