Driving a Tundra on the tundra

[redduck]

A relative has offered to give my daughter her 2001 Toyota Tundra (4WD, V8, 61,000 miles).

My daughter lives in Wisconsin where it apparently snows a lot. She and Tundra are both originally from California where it doesn’t snow--or even rain. The question is: Just how safe is a Tundra on the tundra (e.g. difficult to drive in bad weather)? Is it harder to brake (actually, harder to stop than other cars/trucks)? Does it tend to fishtail more than other vehicles, etc? The daughter has lived in Wisconsin for several years now, so she has had experience driving in the snow, just not in something as large as a Tundra.

 

[REWahoo]

Pickups are light in the rear to allow for cargo capacity. Throw a few bags of sand in the bed (of the truck!) and it should handle fine in adverse weather.

 

[Senator]

I drive a F350 7.3 Diesel all year long. In the winter, I plow snow. I do add some block (~850 lbs) in the back when I plow, but try to take them out if I am not plowing for a few days.

I use 4WD when the roads are snowy or icy, and I have Goodyear Silent Armour tires.

Any car is good, front wheel drive makes it better. All wheel drive when you have to, and great tires will make a world of difference.

 

[akck]

Our youngest is going to graduate school in Wisconsin. He drives a 4WD SUV and during winter, his roommate's cars remain parked while he can drive with no problem. He sometimes feels sorry for students trying to drive their cars out of the parking lot as he drives around them. As others have said, just throw some weight in the bed during winter. If she's become a seasoned winter driver, you can even skip that most of the time.


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[Theseus]

Simpy put, "tires, tires, tires" is my best advice. And that's with 41 years of driving experience in tundraland, with econoboxes, sports cars, 4x4 trucks, SUV's, motorcycles (in the winter? - yeah, BTDT), you name it. I've literally had vehicles that couldn't climb a 2% grade transformed into blizzard worthy road (or off-road) warriors by replacing the tires. One doesn't necessarily need to go to an overly aggressive (read noisy) tread to get there either. Even if the tires on the Tacoma are in visibly good condition with deep tread, one can get a good idea of the winter worthiness by checking for brand specific reviews on the web, I'd recommend Tire Rack for that. And if the tires are at all questionable, replacing them before the snow flies with a tire rated more highly for deep snow and ice traction is the way to go, and is well worth the money.

 

[Car-Guy]

For the past 20 years or so, I have always kept at least one full sized 4 wheel drive pickup. A couple of Chevy's, a Nissian Titan and a couple of Tundra's. Currently I have a 2015 Tundra w/4 wheel drive. To be honest, I have liked them all. I rarely need 4 wheel drive on the road but it's really nice to have when it's slick (rain or snow). However, the best 4 wheel drive in the world is almost worthless without good tires. Two things I never scrimp on are my brakes and tires. I change them both well before many folks would think they are really needed. (But that's me)

To me they are no harder to drive than any other pickup. Just be sure to read the owners manuals on operating the 4w drive system on your truck.

The biggest problem I see with 4 wheel drive vehicles are many people think (bad ideas) that they can go any where they want off road and drive the speed limits in the rain or snow on the road. Trust me, they can still get stuck, slip, slide, hydroplane, etc, like any other vehicle.

With that said, I still feel a lot safer using 4 wheel drive in slippery conditions. (although there's usually not a lot of snow around here) Reliability of the 4 wheel drive components has been great. In the past 20 years I've only had to replace a solenoid on one of vehicles. Other than that, they have all been problem free and several have been driven over 100k miles.

 

[Ronstar]

Hopefully it's a 4wd Tundra. I wouldn't own a 2wd truck in Wisconsin. A 2wd truck is tough to drive in snow and worse on ice. A front wheel drive car handles lighter snows and ice better than a 2wd truck. Like REWahoo said, load the truck bed up with weight for the winter. Put it in 4wd when it snows.


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[Jack_Pine]

Weight in the back and make sure the tires are new with some aggressive tread and should do just fine.

 

[RAE]

I live in the U.P. of Michigan, just across the border from Wisconsin. I own a 2012 4WD Toyota Tundra, and I love it. I believe you said the Tundra your daughter was getting was also 4 WD, and if so, she won't need to worry about putting extra weight in the bed (that would be important if she was getting a 2WD truck). If your daughter has driven other vehicles through Wisconsin winters, she should be experienced with winter driving in general, so she shouldn't have any problems with the Tundra. The only thing she may have to get used to is that the Tundra is a big truck, with limited turning radius, so it's quite a bit different than driving a car. But once she gets used to the size, she shouldn't have any problems. As someone else said, she won't need to use the 4WD all the time during winter......only when the roads are snow-covered or icy. And good tires are very important, as someone else said, so have her check the tires when she receives the truck, and if they have a lot of miles on them, new tires would be a good investment.

 

[redduck]

I'm getting the idea that the right tires are the key to this whole Tundra snow/ice on the road thing. And, weight in back may be a good idea, but, perhaps optional. (It is a 4WD). I'll have to check and see if I can buy her sandbags on Amazon (I have Prime, so I'll get a break on shipping).


edit: Just checked. Amazon only sells empty sandbags. What's up with that?

