RV in the snow

[RVHawk]

First time RV owner, driving a Minnie Winnie 31K. Considering taking it for skiing and winter camping in Washington State. I have plenty of car driving experience in snow, but no RV experience.

What is the level of difficult of driving a Class C of this size in snow? I was assuming I would have chains.

Also wondering, how many use an RV skirt for winter camping? I assumed it was a must but when I looked at pictures at the ski area, no one seemed to have them. Do you winterize and just not shower / bring your own water?

TIA

[Eagle5]

Hi RV Hawk,
I would recommend these three things:

1. Have a Detroit Locker installed in the differential.
2. Get six All Terrain tires.
3. Install Black & Grey Tank Heaters.

Welcome to the Forum.
Eagle5

[Eagle5]

Hi again RV Hawk,
I now have a little more time now to comment. Skirts are not needed, and the Black & Grey Tank Heaters are installed on many of the Minnie Winnies. Hopefully, yours came with this feature. I use both a Detroit Locker and Mickey Thomson All Terrains on my F-350 truck, and the combination is fantastic. Remember if you upgrade a Minnie Winnie to add front drive with the transfer case, etc., you really move from 2 wheels driving to 3 wheels driving (one rear dual and one front). With a Detroit Locker, both sets of dual wheels always spin (4 wheels driving.)
Tire Recommendation: MICKEY THOMPSON BAJA ATZP3
Thanks, Eagle5

[RVHawk]

Thank you Eagle5!!

[Elkman]

A great deal depends on how warm it gets during the day. If it stays below 32 degrees during the night and falls into the teens or lower at night there is more of a chance of problems with the water lines.

In terms of driving my concern is with hitting ice early in the day, in particular at bridge crossings. As for chains or cables it is important to know that they will fit and that there is adequate clearance so they do not hit the wheel wells or steering components.

I was driving through a light snowstorm two days ago and the lack of visibility was disconcerting and having no way to see where is was safe to pull of the road and having snow buildup under the top bunk area and then fall in very large chunks onto the windshield was not fun. The forecast was for rain but the weather forecasters were wrong.

[Noah4448]

I drove my Vista 29VE thru some pretty cold weather and took temperature readings. See my post here: "Any Vista 29VE Owners" on the second page for what I did. My conclusion for my 29VE is as long as you keep the furnace on you can go down to 8 degrees safely without winterizing.

[Wyatt]

I texted my friend, who is an avid off road person, (he does the Rubicon trail about five times a year).

This is his reply, to me, about the Detroit Locker...

[Eagle5]

Hi Wyatt,
Your friend is absolutely correct regarding a Detroit Locker in a Jeep. The Jeep's differential is too small to properly handle a Detroit Locker. Because the teeth must not break, they must be of a certain width. With the geometric limitations of the small ring gear, the backlash as installed in a Jeep will be about 30º. In my Ford F-350, the backlash is about 3º.
You might ask "Gee, how do you know this?" Well, I first installed the Detroit Locker in my truck, and it worked wonderfully. If you keep a steady acceleration or deceleration going through a corner, it is quiet and doesn't clank. So, I ordered one for my 2008 Mustang GT with a relatively small 8.8" Ring Gear. It was so awful, we had to remove it. For the Mustang, I switched to a True Track, which is great for handling in good traction conditions, but not good for snow.
Yes, the Detroit Locker would be fine for the very large ring gears found in E-350 and E-450s.

[7997redtail]

I notice the replies you are getting are related to driving and not staying. Id be curious about staying in cold weather as I am in BC Canada and in winter some of the ski hills can get down to -15 -20 for a week or two at a time.

With a power hookup, which most mountains don't supply, or staying without a power hookup, things would be different. Vastly different. So two issues.

#1 Driving and #2 Camping/Staying

#1 Driving

I recently bought a set of cable chains for our 29r Class a. In reality I never plan on using them. If it snows I plan on staying wherever I am. Having said that i cant stay forever. So at some point Ill have to move the RV. Locker? Sure if you have the money and plan on doing some real hard winter driving. But in reality...... And, to drive during the shoulder months entering into and out of winter you need to have chains but the expectation is that the weather/road conditions could change at any minute. Going fishing in February or March isn't possible without carrying chains or "winter" labeled tires. So, i bought some chains. 245/70 x 19.5 for $15

