Southern truck moves north...what to do?

[Troposfear]

Well, I'm officially moving north. Well, to the Midwest actually (Indianapolis here I come!). And now this southern boy has questions!

I purchased my truck in the South (North Carolina). Is there anything I need to know or do now that I'll be in the frigid arctic tundra of the North?

I know the roads use more salt, and I should frequently spray off my undercarriage, but is there anything else I should know? Do all our trucks have the undercarriage protection from the factory? Or is it not standard and I should be worried that the rust demons will come and take my truck away!

Also, I've never driven my truck in the snow. I use 4WD for beach/sand driving! Should I use it for snow? Or only when snow is deep?

Any other advice or thoughts are welcome!

[FrontierTCB]

Without much weight in the rear end you will find that it doesn't take much snow on the road before you switch to 4hi. There are several threads related to undercoating with different products and opinions.

[Derentes]

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well 4x4 Frontiers handle adverse conditions.

Here in Connecticut, we get a lot of in-between weather... when it snows, it rains, and then will probably snow some more
This makes for a lot of slushy, icy, cruddy driving at times. Including everyone's favorite: black ice.
I'll likely catch some H8 for posting this(oh darn), but I'll use 4WD whenever traction is in question. One key thing to keep in mind when using a Fronty's 4WD on the road is that you don't want to cut the wheel to either direction when the wheels aren't rolling. As long as the tires are rolling and you aren't forcing the steering wheel to turn, the front diff won't get over-stressed. This takes a little bit of brain, but worth the effort.

Also... the ABS takes some getting used to in deeper snow and icy conditions. Especially on steep downhills. Even more so if you run larger tires. If you find yourself trying to make a sudden stop in truly slick snowy conditions, the ABS is not your friend. The brake peddle will go straight to the floor as the mad badger with the sledge hammers(aka: the ABS pump) bangs away under the hood and the truck just keeps on rolling. If you find yourself in this situation, the first best option is to pump the brakes.
With some practice, you can learn how much pressure you can apply to your brake peddle before the ABS kicks in, but it's a bit tricky if you find yourself in the middle of an "oh-****" moment.
Worst case scenario: a steep, snow buried hill with a stop sign at the bottom of it that feeds into traffic that you've already watched someone blow thru... like my driveway Putting the truck in 4-Lo and engaging the e-locker will disable the ABS system and give you full control of the brakes. With at least a couple of inches of snow on the ground(or 38" like we had the other week ) stressing the drive train is not a concern. More than once I've been caught off-guard by the ABS system while going down my driveway and getting the truck to come to a complete stop was not an option. I was gaining more speed from sliding down the hill than the ABS and/or pumping the brakes to circumvent the ABS could bleed off. Fortunately, there's no traffic at 5am

Granted, the ABS works great in dry or rainy conditions.
In deep snow and/or ice... it is not your friend.

Good luck with the move!

[pidge]

Look around your new relocated are for a rust check place. That stuff really work. You dont have to do it every year, but for top notch it helps. Every two you should be okay.

[jjs34748]

I lived in Indianapolis for five years, I think you will find that there really is not as much of a problem with snow as you are thinking. They do get the big storms every once in awhile but usually it is just the cold.

The thing you relly have to watch out for is the freezing rain. you can go inside your work building in the morning and come out after work to 1/4" of ice covering your entire vehicle.

They do used salt on the roads when I lived there in the late 90's early 2000's but I think they have switched to Mag Chloride for the most part now. A liquid that melts snow and ice at a lower temperature than salt does. While the Mag Chloride works great on the roads, it is hell on the vehicles. Since it is a liquid, undercoating does not really help that much, if liquid can get in it will. The key is to make sure you keep the vehicle clean, especially after a storm. If you let Mag Chloride sit for too long it will become just a nasty brown dirt looking coating on the paint that is pretty difficult to get off.

All in all, I think you will be pleastantly surprised at the weather and overall life experiance in Indy and the surronding areas. One bit of advice though, be careful on where you live. There are some not great areas around the city and if you buy a house you will never get the value of it back. Try to find something outside of "the loop" which is I465. you will be much happier.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of job awaits you in Indy?

[mt.aero]

Mag Chloride is better than salt though. Salt dissolves in the snow and ice it melts on the road and gets into just as many places as as mag chloride does. Its much less corrosive than salt and they even add anti-corrosives to it so its even less so. Its even much better for the environment too. Like you said though, still wash it off.

