Dually and snow

[washley1]

OK, I'm a Florida boy, but I do have lots of snow driving time under my belt in Canada and Alaska and elsewhere. But never with a dually. We are headed up to Maryland next Tuesday, without the trailer obviously, and with the freak winter storms that we have seen blow in over the last few weeks, I am thinking take the truck rather than the VW CC, as the truck is 4X4. I have heard that dually's are not great in snow because they spread out the load too much. Anyone have any thoughts/experience they could share? Biggest problem I see is the fuel expense will be more than double, but for safety I will spend it.

[dieselguy]

2WD dually gets pretty helpless fast in moderate to deep snow ... add some weight in the back ... it helps a little. 4WD would be a different story I'd guess.

[richfaa]

Being a veteran Pennsylvania and Ohio driving in snow and ice. We always added weight in the back of pickup trucks, always. Bags of sand was the best thing as if you did get stuck you had sand to help you out. Never noted any big difference SWD or dually they were all loose. Never had either of our dually trucks in snow and hope to keep it that way.

In your case sand is easy to come by in Florida.....Weight over the wheels helps a lot.

[bncinwv]

4WD is a must, the weight of the diesel engine on the front is what helps tremendously. If you are trekking through unplowed territory, it is a totally different animal as the rear duallies will tend to "float". If you are interstate driving, I would think the car would be the better choice. Besides, if one of the freak storms blow through, it is not your vehicle that will determine if you get there, you will be at the mercy of the highway crews and all of the other people on the roads, that probably should not be there in the first place. If it were me, and the car had good tires, that would be my choice. Just my opinion, but I will confess that I really like 4WD anything in the snow!
Bingo

[DarMar]

Personally I wouldn't own a dually without 4 x 4, but as you have indicated your's is 4wd and for that reason you will be fine. Even to manoeuvre around the yard on hard packed snow the dually will spin real easy and lacks traction when not in 4wd without a bunch of weight in the bed, but again 4wd solves that problem. If you were to run in real deep snow you would find the front wheels breaking a trail and the rear duals will fishtail back and forth trying to run in that single trail left from the front axle, but again it's just a bit of movement and 4wd keeps you on the road just fine. In the end you will have no worries.

[Artemus Gordon]

My last dually had K2 TAs. Very aggressive tread. Had no snow issues. I never chained up. The factor tires when worn out, will be replaced with same K2s. CHP made me chain up in Nov in way to Oregon with current rig. That was a pain!

[Ramblin Roadrunners]

If you drive a dually in ruts where only a single wheel had been the dually rear end will slop around throwing the rear end around. It will bounce in and out of the ruts if the ruts are hard and frozen or off road on dried mud ruts. If no ruts -- no problem.

[kdeiss]

I have a GMC 4x4 8ft bed with extended cab If it was me i would take the VW.
When that truck starts going sideways you got your hands full!
Just my 2 cents

[bigskyjimmy]

I love my Dually but My 4x4 dually SUCKS in the snow or sand etc.... been four wheeling for 35+ years, Jeeps ,Bronco's etc.. and this thing is the worst can't imagine only having 2wd with this truck, my last SRW 4x4 would put my Dually to shame offroad but nothing beats a Dually for hauling a 5er

[K0LCB]

I hauled firewood several years with an old 1&1/2 ton Chevy. It had dual rear wheels but no 4 wheel drive. I never got stuck, snow or mud. Common sense will go further than any mechanical advantage.

[mhs4771]

Well I'll add my 5 cents worth. We lived in Western NY, in the Rochester/Buffalo area (actually 50 miles south of Rochester). I worked in Rochester, so had a 50 mile one way commute. Typically drove a 2001 Monte Carlo, except in the winter when the roads were bad, then I used our 2005 Extend Cab/Long Bed Chevy Dually. For the winter I loaded in approx 600 to 700 Lbs of sand bags in the bed behind the wheel wells. Ran GY Wrangler Silent Armor M&S tires and nothing would stop that truck.
I really think the secret with a Dually in snow is enough weight to get traction to the rear tires. And with the Duramax the added weight made next to no difference in the fuel mileage.
My story/experience and I'm sticking to it.

[Slufoot733]

Since your truck is 4X4 you should have no issues. But to be honest, I'd drive the VW. The roads are clear for the most part and unless you get caught is a fast moving storm you shouldn't have any problems. Remember, the northern states can usualy handle snow. Down south they are not so prepaired and therefore a little snow is a big problem.

[richfaa]

You know Kein is right. What happened in Atlanta would have been a non event in Northern Ohio Or PA. In Northern Ohio the snow plows are parked along side the roads waiting for it to start snowing when a storm is predicted. The only time I was delayed by a snow storm was when a snow plow ran over my station wagon. I had made the mistake of being in front of the snow plow instead of it back of it were I should have been. The plow did take me to work and paid for the damage.

[JandC]

I would take the dually 4x4. If the roads turn to crap there will be a bunch of idiots out there that will loose control and hit something, maybe you. I would rather be in a dually than a VW when someone rams into me. But maybe your healthcare is better than mine.

[bigskyjimmy]

Also another thing hurting 4x4 capability of 1 ton duallies is you are running E load tires that have no give and are as hard as a rock ,I travel with my hitch in the back and a scooter and it still does not help much, what does help is when the snow hits or I'm driving on the beach I lower the air pressure some to give them more flotation and flex

[washley1]

Wow, thank you all for the replies! Yes, most of the trip will be on I 95, and I don't expect much problem there, although you never know...Our son lives in Centreville, MD, on the eastern shore, and there are a lot of small two lane roads we will have to navigate going and coming. That's why I thought about taking the truck. We did have the VW up there a few winters ago, but he was living in Frederick then, in northwest MD, and the roads were more urban. We had no problem in the snow there. Now it's a rural area and more concern. I'll listen to any more ideas, and let you know my decision/outcome!

[washley1]

quote:Originally posted by JandC

I would take the dually 4x4. If the roads turn to crap there will be a bunch of idiots out there that will loose control and hit something, maybe you. I would rather be in a dually than a VW when someone rams into me. But maybe your healthcare is better than mine.

This is a very good point! If they hit the VW they might hurt me. If they hit the truck, I might not even notice!!

[leemedic]

quote:Originally posted by K0LCB

I hauled firewood several years with an old 1&1/2 ton Chevy. It had dual rear wheels but no 4 wheel drive. I never got stuck, snow or mud. Common sense will go further than any mechanical advantage.

Totally Agree! Common Sense!

[WaltBennett]

X-whatever about adding weight and not having problems with a dually in snow. IMHO most people are used to front wheel drive cars today, and have forgotten about how terrible rear wheel vehicles are in snow when they've no weight in the back. My two previous trucks were single wheeled and were terrible in snow without 4WD and some weight, just as my dually is. If they're so awful, why are bigger plows all DRW?

[akf15e]

Whenever we have snow here (or go to the beach to drive out on the sand) we take our Tahoe rather than the dually. It is much more "balanced" weight wise and in 4WD will go through anything. Tried the dually once on sand - never again if I have the Tahoe option. I would think the VW would yield similar results, even though only FWD.

Unrelated thread hijack - Walt, it is funny that there are 2 Walter Bennetts (even though I go by Butch)who are retired USAF on this forum!