I have a 99 4x4 that is just plain terrible in the snow. I thought it was an issue with the tires so I upgraded to a set of brand new bf goodrich all terrains. The new tires cost me a little over $1000 but all the ford does is spin it's the tires on flat ground with just a dusting of snow. I have an old VW Jetta as a daily driver that is able to drive circles around the f150 in the snow. My wife's little honda fit just drove right out of the driveway this morning before I cleared any snow. I cleared the driveway and moved the ford to clear the snow around it. When I tried to pull it back forward into it's spot the ford was stuck on flat slushy ground. It finally moved back to its spot after about 5min of spinning tires. It really was a sad display. The truck looks like it should be driving over mountains of snow.

The 4x4 has always been temperamental and difficult to engage. I have the "shift style" 4x4. It is pretty rusty underneath and I freed it up with a few cans of wd40. I grease up everything I could get and and it seems to shift smoothly but never really engages right.

So... its a 2wd. I'm ok with that I only use it around the yard and to make dump/home depot runs. On nice dry pavement it drives like a dream.

Anyone else have a similar issue? I understand 2wd in the snow without weight in the back isn't the best choice but there is no way it should be this awful or should it be? My old 93 2wd ranger had 4 bald tires and wasn't this bad in the snow.

 

I don't think you totally understand. Using 2wd in the snow/slippery conditions with a 4wd vehicle isn't very smart. Not even close. Think of all that extra weight your trying to push.

Load up your kids wagon, now get behind it and try to push, - on ice. See what I mean ?

 

That makes perfect sense. I didn't think of the added weight the truck is pushing. I suppose I need to address the issue with the 4x4 if I intend to use the truck in the winter.

Thanks

 

No problem. Yea a 4x4 without 4wd under those conditions is about worthless

 

BTW- Check out those vacuum lines that run from the shift solenoid to the accumulator down by the front differential. They like to fracture and/break between the battery box and firewall. The lines are colored Pink and Blue. Once those start leaking, you'll loose 4wd.

 

usually wind up in the ditch or the median of an interstate long before anyone else notices there's even a problem. Back in the days when I commuted 50 miles one way to work, I could always tell when the roads were getting slick. Pickups with no weight in the back were always the first to slide off the road. I learned this myself in 1975 a few months after I bought a Datsun pickup. Slid right off I-40 into the median near Grants NM with almost no snow on the highway. Had it not been for the chains I had with me, my bones and my Datsun would still be there in the middle of nowhere. After that I put a few hundred pounds of weight minimum in the back in winter weather, got better all weather tires too. Even so, one winter's day the Datsun got stuck on a dead level parking lot that was covered with 1/2" of glare ice. I had no trouble getting into the lot and parking. When I attempted to leave, my rear wheels simply spun in place. I had a passenger & a few hundred pounds of weight in back. But I still had my chains, so was able to escape to the road a hundred yards away.
I doubt even 4WD would have helped that situation.

 

Yeah 2wd trucks have no weight over the rear wheels.

 

I have a video of me driving my truck through near 2 feet of snow, all fresh with no tracks. Up about a 6% incline on a gravel road taking the kids up to a hill that we frequent every year. Never had an issue. Never tried it in 2wd though. Ive driven numerous times over high altitude passes and 140 mile round trips with nothing but hard pack on the road. No chains or added weight. Out of all the trucks I have owned, this one has done the best in snowy conditions by far.

 

Same here. 4wd vs 2wd is definitely night and day. Throw all the heifers in the back you want, your still not going to go everywhere a 4wd can.

 

Tires make a HUGE difference too. General tire and khumo make some really good winter tires for these trucks.

 

I have BFG all Terrain ta's and my truck is excellent in snow. I live in Utah and I get in the mountains in the winter. Aint ever even came close to getting stuck.

 

probably you have an open diff to.. Fix the 4x4 like jbrew said check the vacuum lines right by the battery. Battery acid eats through them pronto so if any ever spills on them there toast.

 

x2! My 4wd went out because my vacuum actuator that locks it into 4wd on the front diff cracked in half. I have no clue how it happened though haha

 

Agree. Invest some money in a TrueTrac differential in the rear and fix the 4x4 system and you'd be hard pressed to get it stuck even if you tried.