Inclement weather driving: trail rig or tow rig?

In snow or ice, do you drive your trail rig or tow rig or grocery getter?

  • Trail rig

    Votes: 15 30.6%

  • Tow rig

    Votes: 21 42.9%

  • The grocery getter SUV

    Votes: 24 49.0%
  • Total voters
    49
VortecJeep

VortecJeep

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Joined
Aug 24, 2005
Location
Concord, NC
My trail rig is locked front and rear and has a winch, so I figure I may be able to get out of a ditch if I end up in one. But lockers aren’t necessarily great on ice.
My tow rig is 4WD but completely stock. But if I got stuck overnight, I’d stay warm and have room to lie down.
If some idiot loses control and hits me, I’m less likely to get hurt in the tow rig, but I’d rather my trail rig get beat up than the tow rig.

So what say ye?
 
VortecJeep said:
My trail rig is locked front and rear and has a winch, so I figure I may be able to get out of a ditch if I end up in one. But lockers aren’t necessarily great on ice.
My tow rig is 4WD but completely stock. But if I got stuck overnight, I’d stay warm and have room to lie down.
If some idiot loses control and hits me, I’m less likely to get hurt in the tow rig, but I’d rather my trail rig get beat up than the tow rig.

So what say ye?
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Yes...

Any of the above depending on conditions. With the chance of bad weather developing over the day, I'm driving my truck to work like usual. If there was already snow on the ground or if I was going looking for it, I'd take the jeep.
 
Boss told us yesterday to plan to work from home. The Jeep stays in the garage and tow rig/daily driver is in the driveway. I'm an engineer and the vast majority of my work is on a computer. As long as I have an internet connection I can work anywhere.
 
One Jeep has selectable lockers, so it's all right in the snow. The other Jeep has auto lockers. It's useless in the snow and ice.

The longer wheelbase on the truck, along with the heated mirrors and AT tires, wins every time.
 
If my rig was finished, I'd love to drive it in the snow. Only times I took the cruiser out was when it was a couple feet. I figure if guys can ride atv or sxs down public roads I can roll in a something more buggy like.

Mostly I just roll in my tow rig when it snows.
 
I prefer to drive the K5 in the snow and ice just cause it already looks like it was chewed up and shit out whole so if some idiot hits me or if I run off the road no costly expense to fix. That being said, I only own 4x4s so really whatever cranks is fine for me to drive in a pinch.
 
All depends on conditions and who is going. Up to 3-4” I take the truck bc has better tires for slush/wet conditions. If more than that I take Jeep out but wife hates to ride in it in snow bc I drive like an asshole and it’s hard to get kids in back with their seats. Wife now has an awd pilot and it kicks both their butts in the snow so probably gonna use that-and it has heated seats!!
 
Just sent my preganant wife to work in the AWD Honda Pilot (she is a nurse and has to go in). That little SUV plain goes in the snow with AWD and lockable "4wd" (which I think just makes it 80/20 or something like that). I usually drive my tow rig, but I also like spinning donuts and catching slides before I need to throw it into 4wd. The jeep goes out when I want to go have fun.
 
shawn said:
The other Jeep has auto lockers. It's useless in the snow and ice.
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I’ve never thought that as I pass other cars and trucks stuck with no traction....sure I can’t turn onto a street in the snow and ice doing 35mph but I have yet to be in snow where an auto locker has hurt my situation.


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My wife's AWD CRV goes great in ice & snow....but my '86 F150 has that magic shifter(s) that makes me smile. The F350 sits @ the first flake....wet grass makes her ass wiggle, not brave enough to try the white stuff.
 
BigClay said:
Just sent my preganant wife to work in the AWD Honda Pilot (she is a nurse and has to go in). That little SUV plain goes in the snow with AWD and lockable "4wd" (which I think just makes it 80/20 or something like that). I usually drive my tow rig, but I also like spinning donuts and catching slides before I need to throw it into 4wd. The jeep goes out when I want to go have fun.
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Haha! My wife is a nurse and drives an AWD Honda Pilot too. She left the house at 5:20am this morning just after the first flakes started falling.

