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What does it take to get a Subie with Blizzaks stuck?


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I'm curious. '92 Loyale, 4 Blizzaks.

 

I've been driving in all sorts of nasty weather this winter, ice/heavy snow/etc, going through fields with a foot or more of snow, up ice covered hills, etc.

 

I haven't managed to get myself stuck yet. I've had some times (foot and a half of plowed stuff thrown into a parking zone that I tried to park in) where I needed to slip the clutch a bit (I miss my low range!), but I was able to pull out without much drama.

 

Even climbing iced hills in 4WD isn't difficult - I just... drive up them. No tire spin, no nothing.

 

I'm not sure how well I'd do with 2+ feet of snow, but nothing else would be running then either, other than some lifted trucks. Between the ground clearance, 4WD, and Blizzaks, I can definitely out-bad-weather most other things on the road. I haven't found it's limits yet.

 

So... what exactly does it take to get a Subaru stuck?

 

-=Russ=-

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ALOT, School's canceled today for the first time in 3 years....and I've been driving around town looking for a hill that I can't climb.....lowered loyale with rear LSD and cooper studless weathermaster snow tires.

 

there was a snowbank from the plow that was WELL over the hood at the end of my alley from the plow...no problem, and the alley I was driving on had a good 8" of fresh snow on it.

 

just be careful to keep your radiator clear....I've had to stop a few times and use my ice scraper to clear the snow from the front of my radiator and fan (mounted on the front of the rad).

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It took me driving around a corner with a slight incline, and angled down on one side to get stuck, the snow was deep and crunchy, the car kept sliding to the inside of the corner, and it took me 15mins to get out. I had hakka q's on.

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I buried my 92 loyale in a snow drift that was maybe 18-24" deep. Went all the way across the road in the middle of a field. Probably 50 feet long. Looked like a couple inches of hardpack, just like the other drifts that day. We hit that doing probably like 40mph. WHITE OUT! When we stopped, we were still on the road and the motor was dead. Snow packed in and jumped my T-belt. No way to get under to fix it there, blowing crazy snow storm. I belive if it had stayed running, I'd have gotten out. Oh yeah, I was pulling an empty rowboat trailer at the time. That bar axle really does a good job of plowing snow! And I am running cheapo $20 tires!

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One winter, I didn't bother plowing the driveway, just run over the snow a bunch of times to pack it down. Well, we got 3-4, good storms, a week apart, no melt between, and built up a good base. The next storm was deep enough to hang up the bottom of the car and the wheels started to slip. Car body now sitting on the hardpack with no weight on the tires. 90 3AT 4WD wagon. Pulled a few feet with friend's small pickup to get free.

 

The only other time was fooling around in a parking lot, got into a plow ridge. The snow was strong enough to support the car with no weight on the tires. A little digging with a scraper and a push from a guy that happened by was all it took to get unstuck. 76 4WD 4 speed wagon.

 

I have only used various all season tires.

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Just finished removing some oxidation/rust-proofing; refurbing/color changing a set of 15" steelies with 85% Blizzacks on 'em. (Was a lucky score $100 for full 4 set with tires! off a New Mini that some NAPA dude let the lease out on!).

 

It doesn't seem to snow much in NY State anymore :( , so haven't been able to 'really' try this set up yet... 4 inches of snow, then slush, then ice felt like getting the groceries on a hot July day.

 

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Call me when you IF you DO get stuck, I'll pull ya out :-p . Just(y) kidding :-p .

 

Respectfully,

#89

1989 Subaru JUSTY RS 4WD

126, 711 miles

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Oh, its not that hard. Just drive over compacted snow of some sort, deep enough to lift the wheels off the ground. I do it fairly frequently -- plow into two feet of winddrift or something.... But. as long as the wheels touch the ground, a subaru with blizzaks will not stop. I went up my parent's driveway when it was glazed ice, pouring rain on top, 20% grade. Still moved.

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Well, those who said "No weight on the wheels" were right.

 

It's sitting in a ditch outside of town right now. It was just fine on the roads, just fine in the snow, but the 50mph crosswind (coming out of a heavily wooded area) just took it into the ditch.

 

So... I'll be trying to shovel it out this weekend. Or find someone with a tractor.

 

-=Russ=-

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Well, those who said "No weight on the wheels" were right.

 

It's sitting in a ditch outside of town right now. It was just fine on the roads, just fine in the snow, but the 50mph crosswind (coming out of a heavily wooded area) just took it into the ditch.

 

So... I'll be trying to shovel it out this weekend. Or find someone with a tractor.

 

-=Russ=-

 

and THATS what it takes to get a subaru stuck with a set of blizzaks

 

(rimshot)

 

nipper

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with rear lsd and LO, i have only gotten stuck as a result of getting high-centered. like when i got blown sideways off the road down a 12ft steep steep bank in 2+ feet of snow, 2 people pushing got me out.

after some testing, i will not even attempt RX/LSD/DR/Rubber stunts with a stock 4wd wagon. only 2 wheels spinning just isnt the same. i'm glad it only snowed twice this year...

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I almost got stuck when i got high centerd on some snow in a large gravel parking lot, i rocked it in low back and forth untill it dislodged itself and roared out of there, some guys in a jeep were just staring as my little car roared right through the crunchy deep snow.

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Well, those who said "No weight on the wheels" were right.

