Why Does My 2002 Ford F-350 Dually have Poor Traction in the Snow

Updated 02/03/2011 | Published 01/31/2011

Question:

I have a 2002 Ford F350 Dually crew cab truck. We were recently in the mountains driving on icy hills and I had extremely poor traction. We actually slid backwards down an incline after the truck lost momentum from the tires spinning. I was disappointed in the performance of this truck in these conditions. Other vehicles seemed to handle the roads much better. I was driving slow in low gear four wheel drive. Do you think that this was due to the tires or the truck? I do not have snow tires on the truck, but the tires are brand new with deep tread. Would chains help or do you suggest a different tire, or do these trucks handle poorly on ice and snow?

asked by: Tom

Expert Reply:

When it comes to driving in the snow, the more pounds per square inch of tire you have the better you will get around. So a really skinny tire that concentrates the weight of your vehicle to the ground will get better traction than a really wide tire.

Consequently, when you have a vehicle with a dually rear axle you are spreading the weight out between two tires and therefore decreasing the traction when compared to a single rear wheel axle. So, the fact that you have a dually truck is mainly the reason you have a hard time getting around in the snow.

Snow tires would help give you more traction, as well as snow chains. I attached a link to a page below that will let you put in your tire sizes and show you what snow chains are available for your truck. I also included a link to an FAQ page on snow chains that you might find informative also.

I also think that four wheel high would do better than four wheel low, when driving in the snow you will want to be as smooth with the power and braking as possible. Four wheel low would make the truck pretty jumpy and make it easy to lose traction as the tires would spin pretty easy.

I would also check to make sure you have adequate air pressure in your tires, if your tires are improperly inflated it would make getting around in the snow more difficult also.

Another easy way to increase traction is to add weight to the back of your truck. This will give you more traction.

expert reply by: Jameson C