My DD is a Toyota Sienna which currently has bald tires, LOL. My Dodge Ram 4x4 tow rig wins for snow duty every time.
 
Trail rig for me. Shortened wheelbase (110") a full spool in the rear and over biased rear brakes all say thats a terrible idea, but since 2007 when I bought it I can count on one hand the actual number of times I put it in 4wd. Ill lock hubs but run in 2hi until I need it.

My reasons are entirely selfish, I'm not worried about my conservative driving in the ice (since im in Fayetteville) its all the local northern military guys that talk about how southerners cant drive in the snow, then head out too fast not considering we always get ice, so they spin out everywhere.

If someone spins into my trail rig with all the rock protection odds are their shit gets destroyed. I give 0 shits about body damage obviously, and I can repair anything mechanical up to or including replacing bent sections of frame.

On the other hand, I am terrible at body work, and I like the way my newish f250 looks stock [emoji23]

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Last edited:
...yeah, my 17 F150 2wd is not moving - not looking forward to finding out how much aluminum bodies cost to fix.

My old Bronco had a full spool....would swap ends in a blink on a wet road. Fun, but you had to be "aware" all of the time.
 
Gotta admit. The wife’s Jeep is our bad weather vehicle.

2012 Grand Cherokee Overland. HEMI, 4x4 - All wheel Drive and airride with selectable height.

Only “mod” are a set of NITTO all terrains. That thing stays stable and hugs the road.
 
My grocery getter/dd is a 13 year old fwd Hyundai, my truck is a lowered 2wd Silverado, and my "rig" doesn't currently run. I have but one option, but the fwd car does great in snow. Just point it where you want to go and smash the gas.
 
NickMaul said:
I’ve never thought that as I pass other cars and trucks stuck with no traction....sure I can’t turn onto a street in the snow and ice doing 35mph but I have yet to be in snow where an auto locker has hurt my situation.


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Click to expand...

If you have a regular old 4WD or AWD and a decent AT tire, you should never want for traction in snow or ice up to about 18-20" deep. Once it gets to the point where it builds up under the chassis and picks up the tires, then you need floatation and the lockers are less of an issue. The rear locker is less problematic, but manageable. You can get around all right in 2wd, you just have to be aware when it tries to step out. The front locker can create a mess in a hurry. Since the lockers depend on traction to disengage in turns, they're either going to unlock unexpectedly, or they're going to stay locked and the tire is going to break traction. Straight-line, they're all right, but if there's a crown or a curve or a hill... who the fuck knows.

I've had ... three or four rigs with auto lockers and/or spools. All sucked in anything less than 8"of snow.
 
Wife is diving the commander today. It's 06 limited with quadra drive. It's down right boring in the snow. I've tried to get it loose in these conditions with little success. So I say tow rig in wet snow like we get in nc. Its usually all the idiots make driving a cluster...


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LBarr2002 said:
Yes...

Any of the above depending on conditions. With the chance of bad weather developing over the day, I'm driving my truck to work like usual. If there was already snow on the ground or if I was going looking for it, I'd take the jeep.
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I'll add. My wife has been wanting to go find snow so the kids can play... If we get a chance to do this, we'll take her Yukon XL. It has better tires than my truck, more weight over the rear, and a place to change diapers...

All our vehicles are 4wd, jeep has selectable lockers and both GMs have the auto rear.
 
Mechanical lockers, mud tires, and a short wheelbase rig are no fun in slick snow or ice. It's doable, but on ice you can end up backwards in a hurry.
Ask me how I know.....
 
josh m said:
Wife is diving the commander today. It's 06 limited with quadra drive. It's down right boring in the snow. I've tried to get it loose in these conditions with little success. So I say tow rig in wet snow like we get in nc. Its usually all the idiots make driving a cluster...


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Click to expand...

On second thought. Neither.........I present option C
 
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