Hummers in the Snow

I have a good friend that really regrets getting rid of his Hummer for a 30 mpg car. He couldn't get out to his country place in the snow last week and had to turn around and come home. Then to ad insult to injury, he got stuck in the snow with his new econo car on the way to work and called me to come get him in my Hummer. Where I live, if you don't have four wheel drive, you're not going to get here in the winter! There is no doubt that whatever Hummer you have, be it an H1, an H2 or and H3 they are some of the most capable vehicles in the snow this side of a Snow Cat.

I have thousands of miles experience driving on snow and ice and first of all, I must say that ANY vehicle can get stuck in the snow, depending on the depth, the grade and the tires. I've owned nine different four by fours and nothing I've owned equals the Hummer in the snow.

The second thing I've noticed is some Hummer owners that lock their axles in the snow. I've NEVER DONE THAT and it only leads to fishtailing. I just keep it in four wheel drive high. OK, one time on the ice going up a hill I did use the locking axle, but that's less than 1% of all my snow driving. You want a real handful, try coming DOWN a snow packed hill with the back axle locked! For me, the locking axle feature is for offroading in the mud, sand, and rock.

The final point I would make is that tires are the critical factor in snow. For deep snow, nothing beats the Goodyear MT/Rs. Toyo Open Country M/Ts are great in the snow as well as the big IROKs. I've had good experiences in deep snow with the factory BF Goodrich All Terrain tires.

I've owned the Goodyear MT/Rs and if you can live with them on the highway in dry weather they are fantastic in the snow. Most any good offroad tire is going to be superior in the snow. Need to get out for a life and death situation in the snow, then get a set of commercial truck tire chains (very expensive but durable) for your offroad tires. That deep tread on some offroad tires may look cool, but if it's not a good self cleaning tread design, it will soon be packed with snow.

One last point of going out in heavy snow in rural and remote areas, make sure you are prepared with thick gloves, a stocking cap, a blanket, tin can with a candle, flashlight, cell phone, drinking water, flares, flashlight and perhaps an extra can or two of gas. If you're in the mountains on a rural road, make sure someone knows where you are going and when you plan on being at your destination.