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Deuce In the Snow. Amazing.

Josh

Active member
1,678
11
38
Location
Portland, Oregon
To be honist, I expected my deuce to do pretty bad in 30in of snow with the NDCCs and no chains. But to my suprise they did amazing. Last night we went snow wheeling up on Mt. Hood as they got over 30in of snow in 2 days. I had my deuce, my brother brough it his Suzuki Sidekick(which is very good offroad), and his friends Chevy 2500 on 35's.
We spent almost an hour driving around the mountain trying to find a service road that was bermed off by the snow plows. I tried to mow one of the berms over with my deuce. Didn't go so well. Ended up getting high centered and spending aprox 10 minutes with a shovel to get it out.
Eventually we found a untouched road that wasnt bermed off, so we took it. I opted to lead since I figured I had the highest ground clearance and we had enough chain and 5ton come alongs to pull the deuce is nessasary and a full set of tire chains. The road was untouched and worked its way up the mountain. The first 5 miles or so are paved then it turns into maintained gravel roads.

At first I was going slow and cautious until I realized the deuce wasnt even struggling to go. I ended up bumping the speed up to about 35-40mph and as far as I could tell handling wise, It was like driving on dry pavement. After going for about 15 miles we decited it was getting late (about 1am) and decited to turn around and head for home. Since the deuce did so well on the way up, I purposly stayed out of the ruts to help widen the trail on the way back down.

I found plowed roads to be the worst to drive on. I could easly put the truck into a slide if I wanted. But at the same time, It was very easy to recover from a full sideways slide. Little tap on the brakes and the some gas and the truck would straitin right out.

Also, Deuce do amazing donuts on ice covered parking lots. If ya start at the high side of the parking lot(make sure its huge, at least 150ft x 150ft) and get up some speed, Put it in 3rd high and stab it, the truck can maintain a pretty decent drift when in 6x4. It was more difficult to put the truck into a slide then it was to pull out of one, only vehicle I've ever driven like that. I think my cousin got some video of the deuce in the parking lot, but we didnt take a whole lot of pictures. I took a few from after we made it back to plowed roads of the amount of snow that built up on the underside of the truck. The pictures do it no justice, it was at least 3-4 inches thick.

Based on what the truck did in the deep snow with out chains. I can only imagine what I could drive through with them.

I would not suggest going balls to the wall on a road you are not super familular with. Ive been driving around on these road since was 15 on snomobiles and sno-cats durring the winter when they do become impassable to trucks. Also durring the summer I spend a good chunk of my time up there.

Like all vehicles in the snow. Know your personal limits. If you vehicle exceeds them, dont do what the vehicle can do, do what you feel safe doing. I've traveled this same road at 80mph on snomobiles before, so 30 mph in a deuce wasnt to difficultrofl
 

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dragonwagon

New member
329
4
0
Location
west branch Mi
Iv been itching for some snow around here to do just this . Thanks for the positive post on the deuce in snow . I modified my center rib and did some siping for snow on my tires .
 

Flyingvan911

Well-known member
4,709
158
63
Location
Kansas City, MO
Just curious, was the snow wet or dry? I just got my deuce a few months ago. Wet, heavy snow will be tougher to drive trough than dry, light snow. Very cool story. I hope there is a weather disaster here in KC this winter and we tons of snow. What kind of slopes/grades were you on? I know nothing about Mt. Hood except that people tend to get lost on it.
 

Stonewall

Member
191
2
18
Location
Peoria, IL
Oh the fun that can be had in an MV. 30" is way more than the 5-6" we'll get around here, but I am looking forward to some snow driving.
 

Josh

Active member
1,678
11
38
Location
Portland, Oregon
Just curious, was the snow wet or dry? I just got my deuce a few months ago. Wet, heavy snow will be tougher to drive trough than dry, light snow. Very cool story. I hope there is a weather disaster here in KC this winter and we tons of snow. What kind of slopes/grades were you on? I know nothing about Mt. Hood except that people tend to get lost on it.

The bottom half was wet, top was dry. As for the grades. Some of the roads we where on I'd say are an easy 8-10% as they felt alot steeper the the main highway at 6%.

If all goes well, We should be going back up in the next few days,I'll try and get some more action shots if we do.
 

velociT

New member
853
4
0
Location
Burnet co. Texas
Great story, and thanks for the pics! :drool:

It doesn't snow often here, but if it does, you better believe I'll be pulling soccer moms out of the ditch... (with pics)

Hitting the brakes during a slide is typically a no-no though, just start steering into it and drift it. :mrgreen:
 

emr

New member
3,211
24
0
Location
landing , new jersey
A deuce had more than enough power and traction with NDCC's in heavy snow, they really do not need to be aired down much, but the more the better, i have said it many times, these tires are awesome, they have more rough terrain time on them as a tire type than any other hands down period, and still are compatible to almost any other tire, in what they were design to do, they can cary a fully loaded vehicle air wayyyy down and safely get thru, these are off road tires for sure, i have many many years of all types of multi wheel off road play and they are just great, glad U were able to handle them and them U. many get there trucks stuck and blame the tires. LOL... :)
 

parlusk

Member
277
3
18
Location
southwest virginia
i was getting ready to start a post asking how they done in the snow.... great story. i cannot wait to get mine!!!!! when we go ride the mountains in deep snow we spray the rims with wd40 it helps keep the snow from sticking :driver:
 

Josh

Active member
1,678
11
38
Location
Portland, Oregon
One thing I did leave out. Momentum is key. I came to a stop on a slight grade and when to get going again and just sat there spinning all 10. I ended up backing up about 5 feet to put my rear tires into some unplowed snow for traction to get moving forward. Once it started rolling traction was fine.

Another thing, when I was testing what snow banks I could and could not drive over. I always backed up into them. I figure its alot easyer to get the "light" end of the truck out of a ditch. When I did get high centered, it was because the rear-rear axle did drop into a ditch. 10 minutes of digging in front the duals and she drove right out. Had it been my front end that sank, I have no idea how long it would have taken to dig out.
 

cleb

New member
218
0
0
Location
Huntsville, AL
I was pretty surprised how well mine did as well the first time I took it out in a good bit of snow in Idaho. The one thing to watch out for is any substantial side hill. Only time I've had issues was on a slick side hill. Look for a thread by "joey", I believe he was in your neck of the woods. He had a bit of a scary adventure involving a deuce, snow, and a slight sidehill!
 
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