It has to be the tires! I had a 2wd extended cab silverado with Michelin ltx m/s tires on it. I live in Michigan and frequently drive unplowed dirt roads. In the 10 years I had the truck the only issue I ever had was making it up a hill on a unplowed dirt road that had 10" of fresh snow and about 7" in snow packed down on it. I had to make a few running starts to make it up the hill. It was a long (about 1/2 mile) steep incline. This was with no weight added to the bed. My 05 yukon xl has the same tires. The thing never slides sideways unless I want it to. I only bother putting it in 4x4 if I have more than 6" of fresh snow. 4x4 is just a a necessity in my xl. My dad had those coopers on his 2wd Avalanche and said that they were horrible in snow compared to the michelins he replaced
06 Tahoe 2WD first drive in snow- unimpressed!
It's snowing like crazy here in Denver and I just drove our new to us 06 Tahoe from downtown to our home about 5 miles away. It was no bueno.
Some background info on the Tahoe
Full tank of gas
Tires: Cooper Discoverer AT3 with 60-70% tread remaining (maybe more)
G80 Differential
Stabilitrak
I made it home safely, but had difficulty starting from a stop. Backend would start to slide one direction or another almost every time. Braking was fine. Even on streets without snow pack (freshly laid snow) I had a hard time getting up slight inclines. I tried it in both 2nd gear and normal Drive- same result, very little traction with the unnerving feeling that the backend would slide around (not excessively). To be fair, it was very slick/icy but not ridiculously bad.
My wife refused to take it back downtown when she left a few minutes ago (daughter is playing in a volleyball tourney) We still have our '99 Suburban and my wife took that instead- said it handled "like a boss".
I'm seriously reconsidering my 2WD purchase. Some things I've read is that the 2WD Tahoes get around fine, but I was more than unimpressed.
Should I have disabled the Stabilitrak? Or are these just dicey vehicles in the snow?
Some background info on the Tahoe
Full tank of gas
Tires: Cooper Discoverer AT3 with 60-70% tread remaining (maybe more)
G80 Differential
Stabilitrak
I made it home safely, but had difficulty starting from a stop. Backend would start to slide one direction or another almost every time. Braking was fine. Even on streets without snow pack (freshly laid snow) I had a hard time getting up slight inclines. I tried it in both 2nd gear and normal Drive- same result, very little traction with the unnerving feeling that the backend would slide around (not excessively). To be fair, it was very slick/icy but not ridiculously bad.
My wife refused to take it back downtown when she left a few minutes ago (daughter is playing in a volleyball tourney) We still have our '99 Suburban and my wife took that instead- said it handled "like a boss".
I'm seriously reconsidering my 2WD purchase. Some things I've read is that the 2WD Tahoes get around fine, but I was more than unimpressed.
Should I have disabled the Stabilitrak? Or are these just dicey vehicles in the snow?
1 - 2 of 18 Posts
Studded tires are illegal here! There was only one time in the 10 years I owned that truck that I was afraid that I was going to get stuck. And that was on that hill, I was in the middle of nowhere. But it was a shortcut to work that I took every day. I never had snow tires on the truck just the Michelin multi season. Sure there were times when traffic would stop on a hill with a lot of snow on the ground where I would get slightly nervous about restarting again. But with the G80 never had an issue. Heck, if I came across a killer deal on a 2 Wheel Dr. Tahoe or yukon XL I would not hesitate to take it. There is a lot less maintenance necessary on a 2 Wheel Dr. truck
1 - 2 of 18 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
GM Truck Club Forum
A forum community dedicated to all General Motors truck owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, lift kits, wheels, tires, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
