Tires make more of a difference then almost any other feature when it comes to noise, traction in wet and snow conditions. Tire can make great or terrify your drive in adverse conditions.

 

double post

 

My first truck 2016 F150 XLT... When riding in wintry weather, I have some questions.

A) What if there are slippery (snow pack or unmelted spots, not necessarily inches) roads but theres also a lot of dry pavement. Do you go back and forth between 4WD Hi and 2WD?

B) When I want to engage 4WD, should I stop, put in park, engage, then go? Or can I hit the 4WD **** on the fly while driving? Should I go back to 2WD on the fly when back to bare pavement?

Thanks!

 

A) Yes
B) These new trucks have on the fly 4WD, I have a 17 Platinum so the system is different than yours but I just shift into 4WD on the go and it engages or disengages. The proper method for your vehicle will be in your owners manual. My 07 I had to pop it into neutral then back into gear to get 4WD to engage but I could do it at highway speeds, or just be stopped. My 15 and 17 just turn the **** and 4WD engages.

 

I just put a few sandbags in the bed. Only use 4WD if it is really bad and roads are completely snow covered.

 

Just received our first significant snowfall yesterday with 2-5" and found my 2015 screw w/Goodyear Wranglers to be outstanding in even the slickest icy conditions. Ran in 4H all day with zero issues. Cars sliding off the roads left and right as we have many steep icy, snow covered roads around where I live. This truck is rock solid. I place most of this on the tires however. Most modern AWD cars and 4WD trucks around my area do perfectly fine as long as good winter tires are used. All seasons tires with a bias towards winter have come a long way with better cold compounds and do strike a good balance up to a point. My Wranglers are not dedicated snow tires but do have decent "siping" so they did fine as long as they weren't pushed to hard. Difference between 2WD and 4H is night and day. I live on 27% incline street and the truck won't make it up in 2WD with snow or ice.

 

Wrangler Adventures with Kevlar?

 

We had about 6" of snow followed the next day with another 3". I have the OEM Hankook tires and honestly had zero problems getting around. I live in a VERY hilly part of CT with my home being about 1500 ft. I get a lot of snow and ice all winter long so it's important that my tires work in that stuff.

Granted the tires are new so they have maximum tread depth which perhaps helps. Have to see how they do as they get some wear on them. Over all I'm pleased with these OEM tires. My 2012 F150 Lariat had Pirelli tires which were the worst winter tire I've EVER driven on! I got actually got stuck climbing up a plowed snow packed back road in MA. Made it within a couple hundred feet (in 4WD) of the top and had to back down over a 1/4 mile! That was a white knuckle special all the to the freaken bottom. Immediately had the tires changed to Firestone AT Destination and loved them.

For now my OEM Hankook's are OK but won't hesitate to change them out if they can't get it done in snow.

 

If you have the AWD option on your truck, you have to remember it does not distribute power equally, but applies power to the rear first, and then adds power to the front as needed. My '17 platinum in AWD will slip a little in the rear at first, or if I am turning from a stop. When I flip it to 4H, it does much better.

 

We currently have about 9 inches on the ground.
I have no problem....
Proper throttle management and i can run in 2wd.
If and when i put in 4wd this truck hooks and books !
350lbs of salt at the tailgate and some BFG KO2s
Stock 32" Goodyear...
And 2.25" level with 275/70/18 BFG KO2s (33.2")
The BFG is a severe weather rated tire ..... look up the mountian/snowflake insignia.