Stuck in the Snow

[Hooptie Love]

We visited a cabin last weekend just below the ski resorts in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City. My locker had not been working since my engine conversion and I didn't feel much like working on it in the cold and wet with no garage. We went up the road and I was doing very well until I took a wrong turn. I started backing out and the hill I was backing on was extremely slick and very very steep. I was being a wuss and ended up backing into the snowbank which ended up having a better grip on my van than I thought. So technically my van would have been fine if it weren't for driver error. It took us only about 10 minutes to dig out and get on our merry way but it was a pain. The good news is that I have officially fixed my locker. Also the good news is that my van made it much farther than the 3 other SUV's that came with us. I made the hill easily. The Toyota Sequoia made it only about 1/4th of the way up before having to back down the Cadillac Escalade wouldn't even try, and the Ford Explorer only made it three quarters. Only the Subaru and my van made it. My van made the hill easily and got stuck doing something very stupid after the hill on the flatter area.

[DAIZEE]

Oh the memories of skiing in the Rockys. Nothing ever stopped me except ditches tho Interesting picture of a situation for a Syncro
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[r.e.wing_fc3s]

stuck in a syncro--thats funny. a few weeks ago i was going up to twin lakes on mt baker to snowshoe with friends. driving my 86 gl auto 2wd with worn front tires no lsd and just chains on the back. a new fj cruiser with monster off road tires didn't get any farther. always use the handbrake when backing down a hill. im going to install a brake bias controller for these situations.

[IrideWheelies]

Syncros can definitely get stuck!

The main difference between being stuck in a 2WD and a Syncro is that your usually much farther from civilization and typically, much more stuck. I know all about it.

Weekend before last I was up in Capitol Forest checking out our recent snow. I was by myself so I wasn't planning to do anything extreme, as soon as the snow got too deep I would turn around.

As I drove up a moderately steep gravel road I saw four trucks and an abandoned cargo trailer all together near the top of the hill. The truck farthest up the hill was a big modified 4X4 with giant mudder tires. He had two tires in the ditch and two on the road, roosting up dirt from the ditch as he climbed the hill. Two more full size american model trucks were stopped pointing down the hill and closest to me was a GMC Jimmy pointing up the hill.

The Jimmy started to back down towards me quickly so I put it in reverse and pulled back. I couldn't figure out why the Jimmy was backing so quickly until I noticed that all 4 wheels were locked - they were sliding! I got out of the way by backing all the way down to level ground, out of sight of the other trucks.

As I waited at the bottom of the hill the two american trucks and the Jimmy drove by me and waived. I noticed that the Jimmy had street tires on it so I assumed that was why it was sliding. I have a new set of siped 215/70/16 BFG's on my van so I knew I'd have better traction.

I started driving back up the hill with no problem, until I got near the top. That's when my forward speed decreased while my rpm's stayed the same. Uh oh. The road surface was dense packed ice and I had zero grip. I let off the gas hoping my tires would hook back up and I could move forward but instead I slid backwards downhill for about 25 feet. I could steer my van to keep it out of the ditch by feathering the brakes but I could not get my van to come to a stop.

After I finally was able to get my van stopped two guys on ATVs came sliding around the corner. It was all they could do not to pile into the front of my van. I had an image in my head of all three vehicles stacked up in the ditch if they would have hit me. They managed to slip my me and ride down to safety.

I slowly backed down a few feet at a time until I got to flat ground and could turn around.

I can't help but wonder if I would have been better off with a TBD diff in one or both axles. I'm planning on putting one in the rear when I do my trans rebuild. Maybe I would have made it up? I don't know, I do know for sure engaging the locker would have been a mistake, I would have slid sideways much easier. I don't have a locker but I wouldn't have used it if I did.

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89' Dove Blue Syncro Hightop