I'm about to go up to Lake Tahoe for the weekend, and am wondering whether or not my Disco will be allowed on the road without chains. For those who have experienced extreme snow conditions (6 feet of snow during the last 48 hrs) and drove through Hwy 80 or 50 to Tahoe, did the CHP stop you at the inspection point or do all 4x4s get a free pass? How's the traction without chains? If I need to get chains, can I get cables instead? I own a 2001 DII with a stock Michelin XPCs. Thanks.
Driving in snow
- Thread starter echo63
- Start date
N
nadirk69
Guest
Driving in the snow
I have had an excellent experience driving my 97 Disco I with relatively new Goodyear standard tires in the snow. We had abut 30-40 inches to dweal with and it was a breeze. Only had to put it into 4low once and that was to haul out a stranded Jeep.
I have had an excellent experience driving my 97 Disco I with relatively new Goodyear standard tires in the snow. We had abut 30-40 inches to dweal with and it was a breeze. Only had to put it into 4low once and that was to haul out a stranded Jeep.
T
Todd Nash
Guest
Snow, Ice
My personal experience on ice and snow is less glowing.
I rented a cabin in the NC mountains last winter, which happened to be up one bizzzattchh of a steep icy, slick driveway.
The cabin rental guy had an old Jeep Wrangler and had to show me where it was.
In his lightweight Jeep 4x4 he shot right up that driveway.
Wholey Schmoley, I had to engage the CDL and still only made it 1/4 up that approx. 1/3 mile driveway.
It was precarious and treacherous and I think I about slid to my death 3 times. Anyway, the wife and I ended up walking the rest of the way.
Heavy is worse than light on a steep grade, especially with street tires. But I had no troubles on the main roads with packed snow, etc......
I'd like to hit the driveway again with better AT tires, but it'll likely never happen.
Good luck out there.
Nash
My personal experience on ice and snow is less glowing.
I rented a cabin in the NC mountains last winter, which happened to be up one bizzzattchh of a steep icy, slick driveway.
The cabin rental guy had an old Jeep Wrangler and had to show me where it was.
In his lightweight Jeep 4x4 he shot right up that driveway.
Wholey Schmoley, I had to engage the CDL and still only made it 1/4 up that approx. 1/3 mile driveway.
It was precarious and treacherous and I think I about slid to my death 3 times. Anyway, the wife and I ended up walking the rest of the way.
Heavy is worse than light on a steep grade, especially with street tires. But I had no troubles on the main roads with packed snow, etc......
I'd like to hit the driveway again with better AT tires, but it'll likely never happen.
Good luck out there.
Nash
R
Rich Lee
Guest
Hi There,
I just returned from an extended family ski trip at Kirkwood, driving convoy (95 lifted D1 with dual truetrack diffs,shod with 265/75-16 Procomp Mud-Terrains) with my wife (Stock DII shod with 245/75-16 Yokohama Geolander AT +2s ). Both trucks were stable and sure-footed. Without driving like maniacs were passing pretty much everything along the highways (88 over Carson Pass and 50 over Echo Summit), including the snowplows. The roads varied from sparse patches of black ice to drifts of 4" to 8".
I have been driving those roads for over 30 years and the Disco's have been the most confidence-inspiring of anything I have driven in the Sierras (although I think they would be surpassed by a Subaru WRX with Pirelli snow rally tires).
Anyway, to answer your question, You should have no problem with a stock Disco with the stock Michelin XPCs. I ran those tires in the Sierras for 4 years before I went to more mud-biased rubber and they worked fine on snow covered roads in the Sierras up to 12" of powder. Just be sure they have enough tread on them. The CHP will inspect the tires at the chain controls for both MS rating and tread condition.
Though I have not put on chains on pavement for 10 years, I still always carry them (Sure-Grip Z cable chains, about $75 at most Kragen stores will do fine), along with a shovel, tow strap, and enough "bivvy gear" to survive a couple nights if worst comes to worst.
The only Disco-specific hints I can give are:
1. leave the center diff lock off, unless you are driving slowly in very deep snow. On curvy roads with packed snow, the rear end tends to "crab" a bit around corners with the center diff locked as the rear wheels are forced to travel the same speed as the fronts.
2. ABS may improve cornering stability while braking, but it will increase your stopping distance in a panic situation on snow. "Desperate manuvers" may include rapid series of downshifts applying the emergency brake or "scrubbing offf" speed against the snowbank ( they should be very high and soft right now). Always remember to use a suitably low gear on snowy descents it is much more stable than relying on the brakes.
