I bought a set of studded snow tires and rims for an Expedition.
They fit with no problem, as far as wheel well clearance, and with a little weight in back you shouldn't have too many problems . Unless you run into rain on ice.

Mark

 

Must have snow tires. Last winter I worked 2 miles from work. One day it snowed about 8 inches while I was at work. It took my 2 HOURS to get home that night. I had to drive over one overpass. I'd go about 10 ft. and than slide back about 11 ft. I'm sure if I would have weight in the back or the obvious snow tires I would have been fine. Now I make sure I drive my 95 L in the winter, it does great. I'm thinking about renaming it Artic L.

 

I drove all winter with snow tires and rims from a navigator and was perfectly comfortable. I also had about 200 - 250 lbs in the bed. I live in the chicago suburbs.

You are a couple of hours south of me, so you'll be fine with snow tires. Tires and rims cost about $700 from tirerack.

 

I drove mine last winter with the F1's, You just have to remember to stay out of the gas when making corners. I don't live to far from work but I did use the truck as a dialy driver all winter. My wife almost put it into the fence while trying to back it out of the backyard, It had a snow pile under the wheels and she could not get the truck to go over it without the truck trying to slide sideways.

I would recommend a winter beater or at least all weather tires if you could find a set in a junk yard off a F150 somewhere. I hope to park mine this winter if I can sell the Torino and buy a beater.

 

I just bought a set of stock 17" Supercrew wheels/tires of a guy that was selling them. With this setup, there are no problems at all; but, stay off the blower in wet or snow conditions. I towed a 4500 lb. snowmobile trailer in the worst snow conditions and the truck did excellent.

 

Do you guys that use snow tires and rims keep them on during the whole season, or just put them on when you know the snow is coming?

 

You have to take them off as soon as it gets warm. I got my son a set of Blizzaks for his Jetta for Christmas a couple years ago. He was too cheap to buy new regular tires, so he ran the Blizzaks all summer. By fall they were bald. Then he wants a new set for last Christmas! I may be good looking, but I'm not stupid.

I love my Bridgestone Winter Duelers on Expy wheels.

Do a SEARCH on winter tires and you'll find several testimonials.

 

capt.,


I keep my winter "shoes" on all season. November to March

 

I'd have to disagree with CB: driving in the snow do-able AND fun, assuming you're not in a super hurry to get anywhere and you don't mind throwing around your 5000 lb truck like it was a go kart on a slick track. I left my F1's on all winter long...100+ miles of driving. Every day. In New England. Like I said, I definitely did my fair share of sliding, but at the same time I did my fair share of too...Hell, its 90 degrees outside right now and I still TRY (purposely) to get my truck sidewards just as often now as often as I did back in December. If you're not going to splurge for winter tires and rims like me, I would atleast recommend getting some sand for the bed of your truck. I have the Bed Xtender, so six 70-pound tube bags of sand fit in perfectly. If you live near a lot of hills, as was mentioned, you will have a problem (if you can't get a run at it). My "worst" 50 mile trip home took about 3-hours in 8" of snow...but 10 of those 50 miles was spent sliding rather than driving (no word of a lie). The one UPside of driving in the winter that no one has mentioned yet is just how F-A-S-T your L can be in sub-freezing weather. Talk about Boost! "Trust in me- believe in me!" if you sell the 4-by to buy an L, you won't regret it. I came out of a loaded lariat 4x4 x-cab and I sure don't (so I guess I'm not only the president...but also a client? jk). Trust me...Just Do It! later...

 

That was the biggest concern for me when I was looking into purchasing an L. We get on and off winter here. The longest we go with snow on the ground is maybe 1-2 months. I don't think I would consider driving in the snow with it, too risky with all the hills around here. The city actually does a fairly good job of cleaning off the streets, so there's still a good chance of driving in the winter. In my case, I just don't like the idea of relying on that winter beater to get me around, which in my case would have to be an older 4x4. Exchanging a reliable winter vehicle with an unreliable winter vehicle just doesn't seem right. Although it is for the sake of owning a Lightning. (Dammit! )

 

I bought Dunlop Winter Sport M2's threw them on a set of 16" rims and had no real problems.

Daniel

 

I have owned a 1984 Camaro with posi and a 1988 F150. I drove them both in Maine's Notorious Winters and did fine. The truck is no L, it was a 4x4 but I left it in 2 with no weight. The tires loved to slip and slide up hills, but it was easy to get used to and kept it fun. Just be cautious, get some snowstuds, and weight...you'll be just fine!! Just don't rush it!!

 

ok guys, here is a topic i know well if you check where i live. if nothing else canadians know snow. i had a 99 lightning and now an 01. i change the wheels and tires in the winter, and absolutely no problems at all. the key is to go from the wide goodyears to tall and narrow winter tires. i have michelins, and they are great in the snow.