In reply to Antihero :
I didn't know Aerostars came with AWD, will definitely look into those... seems like a solid choice.
As far as studded snow tires, I'm concerned about the legality of them.
In reply to Antihero :
I didn't know Aerostars came with AWD, will definitely look into those... seems like a solid choice.
As far as studded snow tires, I'm concerned about the legality of them.
Mazda MPV also had 4wd in the first gen. There was also the AWD chevy astro and gmc safari built up to 2005ish. And of course the AWD Previa. 1st gen Sienna didnt have AWD option, only 2nd gen and up.
After that as far as newer vans, I believe the only factory AWD vans are Toyota Sienna and later the AWD Chevy Express. Up to 2010 the sienna was true awd, the 2011 up I understand are basically FWD until they feel slipping and direct power to the rear wheels.
I'd always take a van over an SUV for practical space.
frenchyd said:Antihero said:In reply to PHAN :
Basically you are starting way way down the scale on good snow cars with a full size van. It can be done but if you havent driven much in the snow??? You arent making it easy at all for you. Remember too, you can drive for years in the snow and and still stuff it into a berm in bad conditions. Starting out with something decent in snow would be a huge help.
Whatever car you have, the weight of 6 large dogs in the back would be fine for weighing down the back end. You really really want weight in the back of whatever car you get, even front wheel drive cars can be helped by weight in the back.
Snow tires are a must. I swear by studded tires, they have saved my life a few times. I know studdless snows are good but they still only do 95% of what studs can do, and if you are like me( living in the woods where sometimes its a matter of life and death to go out) you want as much traction as possible.
How about an extended Aerostar AWD? They are huge inside, AWD, cheap to get, have the great 4.0 OHV engine and are great in snow. My parents have one and ive driven a lot of miles on them in terrible conditions, great snow cars.
Where are studded tires legal? Here in the Midwest they are completely banned because of how badly they’ve torn up roads.
In washington and idaho at the very least.
While i have no doubt that studs wear the road faster im not sold on how fast the naysayers say they are. All i know is they have saved my life before and ive been in conditions where my car being less capable but with studded tires( a fullsized van funnily enough) was able to get thru safely where other cars with studless tires did not.
PHAN said:In reply to Antihero :
I didn't know Aerostars came with AWD, will definitely look into those... seems like a solid choice.
As far as studded snow tires, I'm concerned about the legality of them.
If they are legal where you are i recommend them
Antihero said:frenchyd said:Antihero said:In reply to PHAN :
Basically you are starting way way down the scale on good snow cars with a full size van. It can be done but if you havent driven much in the snow??? You arent making it easy at all for you. Remember too, you can drive for years in the snow and and still stuff it into a berm in bad conditions. Starting out with something decent in snow would be a huge help.
Whatever car you have, the weight of 6 large dogs in the back would be fine for weighing down the back end. You really really want weight in the back of whatever car you get, even front wheel drive cars can be helped by weight in the back.
Snow tires are a must. I swear by studded tires, they have saved my life a few times. I know studdless snows are good but they still only do 95% of what studs can do, and if you are like me( living in the woods where sometimes its a matter of life and death to go out) you want as much traction as possible.
How about an extended Aerostar AWD? They are huge inside, AWD, cheap to get, have the great 4.0 OHV engine and are great in snow. My parents have one and ive driven a lot of miles on them in terrible conditions, great snow cars.
Where are studded tires legal? Here in the Midwest they are completely banned because of how badly they’ve torn up roads.
In washington and idaho at the very least.
While i have no doubt that studs wear the road faster im not sold on how fast the naysayers say they are. All i know is they have saved my life before and ive been in conditions where my car being less capable but with studded tires( a fullsized van funnily enough) was able to get thru safely where other cars with studless tires did not.
Yes studded tires do make a real difference. Anyone who has Ice raced knows and understands this. The more studs the better!
As to roads? Well going back to ice racing the groove in the race track gets so deep in one event that the track can tear studs off in a few laps! Not to mention damage done to shock absorbers and other chassis parts.
As far as concrete or asphalt if just 20-30% are driving studded tires roads can be trashed in a few years!!! Minnesota has experienced this. We’ve found it cheaper to plow, salt, and sand the roads than replace them every few years. Cheaper and safer!