3. Use your rear fog lamps. It's gonna snow at least through next week and you can use all the visability you can get to keep the punk in the jeep with bald tires from rear-ending you in a whiteout.
4. Check for ice and snow packing up in your wheelwells and remove it often before it slows you down or impairs your steering. I use an old ice axe for this, as a shovel is too big. A ski pole will also work (good to bring at least 1 along, even if you are a snowboarder)
5. Be sure your windshield washer bottle is filled with winter fluid that won't freeze on your windshield. Get new wiper blades while your at it and don't forget a good ice scraper.
Have a good trip,
Rich
PS. You can check highway conditions en-route by dialing 1-800-427-ROAD
I just returned from an extended family ski trip at Kirkwood, driving convoy (95 lifted D1 with dual truetrack diffs,shod with 265/75-16 Procomp Mud-Terrains) with my wife (Stock DII shod with 245/75-16 Yokohama Geolander AT +2s ). Both trucks were stable and sure-footed. Without driving like maniacs were passing pretty much everything along the highways (88 over Carson Pass and 50 over Echo Summit), including the snowplows. The roads varied from sparse patches of black ice to drifts of 4" to 8".
I have been driving those roads for over 30 years and the Disco's have been the most confidence-inspiring of anything I have driven in the Sierras (although I think they would be surpassed by a Subaru WRX with Pirelli snow rally tires).
Anyway, to answer your question, You should have no problem with a stock Disco with the stock Michelin XPCs. I ran those tires in the Sierras for 4 years before I went to more mud-biased rubber and they worked fine on snow covered roads in the Sierras up to 12" of powder. Just be sure they have enough tread on them. The CHP will inspect the tires at the chain controls for both MS rating and tread condition.
Though I have not put on chains on pavement for 10 years, I still always carry them (Sure-Grip Z cable chains, about $75 at most Kragen stores will do fine), along with a shovel, tow strap, and enough "bivvy gear" to survive a couple nights if worst comes to worst.
The only Disco-specific hints I can give are:
1. leave the center diff lock off, unless you are driving slowly in very deep snow. On curvy roads with packed snow, the rear end tends to "crab" a bit around corners with the center diff locked as the rear wheels are forced to travel the same speed as the fronts.
2. ABS may improve cornering stability while braking, but it will increase your stopping distance in a panic situation on snow. "Desperate manuvers" may include rapid series of downshifts applying the emergency brake or "scrubbing offf" speed against the snowbank ( they should be very high and soft right now). Always remember to use a suitably low gear on snowy descents it is much more stable than relying on the brakes.
3. Use your rear fog lamps. It's gonna snow at least through next week and you can use all the visability you can get to keep the punk in the jeep with bald tires from rear-ending you in a whiteout.
4. Check for ice and snow packing up in your wheelwells and remove it often before it slows you down or impairs your steering. I use an old ice axe for this, as a shovel is too big. A ski pole will also work (good to bring at least 1 along, even if you are a snowboarder)
5. Be sure your windshield washer bottle is filled with winter fluid that won't freeze on your windshield. Get new wiper blades while your at it and don't forget a good ice scraper.
Have a good trip,
Rich
PS. You can check highway conditions en-route by dialing 1-800-427-ROAD
happy new year all together!
Never been at this road.
Tip: use 4 chains on 4wheel drive cars and you can move very good
on snow-ice-and mud roads!
greets
-OTTO-
Never been at this road.
Tip: use 4 chains on 4wheel drive cars and you can move very good
on snow-ice-and mud roads!
greets
-OTTO-
Just call the highway partol and ask them if you need to carry chains. IT varies from place to place. Some places if you're running tires that are sever snow rated (the one's with little mountain and snowflake emblem on the sidewall) you don't have to carry chains of you have 4WD. Others you have to carry at least one set.
It's unclear to me if you are an experienced snow driver or not. A few hints...
Periodically make sure your tail lights don't have snow buildup from driving.
Periodically make sure your head lights don't have snow buildup.
If you have snow on the car, completely clean off the car, not just the windows.
It's unclear to me if you are an experienced snow driver or not. A few hints...
Periodically make sure your tail lights don't have snow buildup from driving.
Periodically make sure your head lights don't have snow buildup.
If you have snow on the car, completely clean off the car, not just the windows.
California Chain requirements:
Requirement One (R1): Chains are required, snow tires are allowed.
