Moving to somewhere snowy - should I get 4 x 4?

[jage]

Originally Posted by skidoc

For those of you in Colorado (like myself, Winter Park to be exact) and the northwest, what snow tires do you use on your rig?

I don't do snow tires. Maybe it's because I'm a flatlander. I really like the Nitto Terra Grapplers they're ATs but unlike the Toyo's MTs I don't feel guilty putting highway miles on them. I'd say go with something like that and then get swap out snow tires if necessary.

As far as 4x4 or not. I don't care how good of a driver you are you can not get a non 4x4 up my driveway in the winter. I agree that it can get you in trouble if your not careful!!

I'd take that challenge!

[cobblecrazy]

I grew up in Alaska and northern Washington St. We had 2WD, and 4WD, vehicles. Snow gets somewhat "sticky" the colder it gets so a 2WD was fine, but I really liked the times we had the 4WD.

In my opinion it's not about rock crawling, driving through a mud trench, or plowing through the deepest snow - it's about peace of mind. I may not use the 4WD once a week, or even once a month, but I am almost never limited to where I can go. Additionally, when my wife takes off in her Subaru Outback, I have faith there is little that car can't handle.

I've always made sure I had at least one vehicle with AWD, or 4WD, so any trip I want to take will not be cut short so I can beat a storm over the pass, nor will I not be able to explore that "so-so" cool looking dirt track while out exploring.

I would go for the 4X4 van. You won't be sorry, and you won't be lamenting your choice the first time you're forced to chain up going over a pass because some department of motor vehicle guy freeks out over an inch of snow on the road.

[TroySmith80]

I'm a really big fan of the Cooper Discoverer M+S. Very quiet and good traction. I don't know if they're available in Load E. I prefer them without studs (i never run studs on 4WD rigs) but you can get them either way. My advice is to get them as skinny as you are comfortable with also. My experience has been that skinny tires do much better in snow than wide ones.

[Pritikin]

Having pondered this question for a long time before finally buying a 4x4 I got a chance to drive it around in storm conditions (skiing on mt hood) this weekend: buy the 4x4!!

Sure, I could probably have used chains. But it was *so* much more fun driving around in a vehicle that just laughed off the storm. Totally worth it.

Or we could have carpooled in a friend's little subaru. But again, it was way more fun to hang out in the van.