So I have to move from Wisconsin to Washington in mid December and one option is to rent a Penske truck and drive. I can handle some snow driving and I will be staying on major highways but is this suicide? I'm also wondering which route would be less dangerous, 80 or 90. I've only driven 90 before and I remember it being awful steep in western Montana. Does anyone have experience with these highways in the winter?
sorry for spelling mistakes in subject, it doesn't appear that I can edit it.
I don't travel that far north in the winter, but it seems to me that in previous years, mid December isn't too bad. A sudden storm could change all that, or a stretch of warm weather. Mid January would be a biatch, I think. And, the further south you can route it, the better you will probably be. 10 would be a piece of cake, but might be a bit out of your way.
Even I-40 wouldn't be too bad, if it wasn't out of your way. But unfortunately, folks taking 80 or 90 NEED to be north, to hit their destinations.
On a trip like this, I'd stick with a route I knew, you know where all the emergency / maintenance services are, where the "overnight stays" will be, and the rest stops.
You are right in thinking 80 MIGHT be an easier route (I took it once from Las Vegas to N.E. Pa. in a Ryder truck with a G6000 in tow,) but It was nearly 20+ years ago.
Will Penske give you tire chains with the truck when you rent it? They may be required in the mountains depending on the weather and I'm told they're expensive to buy. Make sure they show you how to put them on too.
I've been through lots of storms on I80 in Feb at least as far western CO. I've never driven either route in December. I also have driven the I90 route a few times in the summer and it wasn't too bad. I don't recall very many steep sections compared to what I remember from I80.
I guess I'd roll the dice with 90. I think you have less chance of ice at least. Just make sure you have chains that you know how to use and don't be afraid to pull off the highway and wait out bad weather.
Thanks for the advice. It seems like 90 would be the way to go. The scary stretch would be between Missoula and Coeur D'Alane. So if weather was bad I could just wait it out in Missoula. I-80 from Chyenne to SLC just seems too remote. I'm liking 40 more and more, I could visit some friends in L.A. but that would add a day and about 600 bucks.
I had planned on the possibility that I'd have to buy chains but I didn't think about them being more expensive for a bigger truck; I'd imagine they would have to be pretty beefy to handle the load. I will look into that.
I traveled from Portland to Chicago two February's ago and I also drove I80. I hit Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa and had some areas of Wyoming that had snow.
The creepiest thing is they have railroad type gates that can be lowered to stop you from getting on the highway in bad weather. That was kinda odd to see. We don't have these in Illinois.
Also, I've never seen the grand canyon before so that's +1 for 40.
But back to 80 vs. 90. I was looking at a relief map and 80 only has one short pass just before SLC. I'm guessing that there will be snow through a lot of wyoming but is seems like if there are less steep passes along 80 it would be less dangerous.
Give yourself a couple of spare days in the schedule so you have the option of holing up should it become necessary. In the mountains on I-70, I've hit snow in July and had a clear run in January. You never know. We seem to get most of our snow in December and March, with January and February being dry by comparison. But that's not 80 or 90...
I-80 in Wyoming is up to 8,000 ft. Its not hard. but I have done it in a F-150 towing a trailer and a Honda Odessy towing a camper. The truck was weezing, but could keep upabout 70. The Odessy went through a tank of gas in 1 hour and I had to keep it pinned just to maintian 60.
penske, atleast in my experience, will have good trucks with pretty good lug tread drive tires. you'll be OK.. but ask about chains. Try to get one of the trucks with heated mirrors, they sure are nice in ice and snow.
I drove from Grand Rapids to Portland last year and happened to hit a blizzard on I-70, going through the rockies. It really wasn't too bad, especially compared to the lake effect snow you and I are used to. This was done in a Volvo loaded with all of my crap. A Penske truck shouldn't be a problem.
Regardless of the tires some places out west get uppity about having chains, they aren't too bad to put on, put keep in mind you will be learning how in crappy weather.
If you're used to Wisconsin weather, then driving west is nothing. You'll hit some freaky stuff in ND or SD, but othewise its smooth sailing. The worse the average weather is, the more adept states are at removing it. Some of the best roads I've ever driven were in Ontario in the winter. I've made that trip (ND to Seattle) a few times in February towing a 32' travel trailer with a 2WD F250 and had no issues.
The elevations in Montana can cause some freak weather, but like has been suggested above, just factor in a few extra days. For that matter, plan on a few extra days and go up to Kalispell, MT. Spend a few days and visit Glacier national park. Enjoy your trip.