If you have studded tires you can stop on ice so much faster than the car behind you that you actually pose a danger to yourself and them. They may be driving around on barely legal tires while you can stop in near dry pavement distances. A good attorney could have a field day at your expense. Even if you prevail that person who plows into your back end may not be in any position to remedy the damage to your car or you.
In reply to frenchyd :
The studs in ice racing are way way way more aggressive than the studs on road legal tires, ice racing tires are pretty much 1/2 inch bolts hanging out of the tire. Road tires have little nubs of aluminum.
Agreed on the roads being better maintained and if i didnt need studded tires, i wouldnt use them. In spokane they do such a poor job in town that ive seen people drive with chains in winter, rarely but ive seen it.
As for the stopping too fast thing......its not really worth it to cripple your traction because others have less and will crash into you. In that scenario you would be plowing into other people too, its not a good argument at all
In reply to Antihero : I just can’t believe that you get the snow in Spokane that we do in Minnesota.
As for racing studs, they look like washers with a little tip sticking out. The tip rocks them over and the washer provides the bite.
frenchyd said:In reply to Antihero : I just can’t believe that you get the snow in Spokane that we do in Minnesota.
They dont, they just dont care for the roads. Main streets can not be plowed until 2pm after a snowfall at night, one year they literally said they wouldnt plow a single side street. I was looking at houses and some were on streets with over a foot of compacted snow and many inches on top of new snowfall.
In North Idaho it may be similar, i dont know the numbers off hand. Roads are better taken care of but still, early morning they arent plowed yet
Looks like North Idaho gets 62 inches average of snowfall, Minneapolis 45 and Spokane is the same, so it is very similiar according to Google
Just imagine the same amount of snowfall with 75% less plowing basically. Maybe even lower
In reply to Antihero :
Our snow plows are out actually before the snow starts to fall. They put a molasses based compound on the roads which really starts to melt the snow as it’s falling.
Then as snow gets heavy the highway snow plows form conga lines plowing from curb to curb in one pass while the city snow plows keep main thoroughfares open. The Twin cities have an odd even system where one day cars park on the odd number side of the street the next they park on the even numbered side of the street. That way even side streets are plowed from curb to curb.
The whole time trucks are plowing they are putting down the compound to melt ice especially in intersections.
Third and Fourth generation Grand Caravans (96-02) were available with AWD, but it was dropped for the 5th Gen as the stow-n-go cavity prevents driveshaft routing - even the exhaust pipe routes around it to the right side of the van very close to the passenger side sill.
frenchyd said:In reply to Antihero :
Our snow plows are out actually before the snow starts to fall. They put a molasses based compound on the roads which really starts to melt the snow as it’s falling.
Then as snow gets heavy the highway snow plows form conga lines plowing from curb to curb in one pass while the city snow plows keep main thoroughfares open. The Twin cities have an odd even system where one day cars park on the odd number side of the street the next they park on the even numbered side of the street. That way even side streets are plowed from curb to curb.
The whole time trucks are plowing they are putting down the compound to melt ice especially in intersections.
If they took care of the roads that well here, i wouldnt need studs
In reply to Antihero :I think they did the math and figured it was cheaper to keep the roads clear than live with the consequences.
I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but anybody i’ve met up here (Alaska) with a gaggle of huskies has a pick up truck with a box on the back for the dogs.
Driving cross country in a van or a minivan with six yapping husky sounds like some level of hell I hope I never have to experience, and I’m a dog person. I guess it could be fun to literally watch the fur fly driving down the highway with the windows open though!
From what I remember of living in eastern Michigan (flint specifically) the weather in winter was cold but not really cold enough to snow a lot just a decent amount of ice. Good all season tires will honestly get you through most conditions but if you do plan to venture out further north or west and winter definitely pick up a set of good snow tires. I like the general arctic altimaxs with studs if you can run them and blizzaks if you can’t. I didn’t find the Hancook i-pikes to be terribly good at anything but YMMV. Snow tires are definitely a place where you get what you pay for though; cheap ones tend to just be all seasons with more siping or worse just studdable all-seasons and aren’t worth the hassle imo.
Did you ever make a trip to Detroit to see what you will be dealing with?
In reply to MulletTruck :
I'll be flying there this September actually, and once again in January to get a feel for how the weather is during different seasons.
For those of you wondering, I've settled on a passenger/cargo van and will move my dogs after the snow is gone. I'll most likely sell the full-sized van and purchase a minivan after to use as transportation for myself and the pups.
You'll need to log in to post.
