Now I understand why some Tundra owners get lifts on their trucks - long

Today I tried backing out of my garage into about a foot of snow. I thought I was prepared by having in 4-hi. I have good studded snow tires. I got out a little over a truck length and got stuck. I tried going into 4-lo. Nothing. I tried rocking back and forth, more stuck. A four tires were just spinning. I ended up getting my snow shovel and spent over an hour digging it out with my wife. We then spent over another three hours shoveling our long driveway.
I come to find out it has a paltry 10.4" of ground clearance. That plus weight of the truck, all the shields and skid plate left me sitting on the snow like on boat floating on water. I have never been stuck in so little snow ever before. This truck with all the traction controls is no match against a moderate amount of snow. I mainly bought this truck thinking it was going to be a great truck in bad weather like ice and snow. I thought maybe I won't need to shovel the driveway having this truck. It's been fine on ice so far. It was a real let down in so little snow. It's just too big and heavy so it basically sank like a rock.
I never really liked how big my truck is but I though I could live with it. I just don't want to shell out thousands for suspension upgrades and tires and make it an even bigger truck.
It's going to be time to move on to some smaller like a Tacoma. I would ideally just like to find nice pre 1995 Toyota so it doesn't have all the accessories and electronics that are just plain useless to me.

 

I would suggest an SUV because of it having a little more weight over the rear wheels .

 

I always exit my garage like this..so I really didn’t even need my lift.

 

So I'm getting a "I want to trade my truck because I can't drive through 12" of snow" vibe. How many tacos or t100s can drive through a foot of snow?

How many vehicles can get through 12" of snow without problems? Honestly asking...



At least the tundie has the weight to try. Remember the skid plates deflect forward. So reverse caused the plates to scoop, not deflect.

It's a beast of a vehicle and can handle its own, but it's not above the elements.

I have no data to support my claim but I'm confident 90% of the lifts are purely cosmetic.


Bottom line: wanting to trade your truck because it can't handle 12" of snow is like selling your mower because the grass grows back.

 

So. Based on this ^ guy’s observation, try backing into your garage. Nope, I’m not kidding; it makes sense you should check out options before taking a major hit on depreciation to get a different truck. Other tries would be using 4lo in deep snow.

Finally, if you want smaller but still V8 power, and you could do with fewer bells and whistles, try finding a 1st gen Tundra in great condition. If you swap to a Taco, get the previous gen as all accounts indicate the current gen sucks at power and constantly searched for gears trying to overcome deficits. Also... as the last guy mentioned, less weight isn’t always best in snow.

 

I can see your point Notarobot. I've lived here for almost 23 years and I've had even worse snowfall and Ive always had something that got me out. My last truck was a real POS but stock F150 4X4. It never got stuck from snow. It was a POS for lots of reasons, so much so I could not rely on it for a daily driver. I had to have a second car. I wanted a truck I could drive daily and get rid of the second car. So I got the Tundra after extensively shopping locally. I really wanted a Tacoma DC but they were asking more for one than for a similar mileage Tundra DC. I bought the Tundra thinking it's going better in every way than the F150. And it was until today.
I've owned a few different 4X4 trucks while living here and they were all fine in the snow.

 

I understand your frustration, but being around trucks and winter conditions for a good many years, trucks are like snowmobiles, there isn't one that will be good for every situation. I doubt you would've been much happier in a Tacoma. Usually when you need traction, weight is your friend. I have a truck similar to yours with studded 275 65 20 Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2's, 2 inch levelling kit above the front spring, putting my frame about 16 inches off the ground, and I threw my skidplate away after the first oil change. In that combination, it is fairly good in the snow, but it wouldn't be my first choice. If I had to drive a truck from Florida to North Dakota for a million miles, it probably would be my first choice.
By your description of the conditions, there are so many variables involved that I suspect it was one of those days that other trucks would have gotten stuck also. Next time you get a nice sunny day, take that beautiful Tundra for a nice, comfortable ride down the I-5 to Portland to that donut place, and you'll be ready to forgive it for a little mishap in the snow!

 

Also, studded tires are for ICE, not snow. And they are probably only at most 30-32 " tall , so get a good set of tires , and put in 4 wheel as your backing out ,should be no problem with 10" of snow. You already have about 8-10 " of axle clearance, so body , and skids should be way above snow. Probably no weight in bed for rear tires to dig in , and once your spinning your stuck with that tire setup.

 

OP scheme to convince his wife he needs a lift and 35's well done Sir.