Our ski cabin is 4 ish hours though the "highway through hell" or whatever they call it on TV. The Coquihalla highway from Vancouver to Kamloops BC. It can be your worst nightmare and I've been driving that to go sking for 25 years. If the weather is bad you wait one or two days the road conditions will change and be fine. I've driven a GMC 2500HD with a locking rear differential (not a locker. To me a locker is an electrical or air activated locking device) , a F250 without a locking diff, a Honda CRV etc etc. The biggest most important thing? "GOOD SNOW TIRES" They are designed for the conditions. I've stepped out of my truck to take a squirt and almost ended up on my ass because the road was 100% ice. The tires took it way better than my shoes did. "GOOD SNOW TIRES"

#2 Staying/Camping

To me this is the question i think you and I would like answered. I've seen the RV campers in the lower lot staying for a few days. How do they do it? I picture frozen pipes or camping without water and sewage. Running a propane heater 24 hrs. I know my batteries would drain pretty quickly if the heater fan ran all the time.

I know some units come with "winter kits" whatever that consists of but i picture either a heated basement of heating strips on the pipes. My class a doesn't have a "basement" it has compartments but not so you could keep them warm. In fact the water and sewer compartments have nothing around them. A perfect area to freeze.

So how do you stay in -15, -20 for 3 or 5 days?

Thanks

[Elkman]

Many a newbie with their 4WD vehicle has learned that when there is ice it only means you have 4 wheels spinning instead of 2 wheels. I hit black ice in a parking lot and although I was only going 5 mph the truck slid for more than 150 feet. I have learned to avoid road areas not in full sun in the early morning hours and to be especially careful with overpasses and bridges where ice is going to take the longest to melt.

[71_340]

I would not drive my RV on snow or ice if I can help it, there are safer ways to travel. RVs are not designed to be driven in the snow, the exception would be the 4WD Sprinter based Class B units.

The suggestion of installing a Detroit Locker and buying six off-road tires doesn't make financial sense. You are talking about a 4K investment. Stay at a hotel and drive a regular 4WD vehicle to your destination, much safer and cheaper.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by 71_340

I would not drive my RV on snow or ice if I can help it, there are safer ways to travel. RVs are not designed to be driven in the snow, the exception would be the 4WD Sprinter based Class B units.

The suggestion of installing a Detroit Locker and buying six off-road tires doesn't make financial sense. You are talking about a 4K investment. Stay at a hotel and drive a regular 4WD vehicle to your destination, much safer and cheaper.

Amen. The thought of hitting black ice in our RV on a winding road...

[Eagle5]

How do you define too expensive?
How do you define too risky?
Why do we own Motorhomes anyway?

Risk is our business

[7997redtail]

I’d still like to know how people stay in an RV when it’s 20 below.

[Old Navy]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

Hi Wyatt,
Your friend is absolutely correct regarding a Detroit Locker in a Jeep.

Detroit Lockers are also more well behaved in longer wheelbase vehicles. I had one in my old "Full Sized Jeep" (SJ), and a Tru-Trac up front. Compared to how they clank and jerk in little jeeps, it was hardly noticeable on the road. Just a bit of clicking around corners. Off road was awesome. This was in a D44 rear with an 8.5" ring gear.

But since I'm spending someone else's money, I would probably go for an air locker like the ARB, or an electric locker like an Eaton for an RV.

[BobC]

Maybe you'll find some helpful information here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rv+s...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[Cham20]

We've been touring Canada for the last 8 months or so. We did finally hole up for the winter, but had several days of temperatures ranging from -5 to -10 C.



Our 22R had double panes in the windows which made a huge difference. For us, the major "deficiency" was actually the floor. There's little to no insulation there, and it becomes a major source of heat loss.


We were moving around a lot, so didn't try a skirting system, though I'm sure that would help greatly.


What we did do, was to line the floor with those interlocking closed cell foam blocks that you can buy at Home Depot. They are cheap, and easy to cut to fit (though obviously a little time consuming to cut).



I'd say prior to putting in the mats, we were pretty happy down to -5. With the mats, we were good to -10... but the propane heater was definitely cycling!


Pro-Tip: I'd recommend the felt-lined version of those interlocking tiles. They just feel a whole lot more like carpet on the feet, and give the illusion of greater warmth.


Good luck!

[Eagle5]

Hi Andrew,
Excellent report on your cold weather experiences. I definitely ordered the Thermopane windows, if for no other reason than to reduce the interior condensation. As far as the floor not being insulated, I use insulated dog blankets on the floor, but that interlocking tile idea sounds like the only way to go with temperatures as low as 14°F.
Thanks, Eagle5

[Cham20]

Funny you mention the dog blankets. My tripping over ours all the time was actually part of my inspiration to find something insulative, but didn't trip me up!