Thank you, Mountain.
Only risk is avalanches and deer and elk in the middle of the night.
Retuning at 2 a.m. up hill at 45 mph (65 mph zone) a deer trotted onto the roadway.
Thanks to Craig’s List, a donor gave us used rims on which we mounted four aggressive winter tires. The M&S-tired wheels hang on wall hooks.
Chains, shovel, tarp, cat litter, Ensure, toilet paper and spare cell phone. No winch.
You need to understand what “lift kits” do – they raise the frame and/or body higher off the suspension. They do not add any additional height to the axles which limit your ground clearance. They also increase the center of gravity increasing the likelihood of a roll-over. If you feel you need more ground clearance, get a Unimog or a Humvee, not a Hummer (a Chevy Suburban with a fancy body). Unimogs and Humvee have high-mounted axles and reduction gears at each wheel providing amazing ground clearance. If neither of these vehicles work, fire up the snow cat.
Have you considered an all-weather helicopter?? You can bill this service at about $4000/hour…Jacking up your expedition will do NOTHING other than making more prone to roll-overs than it already is…
I-70 and I-25 have not been closed this winter…People drive their Ford Escorts to Vail to go skiing…What’s the problem??? Getting out of the parking lot? Or do you like going over Loveland Pass because it’s FUN!!
Hospitals call us when the weather is too bad for Fright for Life to fly.
I’d love to go over the pass. But cannot justify the fuel use and pollution.
Wife and I did go over in the summer in a Camry. Her firstime. She was scared that there are no guard rails in many places.
It’s “Flight For Money”…
H1 Disadvantages
I think you need to lift your Expedition at least three feet. Then you need to upsize the wheels so it looks like a monster truck. Of course that will mean buying new winter and summer tires.
Nothing makes a 100 MPH Expedition with overinflated tires safer than a lift kit and huge knobby tires!
I am curious. Have you had a problem with huge snow drifts in the past, or are you just wasting everyone’s time for a hypothetical scenario you have never seen?
“But cannot justify the fuel use and pollution.”
Dude, you drive an Expedition at triple digit speeds and are/were considering lifting it as well. And you’re trying to justify not going over a mountain because of the fuel use and pollution? Incredible.
If I use huge tires, when governor kicks in at 103, I’m really doing 115!
We have transported in horrible conditions in the past.
If there is a big snowstorm or blizzard, invariably hospitals will call in the middle of it.
Onemergency delivery we had to dig through 6 drifts. (I never had a better workout - sweating in a blizzard!)
Nothing major so far this year.
Glad we obtained a used Expedition.
It was also a good buy. (Money determines what we get.)
In that case, I stick with my recommendation. It will raise the Expedition’s center of gravity and make it more likely to roll over, but what kind of mamby pamby would let a little thing like safety stop him? Be a man! Do it! Jack that sucker up!
Too expensive!
The hospital personnelaughed when I arrived with my trousersoaked and my shirt under my coat soaked.
I’m good at digging.
FoDaddy, let’s not forget he over-inflates his tires!
So say the folks here, but have you really done your homework? Go out and get some quotes. What have you got to lose? What’s wrong, are you chicken?
Poor!
I was hoping to just put in shims.
Will just have to plan on digging as always.
After doing as two tone indicated, only then with the increase in tire clearance can you add oversize tires, that’s what increases your axle height. Now you have a whole new set of problems with abs gearing and traction control if you have it.
Thanks. Axle clearance is less than half of the tire height, but I was not concerned so much about axle height as the bottom of the vehicle.
Buth.is too expensive for the few times it may be needed.
Was hoping I could place shims between some components to raise the body and not affect suspension, steering, etc.
Do you live/work in the Denver area?
Is your truck marked, or is it an unmarked truck?
BC.
If they’re drifts you can manually dig through, then you’d be better off having a small single stage snow thrower stowed in the back or better yet, a Boss V plow on the front to punch through them. Spend $2.5k on a used plow and have it on/off in 10 minutes as necessary.
Per Denver Police Department, name on back of the light bar in 3M reflective lettering and large reflective lettering on clear plastic “signs” inside the back and side windows.
We have the light bar bolted directly to the roof rack so that it can beasily removed and stowed to lessen windrag for long distance returns.
Ordinary white Expedition except for a red LED Stop/turn/tail lamp mounted on the inside wall of each front wheelwell not easily noticed in the dark well just above the tire.