 

If the Tundra wouldn't make it, you definitely don't want to try it in a Tacoma. There are only a couple places my 04 Tacoma can go that my Tundra can't, and anywhere in the snow is not one of them.

You need tall skinny tires, even without a lift. The tallest tires you can fit will still give you more clearance. Add a couple hundred pounds in the bed if you haven't yet, and that should give you a real advantage.

And I would definitely start backing into your garage

 

I had an '89 Toyota 4X4 extra cab several years ago and it was a great truck. It had a slight lift to clear a larger set of tires, I think 33's. It was a four cylinder with a 5 speed, manual everything. It wasn't much on power so that limited what I could carry. I ended up selling it because it was too small for what I needed then.
I looked for a first gen Tundra for a long time but none were to be found for reasonable money for anything less than 200K miles. I decided to up the amount I wanted to spend and the '07 turned up for something with less than 150K miles.
I'm not planning on spending the money for a current gen Tacoma so no problem there.
I'll have to make do with my '07 for now. If I move, like I'm hoping this year, the '07 should be fine.

That's what I did after I cleared the driveway enough. I did try 4lo after it bogged down in 4hi but by then it was too late.

 

Yes, awesome! I hope he sends us pics when the build is finished!

 

It works, I had a sidewall puncture in my 33's and convinced wife had to replace all 4, Got COOPER STT MAX 35/12.5 , most snow no problem so far. Our wives really do love us.

 

3” lift ~ $3500. 35’s ~ $1500. But...a snow shovel is like 17 bucks...

 

That's not necessarily true. Most winter studded tires are in fact rated for snow...they are a winter rated tire. That said I have seen studs installed on M/Ts, those are only good on ice as they are not a winter rated tire.

 

and @Sunnier exits her garage like this...



you guys have it covered

 

Smh

 

At those depths you need CHAINS!

 

I can tell you from experience that there is absolutely no comparison between a 1st gen and a 2nd gen tundra. The 2nd gen tundra will drive circles around the 1st gen in the snow.

 

In Washington we got about 10 inches here in our area this weekend. We live on some crazy hills making it hard to drive around. I’m on 33’s and a level (2006 first Gen) and truck did just fine both with traction and clearance. Like everyone else is saying, adding weight to the bed for better tire traction is a huge huge help. I have a tonneau cover and left all ten inches of snow on top for more traction (didn’t go faster than 30 so it wasn’t gonna fly off). Slightly Bigger tires could help too. Not stopping (or just maintaining momentum) helps as well because once you stop (if you are dragging a good amount on the frame) you’re not in good shape. If you do get stuck, back up in your tracks and get more momentum going forward. I wouldn’t trade your truck because it got stuck once. Getting stuck is part of snow driving. You pretty much have to accept that it will happen, regardless of the driver. One of the best things you can do in snow is carry a shovel, because digging with your hands sucks. Good luck!

if any of this is wrong please correct me! I can learn too.

 

^^^^ Momentum is everything. If you get stopped and start digging it is all over.

 

Haha! This is true. I’m trying to learn that RC truck get-through-anything-and-tires-back-on-the-ground habit of keeping my foot down on the pedal no matter what happens!

 

It also never hurts to watch snow driving techniques on YouTube. Sounds stupid, but you can learn a lot from professionals online for free!

 

@Sunnier haha!! That is awesome! And it’s true too...

 

I have Hankook 275/65/18's studded snows on it right now. They're not quite the BFG's AT's I used to run on my trucks before and they weren't studded either. They were narrower and had a better tread for sure. Even my nearly worn out BFG's performed better than my current snow tires. I've never needed chains either. Chains are for 2wd's anyway. If I need to put on chains then I probably shouldn't go anywhere.
I often have snow in excess of the 12" I had this week. This was just the first time I needed to get ready to go somewhere. I'm not going to try to get out in anything like that again for now.

I actually have two shovels but my back is not cut out for that kind of shoveling anymore.

 

Maybe a question I should ask...how much do chains usually cost and would it be okay for me to run them on only the back two tires while in 4x4??

 

I know a lot of late season hunters who would disagree with your chains are for 2wd comment. Chains are for deep snow. Take the time to chain up and you likely won't need the shovels (but still bring with just in case).

Obviously a lot can be done to make a vehicle better, but chains will make the biggest difference. Also it's cheap and on demand.

 

I gotta throw a little fire on the shitstorm with that first post, and you have resident WISEGUY so I figured you were game to play..I’ve posted some shit before and got knocked around a bit, it’s all in good fun