4Hi Max Speed?

Hey y’all, I’m a Florida boy going to school in Vermont. This won’t be my first time driving in snow, but will for sure be my first time doing routine driving in snow, so I plan on using 4x4 as much as possible on the snow and ice. What is the max speed I can go with 4Hi?

 

The same speed that you would normally go in 2wd.

 

The owner's manual says you need to slow down to 62 MPH when engaging 4Hi. There's no mention of the maximum driving speed in 4Hi. Common sense is to not drive faster than it's safe. I think if you need to engage 4Hi you're not going to be driving anywhere near 60 MPH.

 

Check out your drivers sunvisor, should see this...

 

You'd be surprised. Lot's of empty miles heading up to AK in late fall/early winter on the AlCan Hwy, especially in Yukon. 60 is on the slower end in 4Hi...

 

I can do highway speeds in snow and 4HI, but i always use a little caution and try not to push it - you'll feel the truck limiting you.

when moving, i always slow down below 50 mph to engage in neutral. but if it's snowy or icy already, i just throw it in 4HI while i'm in park in the driveway.

 

I’ve always thought if it’s bad enough to need 4wd, then you don’t need to go over 55.

 

Remember the number one tool for driving in snow it to carry a flat blade shovel, you can get yourself out of most snow situations with it.
Step one is usually shovel 200 lbs or so of snow into the back of the bed to normalize weight (traction) between front and rear tires.

 

If I did only 55 the locals up "there" would run my ass over not to mention the large ass Canuck semis ready to run you over. No lolly gagging around when you need to be somewhere. All about the road conditions and decent updated NAV maps.

 

But then did you really need 4wd?

We get the lake effect snow here which people who have lived in ak and here said can be worse than ak. But most people around here slow down when that happens. I like to speed, but if the conditions are bad I also like to know I’ll arrive at my destination.

 

Yeah I'm scratching my head on how 4x4 is any benefit if you are traveling anywhere over 55 mph. But I don't have experience driving that fast in 4x4 either.

 

Not unusual at the time of year I was driving up there to have dry, wet, icy wet, snowy/icy patches for miles. The Canucks do a great job keeping the AlCan safe even in winter but I was switching in and out of 4HI a lot. I wasn't driving to the market, I was driving to Anchorage from Denver. It does make a difference being in 4HI on iffy stretches, whether you are going 20 mph or 65 mph. Lake affect is ICE conditions. A huge difference. No one should speed on ice. Ice is a game changer. Speed is totally relative to the current conditions, traffic, and experience.

 

Last year I drove a new Sequoia from STL to Montana and had terrible conditions much of the way there.
I kept it in 4Hi but was driving from about 25-60ish and lots of times under 10mph too.

You really can tell if you are pushing it if you try to listen to what the truck is trying to tell you and it is never trying to say "Go Faster" but sadly the other idiots on the road with you in the only open lane are constantly saying to.

So my attitude is just F...Them and drive as fast as I feel safe going.

It is amazing how many stupid people tear into the snow covered lane to race off only to be seen later for any number of reasons and none are good for them.

Then once in Montana it got even worse as people racing between towns through miles of mountain switchbacks seem to have to be in an even bigger hurry?

WTAF is wrong with some people?

 

I agree with your points, except lake effect is snow. Lots of it. Usually 2-3 feet in a 24 hour period. The ice comes a few days later when it melts enough to clear the snow but then refreshes.

 

So true. Not unusual to see 4X4's flipped over off the side of I-25 during a snow storm because of driving too fast for the conditions in heavy traffic and have to swerve off the highway because they can't stop.

 

All I know it it would be a bitch to drive in.

 

Yeah. Not so much the snow but the wind that blows it sideways. Then the people who have to reason to be out driving in it. I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to work. Not going to get milk in the middle of a snowstorm.

 

4WD will keep you going in snow and some ice but it doesn't help you slow down any better. I've been to a zillion accidents where folks in 4WD vehicles crashed because they were going way to fast for the snowy/icy conditions. 4WD gives some folks a false sense of confidence. Thank God I didn't have a 4WD vehicle when I was in college. I know I would have done some dumb stuff if I had.... OP- Be safe!

 

Back in the 90's I went to an accident and the NY city driver had crashed his car during a snow / ice storm. He was livid because he had an "SUV" and that wasn't supposed to happen, so I told him "first that S doesn't stand for Superman and second everything is equal on ice " he wasn't happy but I got my point across.

 

I'm no 4WD expert. (Two wheel peel with smallest engine toyota ever put in a tundra.)

My poppa always told me what you said. 4wd yields a false sense of security.

Later in life when I was out on my own I saw plenty of 4wd trucks blown off icy roads due to wind. Trucks that rear ended other cars that had stopped safely because
"Aw hell son, this ole gurl heres a furr weel drive. Shit'll stop in the snow. Guaranteed."

It didn't.

Meanwhile, I was driving by in my two wheel drive. Going slow, typically with a load of rock in the bed. It may have taken me an extra 30-60 minutes to get where I was going, but I made it safely.

 

Thanks OP for this thread! For a country boy from Mississippi and Alabama, I learned a lot about 4WD. I have never had to use 4WD on a highway down here, so the thought of driving 60+ in 4HI never crossed my mind. Now I know more about how to handle things if I'm ever up north or out west in a 4x4.

 

4wd won’t help you stop any better. But it will help you go when there’s a foot of snow already and the plows haven’t come through yet. Just drive as conditions dictate and allow extra time to stop. I usually drive in s3 or s4 to let the engine slow me down and not use the brakes as much.

 

Will do!! Don’t plan on going ahywhere at any high speeds I just wanted to make sure so I didn’t overdo it with the truck

 

Thanks for all the answers everyone!

 

I used to run 800km, (500 miles) each way in winter from Vancouver to northern Alberta every third week. Best approach for me was 2wd until a grade then into 4wd for going up the hill. After cresting the hill back into 2wd. Normal winter conditions were -20 to -30C with either a skiff of snow or up to 18 inches (tough to see where the road should be if the winds blowing. 4wd is hard on parts and fuel if it's left in for long periods of time.

 

You're truck is going to hate you. Unless you've been driving it through the surf down there it's going to hate seeing all the salt on the roads up here. Basically you'll only need 4wd if the roads are white. "Black ice" is rare and not an issue. If driving and you hit it you're not going to have time to put it in 4wd nor will it help you. And if stopped and trying to move and your tires just spin you'll know to just stay home. What you want to do is make sure your rear tires aren't spinning, even slightly when you pit it into 4wd. Otherwise i'ts going to make a nasty clunk.

 

You don't use 4wh "as much as possible" you use it when needed to get going and keep moving.

And ice saves no one. It doesn't matter what you drive or how you drive, traction is what it is.

 

Try driving all the way up to Alaska in the "fall" in November. I can attest a Yukon Fall is a bit different than in your spot on the globe unless you live in the great white north. What is your definition of white? Just sayin.................

 

Meanwhile, I was driving by in my two wheel drive. Going slow, typically with a load of rock in the bed. It may have taken me an extra 30-60 minutes to get where I was going, but I made it safely.
[/QUOTE]
Holy crap Noah, with that much rock in the truck bed you can go wherever you want. Have you ever gotten it stuck with that much weight in it?

 

Actually you do use 4WD as much as possible when needed......your post was a bit confusing... "to get going"???