Driving in Snow

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Mister Pinky

Full Access Member
Joined
May 25, 2020
Posts
638
Reaction score
606
Location
OH
Don’t believe the previous posts. The stock K02s are Snow/Ice rated thus they carry the snowflake symbol on the sidewall. They’ll do just fine.

The tire width however is what will get you as it tends to float instead to cut through the snow.

Because the truck is wide, you will not be able to ride in the tracks left behind by other vehicles, which means you may very well be cutting your own trail which will reduce traction.

I’ve lived in this weather all my life. The best advice I can give is gentle acceleration, gentle steering, gentle braking action well in advance, with expectation that harder braking action can and will cause you to skid.

Beware ABS activation as well which will keep you rolling along instead of stopping.

Don’t be afraid to bump it into neutral to stop or use manual mode to control your gearing on steep grades.

Keep your eyes up and scanning to help anticipate what traffic ahead of you is doing. Leave lots of space ahead of you. And above all, for the love of god, please remember that 4wd gets you going. It does nothing to stop you.
 

Oldfart

FRF Addict
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Posts
5,748
Reaction score
13,899
Location
Saggy Balls Division of Trump Army
This. People forget that ALL cars have four wheel braking. When it snows here the ditches are full of 4x4s.
:gr_grin: Yes sir!! Ask any state cop what vehicles end up in the ditch the most in snow? !00% will tell you it's AWD/4WD vehicles because drivers are thinking that they are somehow magic, and above the laws of physics.

2 winters ago, I was on a big multi lane highway at night with about 6" of fresh snow with some ice underneath. I'm driving about 45, which was definitely near the upper end of safe speed for the conditions. I'm about 1/2 mile from a big ramp leading to another highway. A guy in an Audi S5 comes flying past me, at least going 75. He took the same ramp I was going to, and I start seeing these crazy light patterns flashing all over the place. As I start around the ramp I see the Audi just getting done doing several spins in the grass after he had shot off the road. I was polite and slowed down enough to wave to him as I drove past.
 
Last edited:

Don N

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2020
Posts
147
Reaction score
53
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Don’t believe the previous posts. The stock K02s are Snow/Ice rated thus they carry the snowflake symbol on the sidewall. They’ll do just fine.

The tire width however is what will get you as it tends to float instead to cut through the snow.

Because the truck is wide, you will not be able to ride in the tracks left behind by other vehicles, which means you may very well be cutting your own trail which will reduce traction.

I’ve lived in this weather all my life. The best advice I can give is gentle acceleration, gentle steering, gentle braking action well in advance, with expectation that harder braking action can and will cause you to skid.

Beware ABS activation as well which will keep you rolling along instead of stopping.

Don’t be afraid to bump it into neutral to stop or use manual mode to control your gearing on steep grades.

Keep your eyes up and scanning to help anticipate what traffic ahead of you is doing. Leave lots of space ahead of you. And above all, for the love of god, please remember that 4wd gets you going. It does nothing to stop you.

When or in what conditions would you consider using 4A, 4H and then snow mode?
 

Mister Pinky

Full Access Member
Joined
May 25, 2020
Posts
638
Reaction score
606
Location
OH
When or in what conditions would you consider using 4A, 4H and then snow mode?

When you no longer feel comfortable driving in 2wd or when traction is limited at the rear wheels. I would actually recommend starting off in 2wd first just to get an idea of what the truck will do and then go from there.

I would only use 4HI if there is significant accumulation on the road that will allow the front tires to slip during turns to prevent crow hop and wear and tear on the drivetrain.

If you are highway driving at speeds where it is not possible to quickly shift in and out of 4HI, then I recommend 4Auto. It works well in conditions where road traction deteriorates intermittently, such as snow squalls or heavy rain where ponding is an issue.

Snow/Wet mode just dampens throttle response significantly, engages 4Auto, and puts the stability/traction control systems into high alert.

