Stuck in moderate snow

[RickLightning]

I bought a new battery powered snowblower in January. Two snowfalls, no problems. Shot it way, way farther than my 1985 gas machine.

Then we got a small, very light snowfall. Very dry. The machine basically packed all the snow between the blade and the metal, none feeding into the 2nd auger. Then it would start pushing a pile of light snow until finally it went into the auger, blew everything out, and started again.

Product manager from the manufacturer called me after seeing an online comment I made, and concluded the light, dry snow wasn't deep enough or wet enough.

I think this is the same issue. Snow tires had nothing to GRIP.

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[bc1]

Interesting. What kind of snow such as wet & snowball makeable or dry & powdery? Did it sleet beforehand or afterwards? Was any of it previously driven on and packed down into a hard sheet?

Maybe you guys should stick to skiing and let the Americans do the driving in the snow!!! Put some skis on the truck and you would be good for another half dozen Gold Medals at the Olympics if they had a truck category. Then the Americans would be lucky to get any medal.

I have a friend in Oslo who also has a place up north somewhere. One of these years we will head that way to visit.

I assume you tried the usual methods to get it out. Sprinkle some sand in front of the tires or put some short boards in front of the tires or lay some old towels in front, etc. Probably can google it or others may have some ideas to get it started such as shovel out a few feet in front of each wheel. I assume you are not high centered in the snow drift since it isn't very tall.

I would think that if you are high centered then the heat from the battery would be melting the top of the snow and eventually you would be free.

 

[hb.sagen]

Interesting. What kind of snow such as wet & snowball makeable or dry & powdery? Did it sleet beforehand or afterwards? Was any of it previously driven on and packed down into a hard sheet?

Maybe you guys should stick to skiing and let the Americans do the driving in the snow!!! Put some skis on the truck and you would be good for another half dozen Gold Medals at the Olympics if they had a truck category. Then the Americans would be lucky to get any medal.

I have a friend in Oslo who also has a place up north somewhere. One of these years we will head that way to visit.

I assume you tried the usual methods to get it out. Sprinkle some sand in front of the tires or put some short boards in front of the tires or lay some old towels in front, etc. Probably can google it or others may have some ideas to get it started such as shovel out a few feet in front of each wheel. I assume you are not high centered in the snow drift since it isn't very tall.

I would think that if you are high centered then the heat from the battery would be melting the top of the snow and eventually you would be free.

I never got stuck, I just couldn’t get up the road. And the plow was in the area, so I would not be an idiot and delay him by getting stuck on purpose.

The temp was just below freezing, and the snow dry. The road was hard packed snow from previous drifts and plows. The snow did pack quite well, but not in the snowball way. The snow in the drift was a very fine powder, quite heavy.

 

[cptj777]

Tested my truck in snow today. Had some drifts forming in the road down from my cabin. Drove down without problems, snow barely touching the skid plate.

Tried to drive back up, but lost momentum pretty quickly. Any throttle just made the back end drift sideways and threatening to get me severely stuck. Tried a few times in different drive modes and with lockers.

No room for picking up speed to barrel through. Good tires with studs, but no aggressive threads. Did not air down as plow was waiting.

How can I be better prepared next time, kinda let down by the out of box capabilities of the truck. This is my first time driving in “adverse” conditions with this truck. I had a better feel with my previous Touareg.

This trip was done solely to practice in snow, but the truck is now parked downhill in wait of the plow to do it’s thing.

I can confirm the SCC SZ462 Super Z8 8mm Commercial and Light Truck Tire Traction Chains work on the rear tires of the 20" Lightning wheels. I have personally tested them. (I don't have a picture of it. However, someone else posted a picture of their use out West.) These fit on the rear tires and provide required clearance. I drive in enough mountain areas to carry them "just-in-case." I know what the Ford manual says about snow chains for the Lightning and I believe the information to be incorrect based not only on my usage of the SZ462 but other Lightning owners as well. It's an option if you need it.

