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Couldn't stop going down hill in snow.


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#1 wicked1

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 01:26 AM

Hi everyone,
I had a scary incident today.  I just got my camper this September, so not a lot of experience.  FWC Fleet on a Tacoma.   I am 45 and a good driver with all sorts of vehicles, so I am somewhat experienced driving in general. 

 

I was going down a steep hill, slowly rolling down, then all of a sudden my ABS starts going and I speed up!  Foot down as far as it will go, and I could not stop.  I think my ABS kicked on prematurely and made things worse.  But, not sure.  I chose to keep my foot down on the brakes, and just 'ski' down the hill.  The truck remained perfectly straight and in control other than the fact I could not stop.  If someone was stopped in front of me, though, that would have been a serious problem. 

 

Tires are KO2's with plenty of tread remaining.  About 3 inches of snow. 

 

Do I have any options in this situation? 

 

I do actually have an ABS/Stability assist kill switch because of a different issue modified tacomas have, so I could have turned off my ABS.  But who knows.  Skidding sideways off the road would have been worse than what happened. 


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#2 AWG_Pics

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 01:49 AM

Scary yes. I hate that feeling of no control. Steep hill and snow -- could have happened to anybody with almost any rig. Seems like you did the right thing. Studded tires or chains could have made a difference, as would being in 4 Lo. I have gone down similar hills at about 1 or 2 mph. Sill can be hair-raising though.

 

In situations like that I sometimes wait for someone else to go down ahead of me to see how it goes for them. If they lose control, I will find another way off the darn hill.


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#3 ski3pin

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 02:32 AM

Welcome to the world of snow and downhills. Your ABS worked. The road down to our house is like this, an "E Ticket" ride. I know right when to let off the brakes, turn to the left, coast, and center the truck between two big ponderosas, and then safely into the garage. Neighbors below us took out two trees yesterday. Winter.


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#4 Sleddog

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 02:42 AM

I once lived several miles up a forest service road on Ogden Mountain in Montana. Every year a mountain lion hunter or two would slide off the road in a section that was sloped a little too steeply towards the downhill side. Studded snow tires were sufficient most of the time, studded chains on all 4 tires when it was icy. I never had any trouble.

Edited by Sleddog, 28 January 2021 - 02:44 AM.

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#5 wicked1

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 02:44 AM

Heh, thanks for the replies guys. 

About 4Lo, I know 4lo in this truck disables the stability assist and ABS.  So, if ABS really initiated my 'slide' by starting to pulse my brakes when it wasn't needed, I would have been better off in 4lo.  And I really don't think I was sliding before ABS kicked in.  Not positive, though.  I certainly didn't notice it.
Otherwise, the ABS did keep the truck pointed forward.  I even had to go around a corner while I was in this unable to slow down or stop state. 

 

Edit to say, if I was really sliding, like you guys mentioned, I guess better grip, chains would be my only option.  Or maybe those tire socks.   I'm in MO where this isn't usually an issue.  But, the road I was on is going to be my new neighborhood.. I bought some land there. So, I might need chains just to get out of my neighborhood.  Good to know.

 

-I guess I'm mostly surprised I need more traction than these KO2's give me in the snow.  I kind of expected to have no issues in snow with these tires.  But again.. Good to know.


Edited by wicked1, 28 January 2021 - 02:54 AM.

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#6 DanoT

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 05:49 AM

If the brakes are not stopping the truck then maybe downshifting the transmission would help.


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#7 Vic Harder

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 06:02 AM

I'd try real snow tires before chains.  Alternately, I developed/practiced stepping on the brake (or using handbrake on RWD vehicles), slipping the transmission into reverse (can be done with standards too) and letting go of the brakes while goosing the throttle.  This has prevented a few accidents for me so far.  

 

The unnerving part of this is that the vehicle steers like you are backing up even though you are still moving forwards!


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#8 Taku

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 01:25 PM

Don't mistake "snow" for ice. Depending on the temperature and what the base is under the snow, you might be driving more on an ice/water layer than what you are thinking of as snow. Ice/water transition is what lubricates skis - which is one reason why very cold snow is so sticky. well studded tires or better yet, chains are the best choice under those conditions. Or go get a job driving a log truck in the winter and you can really learn how to drive steep, twisty icy roads in the winter!


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#9 Sleddog

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 01:27 PM

-I guess I'm mostly surprised I need more traction than these KO2's give me in the snow. I kind of expected to have no issues in snow with these tires. But again.. Good to know.



Dedicated snow tires use a softer rubber compound, siping, and tread patterns that really improve the grip on snow, studs come in handy on ice. The KO2s may be snowflake rated, but they are not nearly as good as a dedicated snow tire. Here in the mountains of Idaho I run studded snow tires on my truck/camper all winter and switch to all terrain tires for summer. My all terrains are snowflake rated but do not compare in performance with the snow tires. Look into some dedicated winter tires, with or without studs, you won't regret getting some after that experience sliding downhill. I would only mess with chains if the snow tires didn't quite cut it.

Here is an article doing comparison testing on the stopping and starting ability of a few different tires. We have a winter tire testing outfit that works nearby, they say the Blizzaks are the best. I use Les Schwab snow tires and have been happy with them, I believe they were cheaper than Blizzaks but still get the job done.

https://news.pickupt...han-others.html
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#10 Wandering Sagebrush

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Posted 28 January 2021 - 03:50 PM

We are using non studded Cooper Evolution winter tires on the Subaru, and studded Les Schwab winter tires on the Ranger. 
 

We had slushy conditions right after getting the Evolutions, and they felt squirrelly, but now that winter is really here, they are excellent.  For the driveway slush, I found that a higher gear and slower speed worked well.

 

The Les Schwab tires on the Ranger work nicely.  I don’t like studded tires because of highway damage and road noise, but for here they seem appropriate.  We try to minimize the number of trips with the Ranger.
 

 


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