Requirement Two (R2): Chains are required on all vehicles except four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires on all four wheels. (NOTE: Four wheel drive vehicles must carry traction devices in chain control areas)
Requirement Three (R3): Chains are required on all vehicles, no exceptions.
Check the link
here to find the conditions for any given road at the moment.
Have fun. The antics of morons on the road will present a much greater danger to you than the road conditions, I would bet.
The CHP rates driving conditions and chain requirements on a road-by-road basis. They will rate roads as follows:echo63 said:
Requirement One (R1): Chains are required, snow tires are allowed.
Requirement Two (R2): Chains are required on all vehicles except four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires on all four wheels. (NOTE: Four wheel drive vehicles must carry traction devices in chain control areas)
Requirement Three (R3): Chains are required on all vehicles, no exceptions.
Check the link
here to find the conditions for any given road at the moment.
Have fun. The antics of morons on the road will present a much greater danger to you than the road conditions, I would bet.
Driving in Snow
Do not, I repeat do not, attempt to stop your disco on an icy road by applying the E-brake.
If you are skilled at winter driving, this technique can be applied to aid in maneuvering a vehicle where the E-brakes are only applied to the rear wheels.. Not so in the disco; with the E-brake drum on the drive shaft all 4 wheels will lock and there will be equal drag on all 4 wheels and you will completely loose the ability to steer the vehicle. If you doubt me, find yourself a frozen lake or large ice covered vacant parking lot and try it.
Rudd
Do not, I repeat do not, attempt to stop your disco on an icy road by applying the E-brake.
If you are skilled at winter driving, this technique can be applied to aid in maneuvering a vehicle where the E-brakes are only applied to the rear wheels.. Not so in the disco; with the E-brake drum on the drive shaft all 4 wheels will lock and there will be equal drag on all 4 wheels and you will completely loose the ability to steer the vehicle. If you doubt me, find yourself a frozen lake or large ice covered vacant parking lot and try it.
Rudd
R
Rich Lee
Guest
DiscoveryXD said:
Sorry,
It wasn't me this week. I didn't get all the way over to 395. However, I do own a white 95 Disco with TJM bumpers, wilderness rack with green oudoor carpeting on the plywood flooring and Hells driving lights. I'll post some pics to Ho soon.
Stay warm,
Rich
R
Rich Lee
Guest
thabes said:
That is why I put the e-brake under "desperate " measures. One of the quickest ways to stop in deep, dry snow (or gravel) is to actually get the wheels to lock up, which builds a wedge of snow in front of the tires, which increases the coefficient of friction considerably. This is why rally drivers prefer to disable their ABS on snow. The assumption is that you are already in a bad situation where stopping ASAP is more important than stopping in perfect control. I also recommend testing this in a snow-covered parking lot to see what measures stop you the fastest. Remember, the e-brake tecnique is for last resort stopping in snow deep enough to form that "wedge". It will not work on glare ice.
Keep your shiny side up
Rich
C
Creemore
Guest
Seriously?
I've been very curious about this. I have a weekend place in an area that sees serious snow. I've often backed off the really deep stuff because I didn't know for sure how much snow it could push through before hanging up, and I'd be a long way from help and hated by the neighbours for blocking the plow if it did. Are you saying that you had up to 40" of snow on the road, and drove right through it? What are others' experience with this? How much snow would it take before a stock Disco pilot would turn back?
nadirk69 said:I have had an excellent experience driving my 97 Disco I with relatively new Goodyear standard tires in the snow. We had abut 30-40 inches to dweal with and it was a breeze. Only had to put it into 4low once and that was to haul out a stranded Jeep.
I've been very curious about this. I have a weekend place in an area that sees serious snow. I've often backed off the really deep stuff because I didn't know for sure how much snow it could push through before hanging up, and I'd be a long way from help and hated by the neighbours for blocking the plow if it did. Are you saying that you had up to 40" of snow on the road, and drove right through it? What are others' experience with this? How much snow would it take before a stock Disco pilot would turn back?
D
dmcfarlane
Guest
Rich Lee said:
OK, that's all well and good. What worries me is that sudden application of the transfer case brake would impose such a sudden loading upon the transmission and driveline that it could damage or break some of these components... Do you actually have any experience of applying the handbrake when travelling at any significant speed? I have applied it when travelling at perhaps 5 mph (as an emergency manoeuvre because I had jumped out of the truck with the transmission still in drive) and although it worked fine, and the truck stopped on a dime, I would never have dreamed of applying the brake at higher speeds.