Your Ford F-150 Raptor Is No Match for Ice Without Proper Winter Tires
Winter may have come a little late this year, but it is making up for lost time. Freezing temperatures and precipitation have presented plenty of winter driving challenges for many across the country. Although the Ford F-150 Raptor is a big badass 4×4 pickup truck, it still isn’t a match for ice without winter tires.
Do you really need winter tires?
In a word, yes. If you live somewhere that gets regular snow and ice, then winter tires are probably a good investment. This video shows that even with a big, tough Ford Raptor, ice can humble us all.
As The Drive accurately points out, it’s about that time when we watch videos of four-wheel-drive pickup trucks and SUVs slowly sliding into the ditches while getting embarrassed by sedans wearing winter tires happily cruising by. This is a bit of a shameful, guilty pleasure, but it is mighty common.
The truth is, the biggest and baddest 4×4 trucks and SUVs on normal tires can’t compete on the ice against something with the appropriate winter tires. This role reversal is the funny part, surely not the very real potential for danger that these conditions present.
Driving on ice can fell the biggest trucks
Lol some dude in his ridiculous tonka truck can’t make it up the little hill on our street. pic.twitter.com/qm9OJO5ORf
— that cheap guy (@troylf) January 6, 2022
In the videos posted to Twitter by Cletus Truckwell, we see a pair of big boys who certainly weren’t expecting to get owned by such gentle hills. While The Drive points out that we can’t completely guarantee that these lifted rigs aren’t on winter tires, the video shows pretty compelling evidence that they aren’t.
The first clip shows a rather loudly decorated and lifted Chevy Silverado flailing about on the mildest of hills. But given its apparent lack of winter tread, the big boy is rendered useless on the ice. You may have also noticed; only the rear wheels are spinning. Either this giant truck doesn’t have four-wheel drive somehow, or the driver hasn’t thought to hit four low, though it may not have helped all that much.
Does your Ford F-150 Raptor need winter tires?
— Cletus Truckwell (@ShitPostCar) January 9, 2022
While further proving the need for winter tires, the second clip is a bit more perilous than the first. This Ford F-150 Raptor didn’t get 10 feet before sliding slowly, but out of control, down his driveway. There is something sad watching this monster Ford Raptor get whooped by the ice so easily. But just like a Formula 1 car, the most capable machines on earth can be rendered useless without the appropriate tires.
This guy isn’t hotdoggin’ or acting a fool, he simply went to back up to turn around in his driveway, and his truck skated off without his permission. Although the subject of the video is driving a very capable, $70k truck that can do a great many things. However, the truth is, without the proper winter tires, it might as well be a shoebox.
How to find the best winter tires?
Winter tires are the only thing that really matters when it comes to winter driving. Sure, AWD or 4WD can certainly help, but without grip, those extra turning wheels are just doing more sliding.
Like all tire shopping, the best way to go is to take your time and shop before winter or right after. Winter tires often will go on sale in the off-season and can present a better deal for buyers. As with all other winter adjustments, winter driving is best done when prepared for beforehand.
Winter tires can make the least performance-minded vehicle a winter monster. It’s all about grip. Without grip, our cars and trucks are useless. But with the right tires providing the appropriate grip, you keep yourself, your car, and others safe while driving in the winter. Quit playin’, get winter tires.
