Winter time and snow

Hey fellas,

This will be my first winter with the Tundra, for those that live in the snow climates how would you rate your driving experience with the Tundra in snowy conditions?

 

Besides snow piling up on the hood and all of the sensors/headlights becoming inoperable in severe storms they do great. Just don't use 4WD unless your tires are slipping. Get some 3PMSF rated tires and you will be good to go.

 

Both my 4wd Tundras (2011 and 2015) did fine in the snow. It has more to do with driver experience and tires that are good in the snow.
Between both trucks, I probably only used 4wd a handful of times and that was when there was hardpack snow on the roads.

 

This is solid advice, came here to say the same thing. Most M/T tires suck the PP in the snow/ice.

 

I've done about 200 miles of icy highway at 60-65 mph in 4wd with blizzaks. Other than being bumpy (because of the compacted and frozen snow/ice), it handled very well. With good winter tires, i actually found it difficult to break the back end out in 2wd, around town. For me, the 3 peak mountain snowflake means nothing if it isn't on a winter-specific snow tire. The tire compounds used in an AT tire with 3pmsf will never warm up when driving on snow or ice. You're basically relying on the tread pattern to grab what it can, but if the surface has nothing loose to grab, you might as well be on all-season highway car tires. Ditto if you're driving through slush with a snowy base.

 

He’s right, Big tires in the cold are like hockey pucks

 

We live in central Colorado and own a small condo in Winter Park. We typically ski 30-40 days each winter, so I do a lot of winter driving in the Rocky Mountains. I've owned Tundras since 2008, and they've all handled snow/ice well.

I have to disagree with this. I use 4WH all the time when the roads are slick. It improves traction noticeably. Just remember to turn it off when parking, because it makes the steering wonky when maneuvering in tight spots.

Matt

 

Use the right tires!
I was very happy with my falken wildpeak at3's on my F150 and will be running these when it's time on my Tundra.

 

I live in Wyoming and haven’t had any issues with the Tundra. I always get it serviced before winter and keep chains/jumper cables in the cab. My current shoes are Goodyear Duratracs which haven’t been great on ice, but good in snow.

 

I'm right next to the Great Lakes and steelhead fish through the winter ( unless the streams are froze solid). I ran Michelin LTX m/s 2's on my 2012 Tundra and never had a problem. Mostly snow and ice covered roads, no real off-roading other than getting through snow drifts in unplowed parking spots. I'd use 4 Hi in heavy snow and white outs on the highways when conditions got pretty bad. Never had a problem. If the factory Michelin LTX Trails on my 2023 Tundra don't perform, and I suspect they won't, I'll be going back to the LTX M/S2's. With the right tires, your Tundra will be fine. Traction control is your friend.

 

Not to derail this....anyone running Nitto Terra Grapplers in the winter??? I am looking at this for an annual tire

 

+1 to others about snow tires. I live in MN and I put Blizzaks on in November and never had a problem. I still run the stock tires for summer until they wear a little more.

I did put 200lb of sand bags in the bed over the rear axle for more peace of mind. For reference I drive mostly hwy/interstate to work so it's 60-70 and never had a problem. I dropped it into 4x4 about a dozen times during heavy snowfall and kept it under 65.
My only gripe is that the sensors do get caked with slush and throw alarms but you can silence them and drive without cruise (which you should always in snow).

 

I always disable adaptive cruise control. If there's ever any wheel slippage, cruise control disables itself anyway.

 

I am a firm believer in dedicated winter tires, I have had Blizzaks on every Tundra I have owned and they make a tremendous difference on ice and snow over your typical All-Season tire. I look at it, if the winter tires prevent me from hitting the ditch even once, they have pretty much paid for themselves considering the cost of a tow truck and the possible damage that will occur to the vehicle.

 

Having grown up and learned to drive when rear wheel drive cars and 2wd pickups were the norm, I always put weight in the bed when there's a chance for snow and ice. I have 5 5-gallon buckets full of sand that I put up against the tailgate. (Mechanical advantage, leverage, and all that.)

