Another Silverado Conquers Snow Thread

[foghorn23]

For the last four winters I’ve been trudging around in a 2007 Tundra Crewmax 4x4. All I can say is I've learned my lessons the hard way. The truck mechanically was good, and it had great power and descent gas mileage for the 5.7. I even managed to avoid the documented quirks of the truck, air induction pump problems, bed shake, etc, but the worst part was the snow/slick road performance of the truck. After the first winter I was missing my 04 Silverado. After 2-3 years I was downright sick; my wife was tired of my complaining. I’ve posted before about how disappointed I was with the winter driving performance of the Toyota. I always kept good all terrain tires on the Tundra and I did manage to get where I was going, but it was often an adventure.

 

Well this morning I finally had the chance to drive the new Silverado (my kids have named her Wolfy- I guess they could have done worse) in some snow, and I am glad to say Chevy has done nothing but improve the winter driving performance of their trucks since I had my 04. It literally felt like it was on rails. I assume one of the differences between my old Silverado and the new is the Stabilitrak system. The Stabilitrak system is head and shoulders above what I’ve been dealing with for the last few years. The traction control systems on my Tundra certainly let you know they were there with brake clunking, spinning, etc. For any Tundra Solutions lurkers on here as well as the GM guys, I’m just telling the truth… NO ONE makes a better 4x4 system than GM….NO ONE….. PERIOD! Sure is nice to be back home.

[Matthias]

Amen

[BakinBlackZ71]

GM push-button auto-4x4 FTW!!!!

[Garrett Street]

Always love to hear a happy owner! I figured the Tundra would do well because it is so heave. But maybe I was wrong. Cheers!

[Stevens03]

Amen

[crepitus]

I dont have the traction control but the truck is great in the auto mode. I cant even tell if im in 2 or 4wd.

[foghorn23]

Always love to hear a happy owner! I figured the Tundra would do well because it is so heave. But maybe I was wrong. Cheers!

 

I would have thought the same thing too. The crewmax is around 5700 lbs, but it is so front heavy though I think that was part of the problem. The butt end is so light compared to the front. Also, Toyota also put an open diff in the rear and had a "pseudo" limited slip. It didn't work like a traditional limited slip with clutch packs in the diff, but used electronics and the braking system to lock a spinning wheel and transfer power to the other side. Kind of like the old trick of using the emergency brake to keep a wheel from spinning, but having the computer do it for you. In my experience it just didn't seem like it worked quick enough though and even though it was normal, it just sounded awful with all the braking noise similar to abs knock. Add in the low speeded 4.30 rear end and a ton of torque and it could be wild when pulling through deep snow. Again it got me there, but driving the Silverado is so much more uneventful.

 

I'm not really trying to badmouth the Tundra, I honestly didn't have all the "problems" that haters put off on it, It wasn't a bad truck, it's just that this is sooooo much better on slick road.

[PGDriver]

Traded off my Toyota for a 2011 Sierra and feel the same way... great trucks.

[spankrz]

my dad drives the tundra. i havent driven it on snow so i am not sure about what you are talking about. in general, that truck is BAD. however, i would take my chevy ten to one. his is the "limited" edition. sunroof, nav, leather, heated/pwr seats, 4x4, all the bells and wistles. my chevy is the lt trim. i have towing package, tow mirrors, 4x4, and the basic pwr options. my seats are twice as comfortable, his are hard as a rock. he gets several mpg less than i do.

 

also, snow driving is great in the chevy. this morning there was a good coating of snow on the road. i was speeding ;)