first trip in our powerstroke

[Ericr712]

well the wife and me are taking our first longer trip in our f350. Going from Florida to NYC for xmas. Never really driven in the snow before. is there anything i need to do like bag my tires or anything crazy?thanks

[p8ntballn2]

check all fluids before you leave out.. check tire pressures.. keep the speeds around or just under 71/72 (thats where i get my best mileage) and let us know how ur mileage is when you return.. Careful in the snow.. take your time, you shouldn't need to do anything special to your tires.. just make sure they have the correct pressure in them..

[dazed01]

Don't drive crazy in the snow and make slow deliberate corrections to the steering and throttle.

[stevethechief]

If the roads are free of snow/ice/slush, no worries. If you do have to drive on roads that are covered, something I learned years ago may help. Drive like you have an open bottle of grape soda on your dash. You don't want to spill sticky grape soda all over, so your steering, brake, and acceleration inputs will be slow, deliberate, and gradual.

[INJEKTER1]

go to Home Depot,,,, get yourself some bagged sand,,,,300-400 lbs... put that in the bed over the rear axle....

[Ericr712]

thanks for the info guys.. and i got a 100 gallon fuel tank that will be full on the way up so that should cover by 400lbs and then some of weight in the bed.

[Tj Krawler]

Make sure you get a good ice scraper. Those little "cheap" looking ones that are just a scraper on a handle for usually under $2 work great (especially for the mirrors), the long handle ones suck for ice, but work good for pushing off snow. How are your tires? Bad tires and snow don't mix well. As others have said, go slow if you have to, you'll pass the people that were going 20+ mph faster than you later... when they're in a ditch.

If you get get into a few inches of snow/slush, go find a big parking lot. Make sure no one is around, or light poles, curbs, ect... Make some tight turns, see what it takes to get it to slide. The first snow with mine surprised me a little bit. I kept hearing how easy a dually will "float" on the snow. My back tires are "decent" but probably won't make it another winter. In 2-4" of slushy snow, I had no problems keeping up with traffic in 2wd. No weight in the bed. Just make turns slow. I did need 4wd twice, but both times it was to get up our driveway. (steep, paved, and covered in ice)

[cp2146]

As others have said, take it slow and easy. Make sure all fluids are good and you have good tires. Put some extra weight in the back. Bagged sand is an excellent choice for this because should you get stuck, say on an uphill grade or something, you'll have the sand to throw down for traction.

A couple of other items to throw in...a shovel in case you need to dig out of something, and an extension cord for the block heater (if you have one). You'd be surprised how many friends, relatives, or hotels don't have an adequate extension cord you could borrow.

Have a safe trip.

Wayne

[sy1616]

Nyc, you have nothing to worry about, you wont see snow. Took my f350 to mi last month, 2400 miles in 7 days and got 14.3mpg doing 80+ on highway....all stock btw.