At a quandry about what to do ... can the Sprinter handle these conditions?

Hi everyone:

I've come to a juncture here where I will be moving out into the rural areas of Wisconsin, and doing a fair amount of driving out on the county trunks and local roads. I had a taste of those roads the other day, and they're steep, they wind quite a bit, and they have many hair-pin turns. Thinking back to the worse-than-horrible winter we had this past winter, I began to seriously question how well the Sprinter would do on these types of roads with, say, three to five inches of snow on them. Because they're anciliary roads, they won't be plowed right away.

What do you all think - is the Sprinter up for such a challenge, or is this going to be a total nightmare to attempt? I was in a city this past winter, and for the most part, the Sprinter didn't have many problems - a few from time to time. Will the Sprinter have the traction to get up some of these steeper inclines?

What would you say I could/should get in order to have maximum traction for the Sprinter in bad road conditions?

Trading in for a four-wheel drive vehicle or a front-wheel drive sedan has crossed my mind ... I really don't want to do it, but it's an option I suppose I must consider ..........................

Thanks for your replies!

-Michael
 

SprintED

New member
Michael,

For what you describe a properly outfitted 4x4 is going to be best....a 4X4 Dodge Ram 2500 with a lift kit and big hard off road tires will be about as useless on Ice and snow as roller skates.

But if you are going to stay with a RWD vehicle then I would have to say the the sprinter is probably one of the best for the conditions you describe. It has the weight, ground clearance to deal with loose snow, and its high tech skid and traction control systems will give you abilities on ice that I have yet to experience in another RWD vehicle. The other thing it provides that not many other vehicles can is EXCEPTIONAL visibility...you are sitting nice and high and you are looking down thru the snow and not into it...makes a huge difference. This is one of the reasons semis can keep driving much longer in poor visibilty than the average car...they can see better.

If you look at FWD....this biggest issues I see are the lower ground clearance, smaller tire diameters & lighter weights that cars generally have. Based on my experience up here on the "tundra" my sprinter does as good or better than a FWD car. Keep in mind that when it is snowing visibilty in a car can be dreadful...you know you are in trouble when the blade on the highway departments plow truck is taller than the roof of your car.

Last winter I took my buddies Jetta TDI to the store one night while he was over. I had gone down our snow covered streets a few time that day/night with the sprinter and was shocked at how poorly his Jetta did on the same streets...definitely did worse than the sprinter.

If you put a good set of sticky winter tires on like Blizzaks or Nokian Hakkapelita's your Sprinter will go alot farther than the average vehicle. I have Goodyear Wranglers on my Jeep TJ and the Sprinter slips and slides way less and gets going quicker than the Jeep does when it is in 4 wheel drive....in two wheel drive my TJ is just like a ball bearing...just goes round and round. Tires make all the difference in snow and ice.

Heck you probably could plow drive ways for your neighbors if you strapped on a set of chains and turned off the ASR!!!
 
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Jrmorgan

Member
If you have to use the the Sprinter in the winter, I would buy a few hundred pounds of sand and put them in back, over the rear axle. I did that with my GMC 3/4 ton van, worked very well!

:cheers::cheers:
 

05highroof

New member
OTOH, unless you really need the cargo space, a 4cyl, 4wd, Tacoma would be my pick or a Subaru anything.
I agree,both of those vehicles would be very good in the snow and have great resale value.
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
There are a few expediter (fedex, dhl) drivers that participate in the yahoo sprinter van group.

They don't have the luxury of opting for a smaller, 4wd vehicle. You might try posting to that venue for some guidance.
Expediters online has a forum; might be a good place to post as well.
 
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BaywoodBill

pre-Yuppiedom
We have plenty of Sprinter drivers in mountainous and foothill regions of Washington, Oregon, California and in the more mountainous regions of the Eastern Seaboard as well as in the Rockies and their foothills........ Chime in folks .....

As for me, I looked at the elevation change in Wisconsin (from about 560 to nearly 2,000) and think that there must be a lot of Sprinter experience in that altitude range.

Oops! Didn't mean to shortchage all of our Sprinter drivers in Canada and Alaska.
 
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cerickson

New member
I use my Tin Sprinter 2500 158 hight roof for expediting. I climp the NC mountain all winter long up into Canada mostly. I have been in some major storms , and have never felt unsafe or have never lost traction, Wind gusts bounce me around some, but I avererage 110k plus miles a year.
Rehgards, Chris
 

PaulKtheFedExGuy

Paul the Fed Ex Guy
Hey SprinterWisc:

SprinterED Said: "If you put a good set of sticky winter tires on like Blizzaks or Nokian Hakkapelita's your Sprinter will go alot farther than the average vehicle. I have Goodyear Wranglers on my Jeep TJ and the Sprinter slips and slides way less and gets going quicker than the Jeep does when it is in 4 wheel drive....in two wheel drive my TJ is just like a ball bearing...just goes round and round. Tires make all the difference in snow and ice."

I contract w/ FedEx Home Delivery - I've done the West Bend route 4 years now - both zipcodes -and that includes everything around Big Cedar Lake... all the crappy unplowed driveways with varying degrees of elevation, etc.. leading to those Million $$ mansions... (I actually did my entire route the day of the big blizzard this past Feburary 5th - drove to Skokie to Sherman Dodge to retrieve my van from service prior to doing my route...) anyway, I say all this just to give you some reference point you'll relate to.

