What do you need to drive in 3 feet of snow.

[AcesandEights]

I remember when I used to walk to school in winter. It was 10 miles up hill both directions. The winter of 59 it snowed 41/2 feet, I was only 5'tall at the time. It took me 6 hrs to get to school and by that time it was time to go home. 12 hours of walking/digging my way back and forth taught me a valuable life lesson. Stay home when it snows like that.

I call BS. Should have taken you half as much time on the way back since the trail was already dug.

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[Geronimo]

Same, winter of 79 though, and my mom got pissed when I stuffed my hat and gloves in the mailbox so I wouldn't look like a dork.

Oh that's too funny. I was given on old Stroh's beer shirt from a neighbor of mine. It was a white long sleeve with a big Stroh's beer logo on the back, the nice heavy sew on type. I wore it under a jacket so my Ma wouldn't see it. Got near the house and thought it would be a good idea to take the shirt off so she wouldn't see it and smack me for wearing a beer truck drivers shirt to school.....Dummy me I got slapped for wearing a jacket and no shirt....

 

[Geronimo]

I call BS. Should have taken you half as much time on the way back since the trail was already dug.

Damn..... ruined my story....

 

[LKG]

Did snow recovery in Montana growing up. I picked it up working on a ranch. Tall skinny tires fully aired up do best in deep snow. Chains rule. That was true in dry montana powder where you could push deep snow.

Moved to Seattle and found out fully aired up pizza cutters was even more important in wet snow. Did many deep snow recovers, fully chained up.

On two different deep snow events, I pulled out stuck cops. At first they would decline, I called for a two truck, but thanks for the offer. I'd check on them 90 minutes late, I'll take your help now.

> I don't know if they have chains on their police cars but that is about only thing that will work in what they got.
Some do in Seattle. They obviously do much better.

Fully aired up studded tires rule on ice, chains in deep snow.

97% of the internet thinks you should air down in snow, as airing down works everywhere else. The only time mall crawlers do any wheeling is lots of snow. I pulled out many dozens of them with big wide tires, some aired down.

Just don't get stuck with 4 chains. I did, and it took a kinetic chain to get me out.

That's funny, grew up in what used to be rural ID, not so rural anymore. We got a huge dump of snow one year, my brother had a 1 ton dually stock truck, he had to go into town for some reason, he chained up and drove off. Pulled not one but two cops out of snow banks and several more rigs on his way. I think he averaged about $15 per rescue, not a bad days work in the 80's, haha.

I will add that a Hi-lift jack is the perfect tool for for a deep snow U-turn. lift, tip over repeat, front to back. Oh and a flat nosed shovel,

 

[LKG]

Oh that's too funny. I was given on old Stroh's beer shirt from a neighbor of mine. It was a white long sleeve with a big Stroh's beer logo on the back, the nice heavy sew on type. I wore it under a jacket so my Ma wouldn't see it. Got near the house and thought it would be a good idea to take the shirt off so she wouldn't see it and smack me for wearing a beer truck drivers shirt to school.....Dummy me I got slapped for wearing a jacket and no shirt....

Those mom's will get ya every time, haha.

 

[Geronimo]

Those mom's will get ya every time, haha.

She and my Dad were true Jems. I miss them. These stories bring back good memories.
Real important to take kids out and get them away from hellivision, take em jeepin and deep into the wilderness whenever possible. Hunting fishing whatever. Even in the SnOw .
Toboggans do tie to the top.....gives you extra lift going down the highway....

 

[Rock Hopper]

3 feet of snow you say? Sounds like a dusting...

 

[Shibadog]

A snowmobile-period. I’ve driven in a bunch of snow in several frozen midwestern states in the last55 years. Huge number of variables, but no passenger vehicle with wheels will do “great”. An end loader can get through but not much else on wheels. I have driven through a fresh, heavy 29” snow in an old Suzuki Brute (tall skinny lug tires.). It went but wasn’t fun. TJ with ARB lockers went a ways through a 34” snow, until the snow piled up in front of it and I couldn’t push anymore (grill packed full of snow-temp gauge down to the “cold”level

 

[Tr4ckD4ys]

People died in their cars in Buffalo because they were stupid.

We can break down stupid into 2 subtopics.

1) showing bad judgement - why did you go out?? Did you need to go out? If you did need to go out, could that have been avoided with even a little bit of planning? Groceries - no excuse you knew about this storm for several days. Prescription med - ditto.

2) being unprepared.
Did you have a sleeping bag and down coat in the car? This could allow you to survive a week in the car without even starting it.

Did you have a full tank of gas before venturing out? You had several days to plan for this. All your vehicles should have had a full tank of gas.

A Jeep will burn between a quart and a half gallon per hour idling. So you have at minimum 40 hours of idling and therefore heat, if you have a full tank.

Did you have a heart attack and EMS couldn't get to you in a timely manner - you weren't stupid. But your neighbor who died in his car in a snowbank. He deserved to die.