I am on the roads long before a plow comes through. Some of those roads are more like goat trails - steep, windy roads going up and over the mountain. I run in 2wd unless I have wheel spin, and there's one spot where I have to stop on a fairly steep uphill where I routinely put it in 4wd just to get started out without spinning. In an average winter I probably travel less then 1000 feet in 4wd.

Then again, not to sound arrogant or anything, but I am much better than the average driver in slippery conditions.

 

Driving a Tundra in winter gives you an extra long Christmas, with lots of blinky coloured lights on the dash for most of the season.

 

I am running Toyo GSI 6 in winter and the truck did great. As others have said, less the truck and more the tires and driver.

 

I ran Terra Grapplers on my Tacoma and used them to get around during the 2021 snowpocalypse that hit Oklahoma and Texas. They were great in deep snow, 14" barely slowed me down. This is true of most all terrains though, true snow tires will perform much better in the freeze/thaw hard pack snow and ice.

 

Same here, GSI6 on the OEM wheels!

 

Does just fine in the snow, but so much is tires. The factory tires on the sport are probably not the best in winter/snow. I had KO2s on mine for last winter (Northern New England) and no complaints.

 

Def have dedicated snow tires. I’d recommend Nokias hakkappeliitta (studded or non depending). Snow tires you want less width on a tire, where a/t,s are usually wider. I’ve driven in various places In northern Canada, eastern Canada etc where they get a lot of snow, ice and slush. My old accord would put perform Quattro Audis due to good snow tires.

 

Thanks. I am moving to 1 set of tires for the year. Thats what I did my whole life right up to when my kids started using my truck then I went to a dedicated winter ice radial for the winter season. Kids are gone so moving back to an All Season with the mountain snowflake as an annual tire. Terra Grapplers appear highly rated and are considered one of the smoothest / quietist out of all the AT tires, but do not have a great off road/mud rating which has zero bearing on me.

 

Just bought a set of those for my daughter for this coming season. Multiple trips over the Coquihalla this winter while attending UBC

 

Having gone one full winter with mine, it did great in the snow this past winter in Colorado, driving I-70 and Hwy 40 up and over Berthoud Pass. After driving all-wheel drive vehicles for the past few years, I had to remind myself that I didn't always need to be in 4 wheel drive. In fact, the only times I did engage it were when wheels slipped going up and over 40 and a few times in Grand County. Never felt the need to engage when driving around Denver, always managed the driving around here well.

 

Great to hear everyone's feedback and experiences!!

 

I ended up buying some OEM 18" take offs on ebay and mounted mine on those. I splurged and bought 4 additional TPMS sensors since the truck can remember 2 sets. Very happy with the setup. Costs a lot but if you keep your truck as long as I do it is worth it. Cool pic BTW!

 

I've done one Wisconsin winter with my truck. Everything works great except for the sensors getting covered in heavy snow(which can be disabled when it happens) and the stock Michelin LTX trail tires are horrible. I'll be upgrading to an all terrain tire with the severe snow service(triple peak) rating before this winter. The stock tires just don't have the traction I want in slick or icy conditions, which is all winter long on the township roads in our county. I'll probably go with the Toyo open country at3 tires in the same oem size.

 

Part time is subpar to any reputable AWD, rear wheels skipping all the time. A-TRAC is subpar to Haldex. 4WD + traction off (long 3 second button press) = unstoppable fun

Also Toyota does rust a lot. Pass it through undercarriage wash often, coat the frame with corrosion inhibitors before and after winter.

 

Any unstudded AT tire would be bad on ice. In fact LTX is better on ice than most of "real" AT tires. Invest into a winter tires set if you drive on ice a lot, they are in order of magnitude better than AT.

 

Yeah, i'm not buying a set of dedicated winter tires for my truck. I've had them before for cars/suvs, but i'll be fine with an AT tire with the triple peak rating which has extra siping that the LTX trail lacks.