Will my truck be enough?

[oldtrader]

An big number of people do as we do. We own a 2 wheel drive pickup. We do not drive it in the winter months if there is snow or ice on the road.

We needed a nice pickup 3 years ago, to use in good weather and to go to the dump. Found a great one with low mileage and super clean that was 2 years old that had been moved into the state. Bought it from a dealer, for just over half of what the book value was worth, far below the low book and it was in perfect shape. F-150 ford with a shell on the back.

If you want to consider selling that pickup, and they are popular in your area, sell it before you move. The Ford dealer we got it from had it for a long time at a low price as they say, they can't hardly give away a 2 wheel drive pickup in Montana. You will find you can get a lot more for a 2 wheel drive where the weather is not bad, than you will especially in the winter in Montana.

The two wheel car is stored for the winter, and the 2 wheel pickup only moves on good days.

The 2012 Ford Explorer with the latest computer controlled 4 wheel drive is the one we use in the snowy and icy days. This is what a big number of people do in Montana.

We spend many years in Colorado, and Montana (over 25 all together), and always carry a tow cable in the back in the winter when out on 2 lane highways and roads, and have pulled a lot of people out of ditches, and high centered to get them back to where they can move. Cell phones to call for help are worthless when where the cities are not close, and we just can't go by someone stuck without giving them aid.

Studded tires do not help in snow, as the studs are to bite into icy roads. The snow tires, bite into snow. If you are going to spend much time on icy and snow highways, or back roads, get some deep tread snow tires with studs and the first time you drive by a bunch of cars and trucks sitting off the road and you keep going where you want to be you will be glad you did. It is about the same as carrying life jackets in a boat when out fishing in the ocean. You may go years without using them, but the one time your boat sinks you will be glad you had them with you.

[Reziac]

Only time I ever threw studs from snow tires was when the tire itself was past ready to be retired. Did find studs let me use a snow tire til the tread was pretty shot, tho, cuz the studs still dug in on ice and the deep lugs around the edge of the tire still bit into the snow. I still have one of 'em that was on my extra spare for ... uh, 30-some years. Just swapped it for an extra BFG-A/T that I wound up with. Anyone want a bald snow tire with studs sticking out of it like nails? It still holds air.

The other trick I discovered was using a heavier tire with stiffer sidewalls than you'd normally put on that vehicle. Put 6-plies on my sports car and suddenly it didn't need snow tires anymore. Ran it with 4 studded snow tires some other bad winter and just about couldn't skid it... pulled a couple other dudes out of the ditch with it, tho