 

It's sitting in a ditch outside of town right now. It was just fine on the roads, just fine in the snow, but the 50mph crosswind (coming out of a heavily wooded area) just took it into the ditch.

 

So... I'll be trying to shovel it out this weekend. Or find someone with a tractor.

 

-=Russ=-

Where ya at in Iowa? I'm in Dekalb IL. A little far for a tug, but I know there are a few soob guys in your state. Around DesMoines I think?

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That wind really sucks. I live about 30miles north of DSM. I was on my way to work at 3:30am in my 92 Loyale wagon (4x4 of course) and couldn't make it out of my little village. I broke through 6 little drifts, then the big one came along about 2 1/2ft deep and 40ft long. I made it about half way b4 my frontend was lifted off the ground and no going back. Shut the Soob down on the highway where it was and went home. Got a call around 7:30am the Sheriff was at my car. I got her back home in one piece.:banana:

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And... I'll be pulling it out sometime next week after the snow melts. Or collecting it from a tow yard, if the police somehow manage to remove it (HAH).

 

It's firmly high centered front to rear on a sheet of hard snow/ice. A 3/4 ton Suburban almost got stuck trying to pull me out (and moved it maybe an inch with a running start), there was an Explorer stuck in the middle of the road ahead, and... yea. It's not moving.

 

I think I wore 10k+ miles off the life of my clutch trying to get the wheels turning as well.

 

What kind of damage should I be looking for when I pull it out? It has oil pressure, so I don't think the oil pan is damaged, and the snow was reasonably soft when I went in, but... suggestions would be welcome. I'm hoping I didn't destroy anything too terribly expensive in the process.

 

-=Russ=-

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There is a minimum maintenece road just outside of Sioux City Iowa that you should try. Just make sure that it has been raining for a week straight before you attempt to get it stuck there.

I was visiting my dad where he was working just outside sioux city in my '87 wag and noticed a minimum mantainance road while i was out riding around in the rain one day. made it just fine through quite a bit of mud with ALOT of standing water. it was freakin awesome. cheap crap tires too. but the next day it was sunny and alot of the rain was gone... got stuck. took a very large tractor to pull me out. if this is the same road you are talking about, then that is just insane.

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If it's frozen into wet snow, you'll have to careful about not pulling brake lines, etc loose when you pull it out. If it's just cold packed snow, it probably didn't do anything to it. I've rammed mine into drifts such that it was high centers many times, and haven't broken anything -- soft drifts we have here in Colorado. I don't even have my skid plate on it this winter, and I've been a little scared of smashing my oil sending unit. You might have cracked the y-pipe loose perhaps -- I did that going over a basketball sized rock once.

 

And, you can put a pretty big dent in the oil pan with little noticeable effect. In my VW, I hit a dip in a dirt road so hard that it bashed the pan in at least an inch all the way across, and broke an engine mount. But it still ran. Unless it was really hard ice, I doubt it even dented the oil pan.

 

Oh, and the way to get them free, is dig around them down to the ground to get a place to work, then dig all the snow out from under them -- a medium handle relatively straight spade works well. Once you dig completely under the car, it'll suddenly fall and inch or two (so be careful you aren't under it), then you can drive away.

 

Or, get a front end loader, and have it lift one end of the car up -- that usually frees it. We had to do that with a F250 highboy stuck in a 4 foot deep wind drift (was only 2 or 3 foot deep when he got stuck there, then the wind added more)

 

And... I'll be pulling it out sometime next week after the snow melts. Or collecting it from a tow yard, if the police somehow manage to remove it (HAH).

 

It's firmly high centered front to rear on a sheet of hard snow/ice. A 3/4 ton Suburban almost got stuck trying to pull me out (and moved it maybe an inch with a running start), there was an Explorer stuck in the middle of the road ahead, and... yea. It's not moving.

 

I think I wore 10k+ miles off the life of my clutch trying to get the wheels turning as well.

 

What kind of damage should I be looking for when I pull it out? It has oil pressure, so I don't think the oil pan is damaged, and the snow was reasonably soft when I went in, but... suggestions would be welcome. I'm hoping I didn't destroy anything too terribly expensive in the process.

 

-=Russ=-

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Oh, and the way to get them free, is dig around them down to the ground to get a place to work, then dig all the snow out from under them -- a medium handle relatively straight spade works well. Once you dig completely under the car, it'll suddenly fall and inch or two (so be careful you aren't under it), then you can drive away.

 

 

I may get a straight spade tomorrow & try. I had a snow shovel today, and it wouldn't fit very far under.

 

-=Russ=-

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well....I did it this morning. it was parked on the street during the blizzard (70mph wind gusts....18" snow since yesterday afternoon), and spent about 20 minutes digging it out of the parking place (the road had not yet been plowed), and got a little momentum. but the first cross street I came to, a snowmobiler had been driving up and down, so it was all hard packed. well, my little 155-80s cut right through the snow, until they weren't touching anymore....I could let out the clutch, and get out of the car....all 4 tires spinning free at idle....

 

walked back to the house, got a metal spade, and started un-packing from under the car....about a half hour later, it sunk enough that I could move it.

 

 

I suppose it doesn't help that my car is sitting ~3" lower than a stock 4WD...

 

 

good news is, I got to park my car in my girlfriend's garage today....and the ice melted from my radiator fan...so it works again now :banana:

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