This has been happening to me more and more often it seems. When driving highway miles in fairly deep snow my wheel wells get absolutly packed with snow and ice. It gets so bad that there is at most a quarter inch between the tire surface and the snow/ice pack. Every time i go over the slightest bump, accelerate/decerate, or round a corner, one or more tires rub against the packed snow. This packs the snow further and creates a rock solid block of snow/ice in the wheel well.

 

I stop the car and try to clear out the ice as best i can but sometimes it is darn near impossible to get it all out. When the tire contacts the ice it makes a real loud noise and it sounds like I may be damaging the tire at least, and who knows what else.

 

Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas to prevent the buildup?

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. I grew up driving in the snow and I've never experienced any damage resulting from snow/ice build up like that. I can understand that the sound is disheartening, but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

I agree....grew up in the snow belts of upstate ny. My wheel wells are ALWAYS packed with snow and ice....never had any damage....just that irritating sound of crunching -nothin to worry about in my experience.

i sometimes get a death vibration when there's too much snow in there, just kick the fender a few times... or if it gets really bad, take out your crowbar and start chipping away.... another thing i've heard, is to spray PAM on the inside of the wheel well... no clue if it works.. but i've heard it might.

just stop going to Tahoe. This is perfectly normal for a car driving in snow. At least we get to melt it back out. Some of the folks on this board get rid of it in April.

just stop going to Tahoe. This is perfectly normal for a car driving in snow. At least we get to melt it back out. Some of the folks on this board get rid of it in April.

...Or it drips off in the garage and leaves a wet salty-sandy muddy mess (if it melts at all:rolleyes: ) .

I have the same problem with my OBW. Every time i drive through wet snow it sticks to the wheel wells...i got screwed one night, drove home in the wet stuff and the temps dropped like a stone overnight and froze the snow. I took it out for a drive and the tires would hit the ice everytime i drove over a bump. I had to use a chisel to get the ice out. The best thing to do is brush out the snow after driving, especially if you know it'll freeze overnight.

Well, since we live in NW Montana we drive in a LOT of snow. Snow packed wheel wells have never created a problem. A spinning tire melts right thru the snow and ice so it'll always clear a travel way as needed.

 

That said, where we HAVE had problems is with the back of the wheels packing, partially melting, the refreezing. Gives you an out-of-balance wheel like you can't believe. Gets worse as the season goes along because when they sand the roads (no salt allowed in MT, thanks), the sand builds up and the wheels stay out-of-balance even after all the snow melts out.

 

We have radiant heat in our garage, and we get SOME puddles after the car has thawed.

I've had a similar problem with my 2002 Forester.

 

When the snow gets packed-in the wheel wells, I've noticed my ABS warning light comes on. The light stays on until the snow is cleared from the wheel well.

 

The brakes still work, but it seems as if snow is getting into an ABS sensor somewhere behind the wheel.

Yeah, it's the frozen snow inside the wheel itself that'll really get you. Jump on the freeway in the morning on a tight time schedule and hOlY cRaP!

 

I've gotten in the habit of blasting the wheels and the wells at the car wash before I park it for the evening, or at the very least I'll take a snow brush and push the snow out.

Coming from Eastern Montana we haven't had much problems with snow pack in the wheel wells,but this being our first year in N.W Montana and more snow albeit off and on this year,I've got to say I haven't had any problems when the clumps start building up.Just knock off what you can with the heel of your boot.

mtsmiths,it's not true about no salt in Montana.

John

Yeah, keep the wells clean by kicking/scraping whenever you park.

 

AND, be glad you have AWD, imagine a FWD with that much snow in the rear wheel wells. Sudden lock up like pulling the e-brake could lead to a spin.

mtsmiths,it's not true about no salt in Montana.

John

 

John, it's true they spray diluts calcium chlloride on ice here, but it's not SALT like the pure sodium chloride 'rock salt' they use everywhere back east. That *************** collects and sticks to metal parts and burrows it's way in like ticks on a hound dog.

 

At least our stuff can be rinsed off.

 

BTW, from one Flatheadian to another, welcome to the board.

Good to meet you- didn't mean to sound like I was arguing,just a bit angry

that this supposed de-icer that's non corrosive is corrosive to my truck.

John

The packed snow can really cause a bad vibration.

 

Since Subaru sells these things in the snowbelts seems like there may be some opportunity in offering a rim-melt option.... hmm what does that look like? has to be reasonably priced, these are subies after all. Or how about a sensor that registers an out of balance condition although a vibrating car affectively does the same thing. Maybe teflon coated rims (built in PAM).

I've been having the same trouble with snow and ice building up in my wheel wells. There are two things that worry me with this problem. 1) When driving on slippery roads a slight bump will cause the tire lock up as it bottoms out on the ice packed wheel well which could theoretically send the car into a slide (hasn't happened yet, but I've been doing alot of chiseling with a flat bar to avoid it). 2) I wonder what kind of damage could occur from hard bottom outs on the ice in the rear wheel wells? In my opinion this is a serious issue and I'm not sure how to fix it other than getting down and chiseling every few miles or as the rubbing sound begins. It seems to me that it's the cold days when the roads are covered with slushy snow that are the worst because it causes instant ice buildup that does not seem to get melted from tire friction. Much more of this is going to make a truck with higher clearance seem much more appealing, don't get me wrong, I love my subaru, but I'm not willing to jeopardize my safety to keep it. What about removing the plastic shields inside the wheel wells?

what's being missed here is that the packed up snow/ice can smash out the plastic splashguards contained in the wheelwells either when turning or bottoming out. it will dust the plastic push-pins as well. no good solution other than close monitoring at fuel stops etc.

Not a problem with aggressive tires, seams to me all-season radials are the worse culprits . a good snow tire /AT/MT tire no problems.

 

the wet snow is the worst and really packs the wheel wells...powder no problem!