 

[Altivec]

I live in a northern city in Canada where unfortunately snow is like air for me. I've owned so many vehicles and if we are just talking about normal driving (not off road) snow capabilities. The lightning is by far the best vehicle I've ever driven in winter. I am just talking from a vehicle point because the biggest factor is going to be using a good set of winter tires. If you swap the same tires between vehicles, the Lightning will come out amazing. The extra weight of the batteries better push down on the soft rubber winter tires (the ones with tiny slits that suction cup to ice). The 50/50 weight distribution reduces fish tailing while accelerating because ICE trucks are front heavy with engine weight. When a light back end pushes on a front heavy end, you get fish tailing. The all wheel drive system, although not programmed perfectly for winter, is superior in the way that it's always on full time. It would be nice if they had a winter mode, that would transfer more power to the front motor though. I know the latest lightnings have a slippery mode but I have no idea what it does because Ford hasn't learned that following their old legacy ways of not providing feature updates is going to be their demise (the handling of software is the ONLY reason they have lost me as a future customer. Love the truck otherwise). I would give slippery mode a fail regardless because Ford believes modes should default to normal. Huge safety concern if I turn this on for me and my less technically savvy wife that would expect the truck to behave a certain way only to have the truck decide to change modes on its own due to a missed prompt. oops...starting to go on an off topic rant. better stop

 

[chl]

No offense but sometimes it is the driver not the vehicle.

I had occasion to drive in a heavy snow situation in the winter of 2024-25 on paved roads in my area. My 2023 Lightning Pro performed excellently.

I saw plenty of stranded vehicles, a snow plow that had slid off the road into a ditch and a front loader trying to pull it out, a public bus that had slide sideways and was blocking a road, SUVs, Jeeps and other 4-wheelers unable to climb moderately sloped hills, etc.

Me and the Lightning sailed past all that without so much as a slip-n-slide.

I have been driving in snow for many winters (nearly 60 of them) here in the northern Virginia area where road treatment and snow plows are sometimes few and far between, in all kinds of vehicles starting with an old Chrysler Bel Air at 17 years old in High school.

The Lightning is by far the best vehicle I have ever driven for handling snow and icy conditions.

So it is hard for me to imagine why your truck could not navigate a moderate slope in the snow.

 

[hb.sagen]

The driver was certainly the weak link. I have not had any chance to test the truck in deep snow before now. And the sole purpose of the trip (300 meters) was to test the truck in the drifts before the plow stole them.

More experiences needed

 

[optokilo]

One of the things Ford didn't tell (until you dug through the tech info and got your tape measure out) is that the clearance is horrible compared to a standard F150. Better tires or chains won't help if you bottom out which happens easily. So the only option is to get a lift kit. I am actually looking for adjustable shocks, if anyone know of such thing. Thanks

 

[astrand1]

That's interesting. My stock Lariat, stock wheels, performed well in 14 inches this January.

Same! Stock wheels as well and it just hooks and goes! I’ve never had a vehicle work so well in snow and ice. I live in Michigan for context.

 

[RickLightning]

One of the things Ford didn't tell (until you dug through the tech info and got your tape measure out) is that the clearance is horrible compared to a standard F150. Better tires or chains won't help if you bottom out which happens easily. So the only option is to get a lift kit. I am actually looking for adjustable shocks, if anyone know of such thing. Thanks

It is an inch different....

 

[21st Century Truck]

I've had very good luck with two Australian MaxTrax boards the one time we got stuck in really heavy snow this Winter in Newfoundland.. The truck climbed right through with these wonderful boards under the front wheels.

 

[MountainAlive]

Strange to hear because I also had no problems driving through about 12-14 inches of unplowed snow, but with Blizzak snow tires on. Momentum certainly helps but at least in my own experience I’ve never driven a vehicle that chewed through snow like the Lightning does.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I’ve never driven a vehicle that chewed through snow like the Lightning does. Sponsored

Agreed !
The Lightning "Solves the Winter 1/2 ton truck problem" - ie the front heavy rear wheel drive problem.
For this winter I put a set of Blizzac V2 on their own rims, and left everything else behind all winter.
The best was sitting full stop at a red light with some pickup reving next to me, even with a twin axel trailer loaded up, on the green I walked away leaving them slipping and sliding trying to catch up. I stopped at the next light on the yellow so they could pull up and try a second time... as we pulled away leaving them behind a second time, my wife looks at me (silly grin on my face) "now you're just being mean" she says...who me??

 

[DaBlue357]

The Lightning is VERY heavy and going uphill on snow is all about momentum. I'm still surprised that you couldn't make it with that amount of snow with snow tires. Maybe it was a sheet of ice below the fresh snow?

 

[hb.sagen]

The Lightning is VERY heavy and going uphill on snow is all about momentum. I'm still surprised that you couldn't make it with that amount of snow with snow tires. Maybe it was a sheet of ice below the fresh snow?

Going downhill first I compacted a track, maybe 3 inches of snow that I could easily kick away. Going up in the same track didn’t work as the wheels tore through the compacted track and had to plow through it uphill. The base of the road was icy snow from previous cars.

I will test this next year and document the conditions. The drifts always forms in the same spots.

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