Deepest snow you drove through for some distance

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sctom1

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What was the actual deepest snow you drove through without chains? And not just a few feet of travel, but at least a quarter mile. What year and kind of Expy? Do you have the stock AS or snow tires? Were you concerned about getting stuck?
I’m thinking of a new Expy and eventual move to Denver CO and can’t let bro in law outdo me in the mountain snow with his Grand Cherokee. (And I still have nightmares from the 3 Dodge/Plymouths I and my parents had over the years, so I can’t buy one). FWIW, had a 1990 Ford Ranger 4x4 stock and drove in 23.5 inches of heavy wet snow. It was starting to get hung up on the packed snow underneath and tires were not making good contact, but was still able to drive over 1/2 mile before I felt better in the garage. Went thru 16” heavy wet snow with no problem, though. Probably could have pushed powder over the hood.
I would think a newer Expy AWD would handle 16” of powder easily and 12 inches of heavy wet easily, albeit slow.
Thanks.
 

Calidad

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2001 Subaru Legacy GT manual 5spd, lake Tahoe trip to the Stanford Lodge. 187mph winds hit right after we arrived. Power goes out. That survival kit my wife always teased me about? Yeah we were warm got great sleep woke up to our toilet frozen lol. They fed everyone, we hung out all day trying to get a plan together. Sailing buddies in SF were tracking the storm sequence told me get the F out by 8am next morning. So another cozy night with frozen toilet. We ate breakfast with everyone didn’t mention leaving. Walked to our room, grabbed our gear checked out to baffled uhhh OK you sure? We plowed our way out snow stacking up over the hood. Crossed a creek flowing over the road foot deep, plowed snow hood high all the way out to highway 80. No cars. We jump on 80 hasn’t been plowed no cars turns out a slide came down east of us shut it all down for two days. We drive west down 80 in hood high snow. About 15miles down the hill we come across one chp in a truck parked across the highway. I pulled up asked him if he needed anything, he was totally confused asked me where the heck I came from. I laughed told him I rode in from snowy mountain on my Subaru. He laughed and said get going its due to get worse! Yep. Got home in 3 hours. Had coworkers stuck in Tahoe for 4 more days
 

Deadman

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I ran mine 5 miles in probably 15 inches of medium weight snow. It did fine, but the factory tires aren't the most amazing.
 

Zig10

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14"-18" across the western PA turnpike in a near whiteout blizzard, but that was in my parents' old S10 Blazer on my way home from a ski trip. Don't think I'd really want to try that again, but I was too young and dumb to know how badly it could've gone wrong.
 

catmandu

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Tires. It's all about the tires. I am a BIG fan of Wranglers with a 3 peak rating. I carry chains, but have not needed them at Lake Tahoe the past four years. How deep? Dunno, I just go.

Well worth the summer time road noise hauling the crew to El Dorado County for wine tasting.
 
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Rob6805

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These things should do quite well in deep snow as long as you have the right tires. The factory all seasons are terrible. Get some good all terrains or even dedicated snow tires. I'm getting my factory tires replaced with these before winter hits.

Screenshot_20210424-141026_Chrome.jpg
 

Plati

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Not all snow is equal. It's all about the water content. 12 inches of fluffy light powder is not the same as heavy wet concrete. When it starts to lift the frame up so the wheels aren't carrying the vehicle weight ... Game Over
 
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sctom1

sctom1

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2001 Subaru Legacy GT manual 5spd, lake Tahoe trip to the Stanford Lodge. 187mph winds hit right after we arrived. Power goes out. That survival kit my wife always teased me about? Yeah we were warm got great sleep woke up to our toilet frozen lol. They fed everyone, we hung out all day trying to get a plan together. Sailing buddies in SF were tracking the storm sequence told me get the F out by 8am next morning. So another cozy night with frozen toilet. We ate breakfast with everyone didn’t mention leaving. Walked to our room, grabbed our gear checked out to baffled uhhh OK you sure? We plowed our way out snow stacking up over the hood. Crossed a creek flowing over the road foot deep, plowed snow hood high all the way out to highway 80. No cars. We jump on 80 hasn’t been plowed no cars turns out a slide came down east of us shut it all down for two days. We drive west down 80 in hood high snow. About 15miles down the hill we come across one chp in a truck parked across the highway. I pulled up asked him if he needed anything, he was totally confused asked me where the heck I came from. I laughed told him I rode in from snowy mountain on my Subaru. He laughed and said get going its due to get worse! Yep. Got home in 3 hours. Had coworkers stuck in Tahoe for 4 more days

i can think of a lot worse places to be stuck for 4 days than Tahoe, but the frozen toilet is a
14"-18" across the western PA turnpike in a near whiteout blizzard, but that was in my parents' old S10 Blazer on my way home from a ski trip. Don't think I'd really want to try that again, but I was too young and dumb to know how badly it could've gone wrong.
14"-18" across the western PA turnpike in a near whiteout blizzard, but that was in my parents' old S10 Blazer on my way home from a ski trip. Don't think I'd really want to try that again, but I was too young and dumb to know how badly it could've gone wrong.
 
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sctom1

sctom1

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Hey Zig10, I grew up in Butler PA and travelled the turnpike across the mountains white knuckled in very greasy snow too many times. Sharp curves, narrow, hills and too many cars and trucks. Plus all the salt & snow on the windshield and trying to keep up the speed to not get run over. Trial by fire I guess.

Hey Explorer Tom:
Just west of Boulder, CO a few years ago in April. The top of the hood is about 50” off the ground. Most of the road was like 30” deep.

Now that is really cool! I hope to do that someday, maybe up in Silverthorne CO.
 
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