Defeated by 2-3cm of snow

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
tyres will make a big difference as will weight in the vehicle. my 90 is always firmly planted due to the excess weight it carries, whilst my V8 lightweight, empty, on HD springs spins its 7.50 XCL's in the snow (crap).

as above, a bit more movement will help. if your crawling and 2 wheels find zero traction (on the smallest of spots) you will stop. Have enough momentum to carry you over those slip spots and the vehicle will chug onwards.

Ice, wet grass (green ice) and soft sand all apply.

G
 
No experience of a landy in the snow as i've only had one for 3 weeks and it's still in the garage but weight plays a huge part

I had 1500kg on the back of a transit pickup in the snow and it was fine, I drove straight past 2 cars struggling up a steep hill

However, as soon as it was taken off I couldn't move at all, not even on the flat, the only way I could get any traction was in reverse so I backed out of the yard up to the main road.
 
Dear oh dear...forget all this 'throw an elephant in the back' nonsense...get your new tyres on, use the engine to control descent speed, use your diff-lock well and enjoy the bloody thing...

Jesus wept!

Edit: If i had 1500kg in the back of my 90 driving down a hill in snow and ice i'd probably pack a clean pair of pants...it doesn't need extra weight.
 
The 90's are pretty darn heavy as it is, took 3 of us to push mine backwards today up a ever so slight incline, the poor painter nearly had a fookin heart attack!
 
Sell it, you obviously don't need 4WD if this is the first time you've tried to use it properly. And that failed. And you'll get about a £500-750 premium "snow tax" added to the value of the car right now.
 
storm99 said:
Dear oh dear...forget all this 'throw an elephant in the back' nonsense...get your new tyres on, use the engine to control descent speed, use your diff-lock well and enjoy the bloody thing...
Click to expand...

Good advice. Tyres make all the difference here. Also, you have better grip in fresh snow than ice so if you can straddle any pre-made tracks to drive in fresh snow / deep snow this is preferable.

You don't always need to give it the beans either. Just take your time and engage difflock and whack some beasty tyres on.

Haven't got stuck once with my STTs. They seem to like the snow. In the corners, they will drift a little, but only on the really icey stuff. That said these are mud tyres. There was a Landy owner who made it to the Arctic on ST (Coopers slightly less aggressive than mud, but more than all terrains type tyres).
 
Last edited:
Not needed difflock this year yet and iv been in some pretty deep snow and on some steep inclines stopping and reversing up them etc. My Mud terrains seem very good, im sure someone told me they weren't.lol. I just go about slowly and try not to spin the wheels, only need to give it some throttle if you are in deep snow and start to spin,then you can just ram through it.

God I love having a Defender at this time of year.
 
kavefish said:
Now, before I say any more, I should say that I love my Landy and that's not about to change.

So, we got a dusting of the white stuff early this morning - and I mean maybe 2-3cm. For grins, I tried my Mazda first and predictably it laughed at the suggestion of pointing up the hill to get out of our valley.

Right, next it was time to convincingly trounce up that hill in the 110, demonstrating - finally - to the wife why we needed proper 4x4. I was in 2nd gear hi-range (the highest gearing I could get without stalling) and I was taking it easy to the point of almost stalling (but I wasn't on the clutch). Making steady forward progress and it all went to crap. Wheel spin, off throttle, apply brake, sliding backward on a narrow lane with an expensive stone wall on one side and hedge on the other. I angled for the hedge as a brake. Thankfully the dirt provided some grip and I stopped. Much to my amazement, the 110 did no better than the torquey 2WD Mazda. Actually, sliding felt worse for lack of ABS.

I admitted defeat, got in the wife's Outback, which promptly asked "I thought you said there was some snow?" as we cruised up the hill without so much as a stutter. :doh:

It's worth saying that my v8 110 is a 1987 model - and I think it still has the original 7.50R16 tires :eek: (only 40k miles on the clock so they look old, but fine). They passed MOT last year without comment and I've only done 1k miles since. 20 minutes ago I ordered a set of new 235/85r16 BFG AT tires.

Now with the tires sorted (and my dignity already in shreds from previous battery-hunting misadventures) that leaves the driver. There are so many LZ stories about fun in the snow so please, tell me, what I was doing wrong? I humbly submit to your advice (and likely abuse) for how not to make a mockery of the Landy name.
Click to expand...

I don't know exactly what you did wrong, but without sounding like a pain in the arse I think it was a bit of driver error, but it could just have been a good going slippery hill and your tyres aren't really suited to snow and ice.

If you were on the point of stalling then you probably were not able to get any power quickly if needed, that sounds like a bad plan, if it was that bad I would have been into 1st high (very careful throttle openings though) or maybe 3rd low and gone up the hill a bit quicker, the momentum will keep driving you forward over a slippery section, as soon as you apply brakes in one of these you are just the same as any other car out there except heavier, especially if you don't have good AT tyres or something on.

I have done about 75miles in this snow now, it is at the stage I am probably getting a little bit arrogant about the go anywhere nature of the vehicle but it has not let me down and I've not been put of by anything yet.

If you are going along, at low speed, and you think you might loose traction, you can, while still moving (as long as your not already spinning a wheel) push the difflock into the locked postion, as soon as you have passed the bit your not sure of pull it back over, again while still moving which gives you the extra traction if needed.
 
Last edited:
Didnt take any Im afraid but it was off the B939 Grantown on Spey road heading for Lochindorb where routinely a metre can fall overnight, sometimes impassible without the tractor
 
hammoj28 said:
My Mud terrains seem very good, im sure someone told me they weren't.lol. I just go about slowly and try not to spin the wheels, only need to give it some throttle if you are in deep snow and start to spin,then you can just ram through it.
Click to expand...

Same here, someone said they were useless, but they are brilliant on ice and fresh snow. Slow is always a good plan and if that doesn't work, give it some beans :)
 
Ive been to Chris's place and the one way is damn steep and with a tight bend with a really crap camber on it ( you can spin up in the dry mid summer !! ) . The other ways are steep would be ace to sledge down :D -

Did you turn left out of your place Chris ??
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
1998 defender pickup rebuild. I need help.
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
re-volt
R
L
gets close to over heating
Replies
6
Views
449
lynall
L
dag019
Station wagon measurements
Replies
1
Views
236
dag019
dag019
julianf
88 sides - upright bit by the door? (110 csw fitttment)
Replies
2
Views
336
rubix101
R
N
Security Upgrades
Replies
17
Views
563
TrevD
T
Back
Top