And my little soapbox about chains... if you are driving and the weather is so bad that you have to resort to chains and the subsequent 20mph driving that goes with it, you should have stopped 30 miles ago. Chains were a quaint little thing in 1955, but just use your brain. If you have to use chains on a major interstate, it would have been closed for weather long before.
Way back when, I drove a 22 foot rental truck across the Rockies but not in December. What I found interesting at the time was that there were no guard rails and the road edge was less than 1 foot from a 2000 foot dropoff. 
Discounting the pucker factor, it was an easy drive.
Now, moving back from Grand Junction CO to Virginia in January was a different story. When we went over Eisenhower Pass on I-70 there was a solid snow/icepack about 8 feet thick on the road. Every mile or so, I'd see a car on its roof on the side of the road. Not terribly confidence inspiring when I was driving a lifted Land Cruiser with loose steering and 35" tires. But I made it with no problems.
Hint - DON'T hit the brakes when you're on ice. That seems to have been the primary cause of the flipovers that I saw.
curtis73 wrote: If you have to use chains on a major interstate, it would have been closed for weather long before.
If there's a storm in the mountains on I-70, a truck will be required to have chains before the interstate closes. Passenger vehicles either have to have snows, 4WD or chains.
http://www.cotrip.org/winterdriving/chainregs.htm
That's very true... and when was that law written? Probably about 1950. Have you ever seen a truck actually using them in the US in the last 20 years? And if you notice, the doesn't require winter tires, it requires M+S rated tires. That opens the choice up to a huge amount of normal street rubber. I could legally make the trip in a 2WD pickup with these all season passenger tires because they have an M+S rating:
If a trucker is so desperate to make his deadline that he stops to put chains on so he can maintain a 20mph speed, he's an idiot. He'd be ahead of the schedule to stop and wait until tomorrow when he can make 70 mph. I drive class B motorcoaches and its just an antiquated notion. Chains are for Kubotas. Even the studded tire went the way of the Dodo years ago.
Death on the highway isn't caused by not having chains. If you're at the point of needing chains and you put them on just to keep going, its like patching a radiator with gum; you should have stopped a long time ago.
http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_5326781?source=commented-lifestyle
Lots of studded tires around here. And while I haven't noticed trucks running chains, that's because I look at the weather forecast before I run over the mountains :) And if the chain law is in effect, I'm usually paying attention to what's going on in my lane.
Do the math. Stopping to chain up to cover the 100 miles of the passes means you'll make it over in 5 hours. And I don't know if you've driven 10,000' mountain passes in the company of big rigs, but they're not doing 70 mph on the way up. More like 30-40. So chaining up would probably only cost a couple of hours, and you don't know when the pavement's going to be clear again.
curtis73 wrote: ... Have you ever seen a truck actually using them in the US in the last 20 years? ...
Actually they close I-70 in CO quite often and make them put on chains or stop.
curtis73 wrote: That's very true... and when was that law written? Probably about 1950. Have you ever seen a truck actually using them in the US in the last 20 years?
I see them used a few times every year. Some people don't have the luxury of sitting for days hoping the weather gets better.
Update:
So I'm taking the I 80 route and leaving on the 17th! Thanks for all the advice, I'll let you know how it goes.
In other news: turned in the committee draft of my M.S. Thesis and I'm defending this Thursday.
Wish me luck.
or buy my car:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/2008-classifieds/93-mazda-protege-lx-1000/5530/page1/ 
If a trucker is so desperate to make his deadline that he stops to put chains on so he can maintain a 20mph speed, he's an idiot.
Happens everyday during the winter in the Canadian portion of the rocky's.
I've driven both routes several times as I'm from New England and lived in Missoula a few times.
No matter which way you go, you'll have to cross the continental divide near Butte on I90, and the pass on the way to Spokane from Missoula. The whole drive across the Dakotas and Wyoming and Montana is all about the weather, which can be totally different in the valleys compared to up in the passes.
If you are looking for some fun places to eat or take a break and whatnot in the Missoula area, let me know. I miss Missoula. abbottcd at gmail dot com
To follow up on the chain discussion - I drove to Denver and back this weekend. The chain law was in effect, there was about 8" of fresh snow in Vail. I saw 75-100 trucks either running chains or stopping to chain up. And I saw at least one pulled over and getting written up for not being properly equipped.
We just had the chain law in effect for Portland yesterday. Probably a good thing as nobody can drive worth a pooh in this stuff.
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