 

[REWahoo]

edit: Just checked. Amazon only sells empty sandbags. What's up with that?

Check jet.

 

[Ronstar]

I put bags of water softener salt in the pickup bed. That way i can use some to put under tires if I'm slightly stuck, or use later in the water softener.


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[Moemg]

I'm getting the idea that the right tires are the key to this whole Tundra snow/ice on the road thing. And, weight in back may be a good idea, but, perhaps optional. (It is a 4WD). I'll have to check and see if I can buy her sandbags on Amazon (I have Prime, so I'll get a break on shipping).


edit: Just checked. Amazon only sells empty sandbags. What's up with that?

Home Depot has bags of sand .

 

[Rick_Head]

Wisconsin has tundra?

I live where it gets cold. If we get snow in October, it's still there in April. I'll offer this: 4WD will help you get moving, it WON'T help you stop.

 

[cooch96]

Simpy put, "tires, tires, tires" is my best advice. And that's with 41 years of driving experience in tundraland, with econoboxes, sports cars, 4x4 trucks, SUV's, motorcycles (in the winter? - yeah, BTDT), you name it. I've literally had vehicles that couldn't climb a 2% grade transformed into blizzard worthy road (or off-road) warriors by replacing the tires. One doesn't necessarily need to go to an overly aggressive (read noisy) tread to get there either. Even if the tires on the Tacoma are in visibly good condition with deep tread, one can get a good idea of the winter worthiness by checking for brand specific reviews on the web, I'd recommend Tire Rack for that. And if the tires are at all questionable, replacing them before the snow flies with a tire rated more highly for deep snow and ice traction is the way to go, and is well worth the money.

+1 on tirerack.com.

 

[GravitySucks]

Agree -Tires tires tires. And remember 4 wheel drive doesn't stop any better than 2 wheel drive.

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[38Chevy454]

4WD will help you get going but it does not really stop or turn any better. Lot of people forget that. Real winter tires can make as much difference as anything, as several suggested. Some weight in the bed does help.

4WD does not make you able to drive like no concern for the bad traction. Just drive cautious, no fast acceleration, braking or turning and she will do fine.

 

[Jack_Pine]

I put bags of water softener salt in the pickup bed. That way i can use some to put under tires if I'm slightly stuck, or use later in the water softener.


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Me too, multi-purpose.

 

[redduck]

I put bags of water softener salt in the pickup bed. That way i can use some to put under tires if I'm slightly stuck, or use later in the water softener.

Me too, multi-purpose.

I live in Southern California, so I never needed to even think about stuff like this. (I also have never driven a truck). This information is all brand new to me.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[Walt34]

I'll offer this: 4WD will help you get moving, it WON'T help you stop.

+1 on that. That was the biggest surprise when I got my first 4WD pickup and is what I tell people when they buy their first. "It'll go great in the snow but it doesn't stop worth a damn". Not surprising really - the tire patch on the ground isn't that much bigger than a car and it is a heavier vehicle because of the 4WD gear. But I've seen a lot of people get carried away with how great it goes and they forget about leaving more room for stopping.

So suggest to your daughter that she go out and play in the snow for a bit with it when she is not in a hurry to get anywhere and get used to how it drives. It isn't hard, but it is different.

 

[Ronstar]

I live in Southern California, so I never needed to even think about stuff like this. (I also have never driven a truck). This information is all brand new to me.

Thanks for the tip.

And the tire tips mentioned above are very important. I'm going to get new tires for my F-150 4x4 before winter. Tires with deeper tread than my current set. If the truck isn't going to get much highway mileage, and it's going to spend winters on snow/ice, it helps a lot to have deeper tread.

 

[travelover]

And the tire tips mentioned above are very important. I'm going to get new tires for my F-150 4x4 before winter. Tires with deeper tread than my current set. If the truck isn't going to get much highway mileage, and it's going to spend winters on snow/ice, it helps a lot to have deeper tread.

It is not just the depth of the tread but the hardness of the rubber and siping, especially on ice.

 

[Koolau]

4WD will help you get going but it does not really stop or turn any better. Lot of people forget that. Real winter tires can make as much difference as anything, as several suggested. Some weight in the bed does help.

4WD does not make you able to drive like no concern for the bad traction. Just drive cautious, no fast acceleration, braking or turning and she will do fine.

We had a subaru Loyale which had "on demand" 4WD. We found that the 4WD setting could get you into trouble much faster than the brakes (and steering) could get you out of it. Do NOT let the ease of 4WD getting through snow FOOL you.

One other thing which may or may not be valuable. On the Loyale, the auto trans allowed you to select 2nd gear. When you selected 2nd gear, the car did not start out in 1st gear. It actually started out in 2nd gear. This lowered the torque to the wheels and virtually prevented accidental wheel spin - even in the slickest conditions. Starting in "drive" could easily lead to wheel spin - even though the car was in 4WD. Using the 2nd gear with 4WD was ESPECIALLY helpful when you were parallel parked in slick and or snow conditions. Cocking the wheels to exit a tight space is a recipe for wheel spin in icy conditions. Using 2nd prevented this (on the Loyale). YMMV as always.