I would add, that all season tires are NOT good in the snow and ice as one would assume. In the cold, the compound is far too hard to be of any good use. Getting a tire like the BFG AT or Goodyear Durtrac that is rated for winter driving is a good idea. I run mine year-round. You could get really hardcore and get a separate set of dedicated snow tires, but Im not sure it snows enough in Indy to warrant that. As soon as there is enough snow here to be slippery, I switch to 4 wheel drive. You can get by with 2 a lot of times, but if you get into a 'situation' either with other drivers or yourself, having 4 wheel engaged can really save you and allow you to correct sliding much much easier. (though I dont have any sort of traction control and honestly prefer it that way.)

Also, I swear by my block heater for cold mornings. If you dont have a heated garage, its the next best thing you can get to have a pre-heated engine. Mine gets so toasty it melts the snow on my hood. I fire it up and let it idle for a couple minutes and have hot air when I pull out of the driveway.

[poppop]

Originally Posted by mt.aero

Mag Chloride is better than salt though. Salt dissolves in the snow and ice it melts on the road and gets into just as many places as as mag chloride does. Its much less corrosive than salt and they even add anti-corrosives to it so its even less so. Its even much better for the environment too. Like you said though, still wash it off.

I would add, that all season tires are NOT good in the snow and ice as one would assume. In the cold, the compound is far too hard to be of any good use. Getting a tire like the BFG AT or Goodyear Durtrac that is rated for winter driving is a good idea. I run mine year-round. You could get really hardcore and get a separate set of dedicated snow tires, but Im not sure it snows enough in Indy to warrant that. As soon as there is enough snow here to be slippery, I switch to 4 wheel drive. You can get by with 2 a lot of times, but if you get into a 'situation' either with other drivers or yourself, having 4 wheel engaged can really save you and allow you to correct sliding much much easier. (though I dont have any sort of traction control and honestly prefer it that way.)

Also, I swear by my block heater for cold mornings. If you dont have a heated garage, its the next best thing you can get to have a pre-heated engine. Mine gets so toasty it melts the snow on my hood. I fire it up and let it idle for a couple minutes and have hot air when I pull out of the driveway.

Tell me more about this block heater. Brand, How did you install it, etc.

[mt.aero]

Basically, it threads in place of the freeze plug on the block. Youll need to access the freeze plug through the front passenger fender with at least a 2ft long extension and I believe it was a 22mm internal hex. Its has thread locker on it so its going to take at least a 3ft breaker bar or more to pop it loose. The heater contains a heating element which you plug in via and extension cord and it keeps the coolant at a nice toasty temp. I used Katz brand which you can pick up at any NAPA. It was something like $40 if I remember correctly. There are a bunch of threads on it including mine, so if you want some more in-depth info, have a quick search on this site.

[08ccbubba]

The main things for winter driving are basic vehicle maintenance, making sure you have good snow or at least winter rated tires, and keep some weight in the bed to aid traction. With the weight, be sure to strap it down so that it does not become a projectile in the event of a crash.

Also, I wouldn't recommend pumping the brakes to avoid abs activation. ABS is a system that pumps the brakes for you, much faster and better than you can hope to ever do. I would agree that simply mashing the brake pedal and letting the brakes pulse away doesn't always seem to stop you faster, and if all 4 wheels lock up because conditions are that bad ABS won't sense the problem. Moderate, gradually increasing pressure will be better than manually pumping.

Bottom line, slow down, increase following distance, begin braking much earlier than you would normally and always try to finish slowing before you initiate a turn. It's safer to pass your turn or exit and come back to it than to turn while braking and slide past out of control.

I may live in FL now, but the majority of my driving has been done in the snow belt in 2wd trucks. If you drive carefully with gentle control inputs you'll find you rarely, if ever need 4wd on the road outside of the most extreme conditions. I'd recommend finding an empty parking lot and safely playing around to learn good winter techniques with minimal risk.

[mrbill65]

4 wheel drive will help you on slick conditions but still keep it slow. 4 wheel drive doesn't do a dang thing for stopping. Watch over passes and shaded areas they tend to freeze and be slick even if the rest of the roads are clear. I lived in ne ohio all my life with the exception of the last 3 years. I currently live in sw ohio. so i have a lot of experience in snow and ice conditions.