Greetings:

I read the forums often, but this is my first post:

I live in Arizona. I purchased a 2009 F-150 4x4 new last year and opted for the open differential.

Today I learned that we are being transfered to Colorado and I am deathly afraid that I will not be able to get around town in the snow in Colorado. What options do I have?

Thank you so much for any advice.

 

Buy a really good set of snow tires (REAL snow tires like Bridgestone Blizzak, etc) and you'll be fine. Better than fine, in fact! If you need to, mount them on a second set of rims and just use them for winter (they don't wear well on dry pavement).

Getting moving is only a tiny part of the equation. More important is turning and stopping and tires will do more for you in those venues than any kind of a traction aid. Ultimately, you can get moving if you're in "one-wheel drive" mode and spinning one rear tire by momentarily engaging 4-wheel high.

A tight limited slip (or automatic locker) makes many snow driving situations worse, because the clutch types have to "break away" in a turn (the clutches need to release). That might be pretty hard to do on ice where's there's no traction and the truck would feel like it has a locker or a spool and you could have control problems in turns on a slippery surface. My opinion is that you are often better off with an open diff in snow country. If you get a limited slip, get a very low bias one, like a stock Traction Lok. I have a gear type limited slip (Truetrac) on one of my trucks and it's pretty civilized in snow country, but an on-demand locker (driver controlled) like an Eaton ELocker, might be OK too because you could engage it when needed and disengage it for control.

Also consider adding some weight to the rear for winter. Right now, I have 500 pounds of tractor weights in the rear of my F-150 (I live in NW Ohio, having moved there from Colorado). The weight makes a big difference in balancing out the light rear end of a pickup. If you have a crewcab or a shortbed, you have better weight distribution than my reg cab longbed and you'd need less weight but weight over the rear tires makes a HUGE difference.

 

Jim,

You have no idea how much better you have made me feel by reading your post. I was honestly thinking that it is the end of the world...mainly because I love my truck and dont want to replace it, but I do want to comfort of knowing that I can get from point A to point B.

How much are you thinking a Trutrac or a Traction Lok would be?

Thanks again!

 

A Ford traction lok added will help a bunch, but will cost several hundred dollars.

My 2000 4x4 had traction lok in the rear and it was a great help and I worked in Michigan, Ohio, PA, and New York on Lake Ontario during the winters. My current truck has a traction lok rear and does great. You can use tire chains in some states if the snow gets deep.

However, Adding some weight in the rear of the bed will do wonders too. Up north, you can buy bags of sand at the builder supply houses and some gas stations to put in the back to add weight to the rear tires. And if you get stuck on ice you can dump some sand on the ice to get moving. People lived with rear drive without traction lok for many years.

 

Roadie,

Can you give me a little more information on what a Ford traction lok does? And when you say "several hundred dollars", is that installed? That may be worth a piece of mind.

Thanks!

 

Another trick is if you are slipping from a dead stop apply the "E" brake about four or five clicks, this holds the loose wheel and lets the one with bite get you moving. Just be sure to release it when you get going. (Poor man's posi)!!!!

 

Make sure you never engage 4x4 when the rear wheels are spinning. My best advice to you is to find a snowed in parking lot and go make some figure eights. Yes I mean drive around in a figure eight. Do this in both 4Hi and 4Lo and 2wd. This is the best way to see how your truck handles in slippery conditions. Then go purchase a few hundred pounds of sand bags. Place them over the rear wheels and do more figure eights. I have been doing this for years and I know what my truck will do. And when the **** end tries to pass the front wheels I know what to do to correct it.

.

 

The Ford Traction Lok is the clutch type factory limited slip. It's the one you would have gotten with the new truck had you checked that box on the order sheet. Fairly marginal unit overall but you can buy the it for around $300-ish (aftermarket sources). Plus a shop will charge about 4-5 hours of shop time (at whatever the shop rate is) to install. The Truetrac is a gear type limited slip from Eaton. It's about double the money for the unit but the insto is about the same. Really, either is not necessary but if I had to pick one to highly recommend, get the Truetrac. The Traction Lok wears out in 50K or so and gradually reverts to an open diff. The Truetrac retains the same performance virtually its entire life. Plus it's a little more positive while retaining better manners on slippery roads.

Truthfully, good tires and weight will really do 90 percent of what you want. Plus, good portion of it is driver. If you drive smoothly, slowly and think ahead, you will be fine. If you will be in Denver area, there is a great winter driving school, the Bridgestone Winter Driving School up at Steamboat Springs (west above Denver up in the mountains). Go through that... you're an ace! There are some good sources of winter driving tips on the web, so start reading up. Bridgestone also has a good book on winter driving, called "Why Skid." Google for it. It will give you a lot of important basics.

When you get to snow country, your first trip out in the snow should be to an empty parking lot so you can practice stopping and turning. Finesse is the skill you want to master ... a light foot on the pedals and an eye that reads the road up ahead. You'll learn!

 

Yes, Denver area. I have never driven in snow and it scares me. But I think I am going to take your advice. I may try the remainder of this year with just adding weight, and if necessary, will look at Truetrac for next year. Are you thinking about a grand installed? Thanks again.

 

I just read a little about Truetrac and the thing that sounds good to me is they advertise that is "drives open until needed". I wish I knew someone that has this system.

 

I have a Truetrac in my '86 F-250HD and would have on in my F-150HD if they made one to fit the semi-float 10.25. I've use the Truetrac in the '86 for 5 years (and winters) now and it's very nice on ice and snow compared to a regular clutch limited slip. Your truck likely has the 9.75 axle and they do make a Truetrac for it. Highly recommended by me (FWIW).

 

The stock traction lok works with clutch plates that tighten up when power is applied. During normal cornering they slip and allow the inside wheel to turn slower than the outside wheel. They work great but if you offroad or rock climb, you may need a heavier duty unit. The tl in my 2000 F150 4x4 that I sold to a friend at 105k miles is still doing great at 150k miles. At about 80k miles the clutches started chattering and a fluid change cured the problem. I just did a search on ebay. A Ford OE TL in the 8.8" size is available for about $200. I didn't find one for a 9.75". Installation will probably cost at least $300. The synthetic fluid and friction modifier will cost about $50 from Ford.

My 02 has 83k on it now and the traction lok still works great.

Really though, a 4x4 will do just fine in the snow without a tl rear. Before the two trucks that I mentioned, I had a 94 SWB F150 4x4 with no tl in the rear and it did fine in the snow. It did have 31/10.5x15 tires. I did notice an improvement in the snow with the tl 2000 and 2002 trucks.

 

you will be fine, we just had a foot here in virginia and our f150 4x4 did great even with a open diffential, i just filled the back of the truck with snow and we went places i never expected to be able to in 2wd, the only time we needed 4x4 was to get in the drive way and we live on a hill and it was ice

 

Thanks Steven

 

no problem, see the fact that with snow,sand,or mud the traction is so little so a open differential spins both wheels anyway. so yea we have never been even close to becoming stuck with our f150 4x4