Like I said. Idiocy. Most of those who died, killed themselves. There is really no excuse. You can kill yourself just as easily in a Jeep in these conditions as you can in a Rav4. NO VEHICLE can go in 3 ft of snow, unless it's tracked. If there is 3 ft of snow on the ground, the best way to go out is to not go out.

Some of those people who died did not have a choice for whatever reason we will never know. That makes someone like you shit-talking on dead people the one who’s stupid. Leave alone that no one “deserves” to die or deserves their death to be honored with your completely devoid-of-facts stupid lie that those 37 died by some kind of Darwinistic selection.

You clearly didn’t look at the stats/facts for the 37 who died. The majority died at no fault of their own. Honestly - you’re a complete douche. There’s no other way to describing your response. No matter how good your advice is to “simply stay inside” during a storm like this.

Your response is both a disgrace to the people in Buffalo who put their life on the line to save others that night as well as to the families & friends left behind by those who died.

You, sir, suck, as hard as one can suck.

 

[LKG]

She and my Dad were true Jems. I miss them. These stories bring back good memories.
Real important to take kids out and get them away from hellivision, take em jeepin and deep into the wilderness whenever possible. Hunting fishing whatever. Even in the SnOw .
Toboggans do tie to the top.....gives you extra lift going down the highway....

Mine are pushing 80 so unfortunatley I may not be far behind ya. Good memories for sure, a lot of our "vacations" growing up were cutting firewood, I would not change it now if I could. I never really realized what a tough SOB my dad was until my brother and went up on our own. He always did all the cutting which we thought was the easy part, not so much.

We did the Disney thing with our kids once or twice but I think the lasting memories will be from all the camping trips, at least those are the stories they bring up the most. 2 out of three are out of the house still go with us up to the mountains with us so I think my theory is holding up.

FYI a canoe on top will save your ass if you ever drive off a mountain road and land in the river but it doesn't help the MPG's like the toboggan, haha.

 

[Kyanche]

Super short answer when I know damn near nothing about the subject: Snow tires. Snow tires. Snow tires! Damnit snow tires!!!!

SNOW TIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They might not solve all of your problems, hell you might get stuck anyway, but from everything I've seen, if you live somewhere that snows, you've GOTTA have snow tires. It doesn't matter if you daily drive a Humvee or a Dodge Challenger, the snow tires will make a huge difference.

FWD, AWD, 35" tires, 9" lift, 32 KC Hi-Lites on the roof, yea none of that will matter if you don't have snow tires! :D

 

[aldo98229]

Wyoming had the blizzard of 1949: https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/notorious-blizzard-1949

 

[Carlton]

Buy an H1.

 

[jeepingib]

Buy an H1.

Not good for snow. Trust me. Up armor does a bit better if the weight can get you enough traction.

 

[jaardappel]

In a recent topic the OP asked about why people lift their Jeeps and get bigger tires. As I am reading the news about people dying in their cars in Buffalo as a result of getting stuck due to the massive snow storm, I keep asking myself: would I have made it? But Most importantly? Could I have gone out and help/save some people?

So my question is: what do I need to be able to drive in that type of situation. Could a lifted etc JL wrangler make it? If yes with what kind of lift?

I can tell you from experience (4 years at Fort Drum) that unless you operate a commercial dump-truck snowplow--you are likely to have zero luck in a lake-effect + Arctic cold blizzard.

Even LMTV's and FMTV's (2.5 and 5 ton respectively) with chains would struggle hard in that weather. Snow compacts and gets pushed into piles on the road, even chains spin on feet of snow, and there isn't a stable base for a vehicle to remain on--it'll drift to the downslope of the road or get pushed into objects like hydrants or into ditches. Weight, slope, traction, and recovery all all major factors.

We tried to save folks in a massive snow/ice storm in the mid-2000's and it was a debacle. We had non-armored HMMWV's with snowplow attachments too. They only got as far as the plow would work. Imagine trying to go 12-20 miles with a HMMWV/snowplow and getting only about 1/4 mile a day because of the depth of the snow.

In the end, it was the county and state + DOT that were able to handle the snow, ice, and temperature.

Multiple plows broke due to the cold/ice. Just sheared off at points. Axels broke too. Stuff gets super brittle in the cold.

I wager that not having your Jeep lifted enough to make you confident to go out and try to help likely saved your life.

The best tool for rescuing people in that weather --in my opinion-- would probably be a cellphone, a shovel, a rope so you can be recovered by your friends if you wander too far or aren't responding (I'm not kidding about that), and boots/winter clothing suitable for Arctic conditions.

I'm talking .5 inch fleece bibs, same with the top. Long underwear. Down Jacket. Goretex over-bibs. Smartwool light socks. Wool oversocks. Work boots. Rubber Arctic over-boots. Smartwool glove liners. Goretex Mittens. Face covering. Hood with fur around the edges (otherwise the wind/snow-drift gets under a regular hood/hat/etc).

Anyways, lengthy reply but you saved yourself by not putting a 7-inch lift on your Jeep and going out to save folks. Sad but reality.

Think of it like preventing yourself from becoming the Dan Bilzerian vs. actual professionals during the Vegas Shooting....you probably wouldn't be able to do it.

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