Deepest snow you drove through for some distance

[sctom1]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[Rob6805]

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.

 

[Plati]

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

 

[ExplorerTom]

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.

 

[sctom1]

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.

 

[sctom1]

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.

 

[Zig10]

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.

QUOTE]

Yeah, it's gotten a little better since they widened some of the areas, but it's still a crappy interstate. Much more traffic now than there used to be, though I rarely get to visit the area these days. Used to love when it was raining and sleeting on one side of the mountain and snowing like crazy on the other.

 

[Shutterbug57]

Years ago I took my wife to work at the hospital in my ‘04 Armada in 15”+ of snow during a snow emergency. Pulled a cop out of a ditch on my way home, then he proceeded to write me up for being out without a valid reason. Taking my wife to work didn’t do it for him - “she should have driven herself”. I took that to court. The judge gave the cop a significant piece of his mind and he gave me an apology.

 

[1111ExpyEL1111]

Nokian Rotiva AT's are built for deep snow. Nokian tires are developed with snow in mind (read up about Nokian tires). Whether is 15" of slush type snow or 30" of powder, I'd go without hesitation and confidence. 2012 and 2016 Expy EL's.

 

[lv2drive]

+1 on the nokia rotiiva AT (plus version for me)

absolutely crushed every snowfall we had in the NE this winter, up to 30” - expy was a tank, non-elsd 4x4

 

[rs4-380]

the truck can handle deep snow fine. The stock highway biased tires not so much. I run dedicated snow tires in the winter but was caught by an early storm this past year with the stock 22's on and I was horrified how little traction they provided.

 

[John Ferrero]

Cheers all,
Purchased our 2018 Exp Max Ltd (w/ 302A package) in Nov (used/44k miles) and at the same time purchased 18" rims and Blizzak DM-V2s (smaller rims/more crunch space if accidentally going off-road/curbs-rocks!). We've taken it from our home in Il. to Col. 2x this winter (skiing in Summit Co. Col is our go to - Epic pass/many ski resorts to choose from). On both trips we've hit major storms/white-outs/semi's jackknifed/SUVs ditched. On the second trip they were closing I80 as we were traveling thru Iowa. The Expy was great in all conditions (light snow/ice, heavy snow/8-10" w/semi ruts leading to ditches, etc.). Regarding deepest extended drives, on the second trip while in Summit Co. we were hit with enough snow/blowing on most days to cause Vail Pass to close. Over one night we got 12" of fresh powder (awesome for skiing/not so great for driving). I was able to back up a VERY steep driveway without any slip/sliding and drive over Swan Mtn from Keystone to Breckenridge with no issue. The Exp/DM-V2s were/are a phenomenal combination. As a frame of ref., I had the displeasure of driving the Expy with the factory rims/tires (22" rims/Hankook Dynapro HT tires) after I had converted back to them in March for a trip to FL: I was surprised at HOW POORLY the OEM stuff handled just a couple inches of light powder type of snow...perhaps why you see so many SUV/Trucks spun out on the expressways!

A couple things about tires:
1) Most A/T tires are NO BUENO for snow, they tend to harden up. You can look for A/T with the 3 mountain peaks and they should perform better but will not be nearly as good as dedicated snow tires. If your goal is to stay primarily on roads dedicated winter tires are the best choice.
2) All-Season tires are always getting better and some are OK in light snow but they are a compromise at best.
3) Factory OEM stuff is no good in any condition! I will be purchasing another set of all season HT tires next year regardless of how much tread depth is left, they are as bad in wet conditions as they were in snow.

Keep in mind no tire can overcome physics....best to slow down and get where ever you are headed safely!

Cheers

 

[JasonH]

I don't have any experience with this type of driving personally, but thought this might be helpful. TFL did a comparison between winter and AT3 tires.

 

[Expedition Dave]

Top shelf snow tires will give you the advantage, selecting the correct AWD system (not necessarily the locker BTW) and good driving will be your aim here. IDK how better sorted the Gen4 AWD system is compared to the Jeeps, but whatever system can stop a spinning tire and send gentle power to the wheels with traction could also make a difference. Also, maybe 100-200 pounds of ballast in the cargo area (secured) to add some extra weight over the rear (SUVs are better here than pickups, but still front end heavy) could also help the rears dig and grip better.

IDK if lowering tire pressures in snow with dedicated snow tires is effective or not.

The next thing stopping you will be snow getting packed underneath or snowplowing, and the only way to combat that is a raised truck and taller tires. My lifted Gen 4 truck's lowest hanging fruit sits now 1-3 inches taller depending on where you measure, and I have pulled the front spoiler off so I would think this would give *me* an advantage in the snow if I could find 34 inch tall snow tires.

It has been said here before tires tires tires. If I lived in snow country, I'd buy another set of FIVE used rims and dedicate the FIVE snowies on them to make the swap easier, to include the spare.

YMMV

 

[rs4-380]

IDK if lowering tire pressures in snow with dedicated snow tires is effective or not.

You want higher ground pressure in snow not lower. You get no traction in snow so you want the tire to break through the snow to whatever is underneath. That's why the ideal winter tire setup is narrower then stock.

 

[Deadman]

You want higher ground pressure in snow not lower. You get no traction in snow so you want the tire to break through the snow to whatever is underneath. That's why the ideal winter tire setup is narrower then stock.

EXACTLY, but everyone thinks mud tires are great snow tires when in reality they are complete JUNK in snow. You need skinny tall tires with LOTS of small cuts for ice and a little bigger cuts for deep snow cleanout.