In my 5.0L Mustang, I like this feature because the throttle response is very sharp in that car, and it’s fairly powerful immediately. In the Raptor, I feel that Normal mode is more than sufficient. You can control the attitude of the truck easily by staying out of boost.
 

Don N

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2020
Posts
147
Reaction score
53
Location
Los Angeles, CA
When you no longer feel comfortable driving in 2wd or when traction is limited at the rear wheels. I would actually recommend starting off in 2wd first just to get an idea of what the truck will do and then go from there.

I would only use 4HI if there is significant accumulation on the road that will allow the front tires to slip during turns to prevent crow hop and wear and tear on the drivetrain.

If you are highway driving at speeds where it is not possible to quickly shift in and out of 4HI, then I recommend 4Auto. It works well in conditions where road traction deteriorates intermittently, such as snow squalls or heavy rain where ponding is an issue.

Snow/Wet mode just dampens throttle response significantly, engages 4Auto, and puts the stability/traction control systems into high alert.

In my 5.0L Mustang, I like this feature because the throttle response is very sharp in that car, and it’s fairly powerful immediately. In the Raptor, I feel that Normal mode is more than sufficient. You can control the attitude of the truck easily by staying out of boost.

Thanks for the info. I've had AWD cars in the past, so I never really had to think about all of the different options and additional settings that the Raptor has. I had seen a lot of people mention putting the Raptor in snow mode, but I always thought I'd prefer a consistent/similar gas pedal feel instead of a muted one. I just wasn't sure if snow mode also lowered the sensitivity of the ABS, which I think would be a positive thing in snowy conditions.
 

Badgertits

FRF Addict
Joined
Jan 24, 2019
Posts
2,730
Reaction score
2,376
Location
Ma
I’d consider getting set of chains- even if you don’t need em just to have in bed should you need em, I’d consider further getting a dedicated set of snow tires- although I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea or in their budget (then again if you can afford a Raptor you better be able to afford an extra set of wheels/tires or somethings wrong)

The raptor is very capable in the snow, the wide AT tires however….are not ideal. They’re OK. I don’t wanna get into long *** discussion on this again on this forum b/c people are argumentative- but I always put it this way: the delta between performance summer tires & drag radials is narrower than the delta between “all season” or “all terrain” tires & dedicated snow tires. That widens even further if we are talking studded snow tires. In fact- the only other tire I personally have had experience w/ that truly lives up to its claims/intent of purpose would be a DR - all season ain’t all season all terrain ain’t all terrain & oversized mud terrain/MT will put ya in a ditch quicker than a fleet/rental vehicle “all terrain/all season” when it comes to driving in the winter weather in a Raptor.

Flame me all ya want- I’ll be doing 70 in a blizzard passing dump truck plows in 4h like boss.
 

jabroni619

FRF Addict
Joined
Jun 13, 2017
Posts
2,057
Reaction score
1,418
Thanks for the info. I've had AWD cars in the past, so I never really had to think about all of the different options and additional settings that the Raptor has. I had seen a lot of people mention putting the Raptor in snow mode, but I always thought I'd prefer a consistent/similar gas pedal feel instead of a muted one. I just wasn't sure if snow mode also lowered the sensitivity of the ABS, which I think would be a positive thing in snowy conditions.

Just put it in 4A and don’t worry about the rest. 4A is designed so that you can run it all the time Just like AWD crossovers.
 

Badgertits

FRF Addict
Joined
Jan 24, 2019
Posts
2,730
Reaction score
2,376
Location
Ma
Tire choice aside- remember you have 4wd or essentially AWD (when in 4a) if you find yourself getting sent into a direction you don’t want - don’t panic, don’t necessarily get on brakes/ABS- give it gas! Let the 4wd do its work. Point yourself outta danger & meter in some throttle.

These trucks have 10 forward gears to choose from, when trying to negotiate slower speed downhill curvy snow/ice covered roads it’s a good idea to cut the gears down to 4, 5, 6 etc & truck won’t upshift past that essentially putting in an artificial “governor” limiting your top speeed & engine braking for ya basically
 
Top