I agree with SprinterED regarding tires. They are THE most important component to safe, confident winter driving. How my friend who does the route North of me, without Blizzaks or Hakka's is beyond me. He uses a couple of buckets of sand, and his tires are generally crap. We go thru a LOT of tires doing this. Anyway, I have been using 800lbs of sand over the rear axle all the way back to the doors. I secure it from sliding with a ratchet strap. Kinda hampers my loading the van in the morning, and access in and out of the back, plus cuts down on my cargo space. It's around 2 bags high all across that back area I described. It's pretty messy, too.

I say that to share my idea for an even better system. Removable ballast that slides in and locks in UNDERNEATH the van. Bar stock, long enough to slide insome brackets welded underneath, secured with a simple hitch pin or something similar. The weight could be removed or installed a lot more rapidle than the sand bags, and not affect the load area. There is also the spare tire basket - a couple of sewer caps would fit in there nicely!

I use Blizzaks exclusively now - order 6-8 new ones each November, and have 6 of the 5-spoke 16" alloy rims from Tire Rack (the brand escapes me), and two always have brand new tires ready to go if we have a blizzard. I can pop them on the back and a few days later pop them off. I have two brand new ones unmounted to put into the mix late in the winter. Yeah, we go thru a lot of tires in this racket.

The ESP system on the older Sprinters - like mine and yours - has been improved on the new ones. I rented a 2007 last year and tested it out on some gravel. You can get a pretty good controlled wheelspin whereas the old system cuts power and applies the brakes waaaaayyyyy too intrusively. I look forward to the day when I can get into a next-gen Sprinter, if I keep doing this work.

I will say this - the old ESP is far superior to anything on the antiquated GM or Ford cargo vans. My Sprinter thinks it's a sports car compared to the way those other vans drive (when my van is in service and I have to rent a cargo van).

When you have the fresh Blizzaks, or Nokian's, and a heavy snow hits, and you have some weight back there (you must put weight in, the tires by themselves are not sufficient for start and stop - especially if there is elevation/ deep snow)... I guarantee you will have a blast driving your rally-Sprinter!!
 
Thanks, everybody, for the great replies - you've made me feel lots better. :) The thought of not having the van anymore was a sad one indeed; glad that I'll be able to keep it around!

I must say that driving around the city of Madison and surrounding areas on those big storm days (February 5th was a heck of a storm!), I really didn't have any huge problems - the van handled quite well.

Question: When mounting snow tires, can I mount them on the rear, and keep the regular tires on the front, or is it advisable to put snow tires on all four rims?

Thanks for the boost of confidence, guys - you're the best! :)

-Michael
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Thanks, everybody, for the great replies - you've made me feel lots better. :) The thought of not having the van anymore was a sad one indeed; glad that I'll be able to keep it around!

I must say that driving around the city of Madison and surrounding areas on those big storm days (February 5th was a heck of a storm!), I really didn't have any huge problems - the van handled quite well.

Question: When mounting snow tires, can I mount them on the rear, and keep the regular tires on the front, or is it advisable to put snow tires on all four rims?

Thanks for the boost of confidence, guys - you're the best! :)

-Michael
Not recommended but it's a contentious argument.
Read "THIS LINK AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND"Bias ply snow tire compatible with radial ply tires - Patent 4693290
Richard
 

jdcaples

Not Suitable w/220v Gen
I agree with SprinterED regarding tires. They are THE most important component to safe, confident winter driving. H



The ESP system on the older Sprinters - like mine and yours - has been improved on the new ones. I rented a 2007 last year and tested it out on some gravel. You can get a pretty good controlled wheelspin whereas the old system cuts power and applies the brakes waaaaayyyyy too intrusively. I look forward to the day when I can get into a next-gen Sprinter, if I keep doing this work.
I can confirm the 2007 comment above. On my NCV3 cargo van, I've been running Michelin LTX AT2s. The Michelin LTX AT2s are more widely available where I live. I was impressed with the standing-water, snow and slush performance of my van wearing those AT2s.

I haven't had the misfortune of driving on a badly manufactured tire, but my father taught me that radials need to be sent back to the manufacturer if a manufacturing defect causes a pull despite proper alignment etc. If a manufacturing defect presents itself - at least in Seattle - Michelin's are easier to replace than Nokians or other well-reputed snow tires.

-Jon
 

northener

New member
My 06 with the original Michelin tires was winter challenged. Very challenged by Northern Maine. I just bought a set of Dunlop radial rovers which are quite a bit more aggressively tread-ed and the van seems to be steadier in the wind and I feel more comfortable in going through a thunder storm. Yet I'm getting some .75 mile less per gallon of diesel. I've bought a ford escourt for this coming winter, 36 mpg and while very light and low with studs all about I'll be fine.

Someone last spring noted that when He purchased studded snow tires for his van it still didn't have traction. And there have been postings of putting weight in the back(especially 158 wheel base machines) and gettings drive shaft problems.

I love my spike spider chains which can go for me in about 45 seconds per side. And they go on when you can't roll the vehicle to get standard chains on. paul
 

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