I want a cummins diesel 4wd for a winter vehicle and was wondering how the 2nd gen 4wd srw cummins trucks do in the snow. My main concern is getting stuck.

I've come to realize that most "4wd" trucks have an lsd in the back and an open diff in the front which means if one front wheel doesn't have traction then you have 3wd at best (with one front spinning with no traction).

Is 3wd good enough becuase i dont want to add a locker to the front if i dont have to?

Anyhoo, so how does the dodge do in the snow with a proper set of snow tires?

Thank you for your time,
Andrew

 

my 3500 when in 2wd is a disaster unless your familiar with it. in the snow its kind of like driving a boat.
IN 4x4 its a tank, and can pretty much go through everything, never been stuck, never gone off the road.

 

With about 500 lbs of weight in the back my 2500 has no problem at all.
In fact I've used it to pull out snowmobiles that were stuck.

 

With traction bars mine is ten times better before in snow 12-16 deep going uphill the backend would hop enough that stuff would fall off of the dash.

 

Mine does well, only thing is, front end is heavy, don't get up in the air as easy, but if you do you are hung.

I run 235-85-16's for tall, skinny.

 

When the tires are bald i never even had problems with up to 10 inches. Usually all 4 are spinning. the dana's are great axles for traction IMHO.

 

The truck should do fine- what the real question is, do YOU know how to drive in snow/ice? A guy who knows how to drive can get most anywhere in about any vehicle. And, a guy who doesn't could get a dozer stuck. Don't depend on the type of vehicle to get you where you want to go- learn how to drive in the stuff.

 

Hodge raises an excellent point. Know your vehicle, know your own limitations, and use common sence. When someone I know buys a 4-wheel drive vehicle of any type, they always metion how nice it's going to be to not have to worry about winter driving. I always say the same thing that I'm going to mention here...4-wheel drive will get you going, help keep you going and give you some peace of mind that if you have to get somewhere you probably can. BUT, at some point you have to stop. That's where snow and ice make everyone's vehicle equal. This goes right back to what Hodge was saying. Knowing how to drive, and stop, on snow and ice is when you discover everyone is not equal.

 

It depends on how you define driving in snow. The way most people define it is staying on paved roads and the snow never gets ahead of the plows by all that much. In this case, a subaru will outperform our trucks any day because it handles much better. Where our trucks do well relative to other vehicles is when the snow gets deep and we have the weight to bite down through and the height to avoid bottoming out.

A lot of 4X4 drivers think that they are invincible in snow which simply isn't true. All vehicles have 4 wheel brakes so you will not stop any better than anyone else(actually it is usually worse because our brakes are not very good). Your truck will not perform as well in corners as many vehicles either. It will oversteer alot even if you add weight to the bed but that definitely helps. The real advantage is to the ability to negotiate deeper snow when things like subarus start to struggle once there is 8" on the actual road.

Look at the vehicles in the ditch as you drive along in the snow and you will notice that most are 4X4 SUVs. Their owners think that they are better in the snow than they are.

 

jus tbe careful and you will be ok. your best option is to add some weight in the bed, directly over the rear wheels, and get a good set of all terrain tires. (although I had no problem last winter with bald tires). and because of the locker in the rear, yes these trucks can be a handful, espically when modified (I have spun the rear tires going into lockuo in overdrive under light throttle)and that makes for some interesting situations. um yeah I have never been stuck with mine in the snow yet (knock on wood).

 

yeah true storie with the not being able to stop i totaled my burb one of the first heavy snow falls i drove in cause i thought i was invincable cause i had 4wd until i slid into the back of a bus

 

I personally like to add a manual tansmission to the mix, as it gives a lot more control for getting going and also for stopping *without* using the breaks. With the automatic you simply have a lot less control.

My 2wd 5-speed has been stuck once in 8 years, on ice in a remote camp. Evne the tractor we had to use to get it out nearly was stuck several times. other than that, I've pulled out stuck cars with the 2wd truck. Good tires, weight in the bed, and patience make a lot of differance. But 4wd would help as well...

 

yea the lock up switch has been a life saver in term of engine braking in the snow, just shift down and lock the converter. still wish I had a standard, for this reason though.

 

True story. The only time I ever got my dually stuck was in about 14" of snow with no weight in the back. I'm happy that I have a 4by now for winter, but the principles of getting around in 2wd will apply in 4wd. My truck rarely goes into 4wd unless its not moving much or at all. I won't sit there and rock it back and forth to get out like I did in the dually, but I won't pop it into 4wd everytime I get into some slush.

 

I found if your driving in 4wd, you'll just get stuck in a deeper mess.