Tips for Driving in the Snow
- Thread starter Lee Barner
- Start date
You do what you got to do. I as a union pipefitter no work no pay! I had to get to work. Lifetime upstate NYer, with a good 4X4 PU or SUV, I did not miss much time.
I drove an old vw bus in the mid 70s with studded snows. It worked fairly well lol
Mid seventies here last few days. I put about 600 miles on my bike this week. Do I miss Maine winters? Not at all!
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mckenney99
Member
Spent 26 years driving during Ohio winters, some worse than others. Never had 4 wheel drives just good old American rear wheel drive iron and some common sense. Only got stuck twice, both times in the same day. I was responding to a crash call out in the county and drove into a snow drift that had formed across the road at the end of a fence row and the drift stopped me almost immediately (it was a little deeper and wider than I thought). I carried a short flat point shovel with me at all times and dug myself out and got back under way. That night (I had been working for 2 days straight) I had been ordered to go home so as I was trying to make my way home WAY out in the country, I ran into another snow drift and got stuck again. Luckily I was able to catch a county snow plow going by that was on his way back to the barn (they had all been ordered back to the barn). The driver even climbed under my cruiser and hooked up my tow chain and pulled me back out. I did have to promise not to mention it to his supervisor or he could get into trouble.
drove rear wheel drive V8 American cars my life until about 6 years ago... got a twin turbo V6 SUV... driving a 67 Pontiac Firebird convertible with a big block V8 and an automatic transmission was fun in high school... in Nebraska.. I didn't stay home when it snowed...
Fishinfool
Member
When we were kids, back in the 1970's, there was an old factory, "Harvey Hubbel Plastics" nearby. It had several huge, empty flat parking lots.
Every winter, when we had a good snow, my buddies and I would meet at night in one of the parking lots. We had a blast throwing our cars around, spinning out, drifting, and just going nuts in the snow.`
We laughingly referred to it as the Harvey Hubbel School of Driving"...lol
Point is though, we all learned a lot about how certain cars handle and react in snow when driven aggressively. I firmly believe it made us all better drivers in the snow. No locked brake panic slides for us guys, we knew how to handle a car in the slick.
I tried teaching my sister how to handle a car in the snow, but she just panicked, letting go of the wheel and screaming. Could not convince her the car was not going to flip over and blow up in a 10 mph slide in the snow. She has, to this date, totaled 3 cars while driving in the snow.....
Larry
Every winter, when we had a good snow, my buddies and I would meet at night in one of the parking lots. We had a blast throwing our cars around, spinning out, drifting, and just going nuts in the snow.`
We laughingly referred to it as the Harvey Hubbel School of Driving"...lol
Point is though, we all learned a lot about how certain cars handle and react in snow when driven aggressively. I firmly believe it made us all better drivers in the snow. No locked brake panic slides for us guys, we knew how to handle a car in the slick.
I tried teaching my sister how to handle a car in the snow, but she just panicked, letting go of the wheel and screaming. Could not convince her the car was not going to flip over and blow up in a 10 mph slide in the snow. She has, to this date, totaled 3 cars while driving in the snow.....
Larry
Here in Sunny SC we seldom get snow. Dad always kept a set of chains, an axe and shovel in his truck......Chains work in mud too.
In the 80's we had a freak snow storm that stopped everything. I put Dad's chains on my Chevy 4x4 and we went everywhere. Roads, fields, town, woods.......Much fun!
In the 80's we had a freak snow storm that stopped everything. I put Dad's chains on my Chevy 4x4 and we went everywhere. Roads, fields, town, woods.......Much fun!
72 today and thereabouts the last several days. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 55, then dropping into the 40s for highs - twenties at night - for a week or so. They even say we have a shot at snow on Thursday.
We get more ice than snow here, and it is treacherous to drive on. I do okay, but I drive like an old lady on her way to church when it's slippery out. It's the other folks that worry me, especially those in 4WD pickups who think that means they can drive as fast as they would on dry pavement. They are a menace and often found upside down in the ditch.
We get more ice than snow here, and it is treacherous to drive on. I do okay, but I drive like an old lady on her way to church when it's slippery out. It's the other folks that worry me, especially those in 4WD pickups who think that means they can drive as fast as they would on dry pavement. They are a menace and often found upside down in the ditch.
venomballistics
Member
If you can drift, you're still in control.
It's just a different kind of control that most are unfamiliar with.
I drove a mustang through this stuff for many years. Often times past ditch mounted 4x4s placed there by the overconfident with a false sense of security.
The first thing to understand is that when the coefficient of friction reaches zero, all vehicles are equal.
Your brakes are mechanically equal regardless of whether you are driving the ultimate 4x4 or a Toyota Yaris. Four wheel go doesn't mean four wheel stop
Most often, those who get wadded up on the side of the road ended up that way because of the inability to stop.
The Subaru AWD systems are nothing short of astonishing in their ability to claw through and accelerate in adverse conditions. Hit the brakes and an equally astonishing disparity between stopping and going is revealed.
It's very easy to get in over your head in a hurry this way.
For some... Rear wheel drive goes a long way to keep you humble
Excellent advice, to which I'll add:Rookies...
As a lifelong resident of Michigan, driving in snow isn't a big deal.
....
Icy roads are a problem.
Stay home until the salt trucks make main roads passable. Then follow the above tips for driving in snow.
Do not drive on ice after the above mentioned salt rots your frame or suspension components into pieces.
Tip: Have a look at a Youtube series "Just Rolled In" to see mechanics' documented scary/hilarious "repairs" people attempt on rotted frames and other areas of their cars and trucks.
I just watched their 2022 compilation and laughed til my sides hurt at the massive idiocy that's out there.
Grayfox
US Veteran
If screws come out of tires someone may pick one up and get a flat tire. Just sayin"
Oh the stories I could tell about driving rear wheel drive highway patrol cars on icy Wyoming highways for 10 years 60 years ago and the wrecks I investigated. One included 53 vehicles.
I used the imaginary glass of water on the dash theory and drove so as not to spill it most of the time, but there were instances where I had to break that rule.
Responding to injury and fatal accidents raised the pucker factor quite a bit.
I used the imaginary glass of water on the dash theory and drove so as not to spill it most of the time, but there were instances where I had to break that rule.
Responding to injury and fatal accidents raised the pucker factor quite a bit.
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charlie sherrill
Member
We don't get a lot of snow down here in South Mississippi. When we do it's a disaster. We don't have snow plows or salt trucks. Sometimes there is enough sand to cover a few bridges. I was lucky enough to work two good snows in my LEO career of over 40 years. One was about 10 inches, the other around four inches. Both caused enough collisions that we had to just give people a number for a report, unless it involved injuries. Lots of folks in the South drive like they live, laid back and not worried about much. That doesn't work well after even one or two inches of snow. It looks like a demolition derby. Add a little recreational sightseeing alcohol and it gets even more interesting. I've been retired now for 11 years so I mostly stay in until it melts, usually the next day. I stay stocked up but if I need something I'll take the four wheeler down to the stop and rob a couple of miles away.
S&WshooterFIN
Member
Winter, snow and frost are on our side, it was already in 1939. Luckily we also had Simo Hayha and Larry Thorne then.
I prefer a lot of snow.
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Tip #1- If you can't, don't.
Tip #2- If you're not sure about it, don't.
Makes it a lot harder on folks who actually need to get somewhere.
Tip #2- If you're not sure about it, don't.
Makes it a lot harder on folks who actually need to get somewhere.
