Driving class A in winter conditions

Pop-Pop C wrote:
Have no reason to investing Chains,or antifreeze . If I have to "winterize",it is time to
Go south.

I assume you're talking fresh water type anti-freeze for the house and not the engine, which requires it both winter and summer?

Lot's of great info, thanks. Even though I am CA born and raised, I consider myself as safe as you can driving a 4 wheeler with 4x4 in the snow. When I have asked about cold weather packages in MHs, the salesmen usually give me some sort of BS answer, like "they are all made to handle cold weather." I did not realize that MHs had R values like stick home insulation, so that is very helpful info.

We prefer to travel in the Winter and I always carry tire chains with me. The weather does not bother us and the only time I have had to use my chains is to get into and out of RV parks, which is no big deal. I only hook up my water and sewer lines to empty or fill tanks so I do not have to worry about my hoses freezing. We also use our heat pump and other electric heater so with temps down to zero we do not need our furnace. Our coach has double pane windows which seems to help. We prefer the lack of crowds when we travel so thank goodness others head South.

I have driven in the winter and love winter camping too. I just try not to drive during the actual stuff falling. If I can I will pull over and wait till it stops. The other thing is try to drive in the day. Finally, you need a rig that can take the cold weather too.

I think bsinmich said it very well. Not all coaches are created equal when it comes to cold temperatures and insulation. The OP best find out which motorhomes will handle the cold air best before wondering how they handle.

Now to the tire chains. I've been driving in the snow all my live. Love driving in snow, but don't like all the idiots around me who don't know how to. It may be a born with skill, I don't know. Some do very well on snow and some are down right scary! In my over 20 years of driving tractor trailer, I never put chains on. They only gave us two, and I figured they were for the steer axle, cause I wanted to be able to steer if I had to, and you usually can't if you are skidding. Chains can do all kinds of damage to a vehicle, rip off shocks, air & hydraulic brake lines, rip up electrical wires, tear up waste tanks and rip up fiberglass. I have always felt that if it was so slippery that I had to put chains on, that it would be cheaper to just park and wait!!! And yes, I have parked and waited til a sand truck came along.

I have 10 yrs experience with winter travel in two different coach's.
I have decided moving forward I am done traveling under harsh conditions. We have had winters where the temps stayed mild and were dry and I will always take advantage of that. I am talking about the near zero temps and snowy/icy conditions. You bet they take their toll on your equipment including tow bar. I went through $100 in LP in four days last Christmas- done with that. I have spent the last two weeks under my coach on a project and I can't say as I can spot any evidence with the chassis. Chassis is about 99% painted with a few rust spots here and there. Guessing that is par for the course for a 12 year old chassis.

We've driven our mh in a couple snow storms while towing my Jeep. My experience has been in the east where you can easily get by without chains but we stay on the main highways, mostly interstates. The thing is to take it slow and leave a ton of braking space. We make sure we have a lot of windshield washer fluid.

Got caught by a sudden blizzard around Meford, Wisconsin in November when we still had our 30ft 1988 Champion. Maybe 1995? (Before we had access to instant weather/road conditions via internet.)

It wasn't the driving in the snow that got us. We were headed south as fast as we could go with the wind at our backs when icy rain started falling. A gust of wind took us all the way across two lanes (we kept it on the road and didn't cause any one any heart attack, I think.) But the defroster could NOT keep the windshield clear. We used a hair dryer and ran the generator until we got clear of the rain.

That said... we took that same MH on ski trips all winter long with all the grand kids on board many many weekends in Wisconsin and Michigan. Even staying over night a time or two in Ironwood,MI with them. We were never cold. Had a porta potty in the shower for night time needs... best of times.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that snow isn't the only thing to consider.

Depending on where you are chains may be required. If that happens and you don't put them on but keep driving you will get a big ticket. I remember one time we were going from our then home base in Blaine, Wa. to see our son in Boise for Christmas. Just east of Pendelton chains were required on all vehicles over 10,000 lbs. we pulled over to put our chains on right behind a logging truck. The logging truck driver thought that it was stupid to have to put his chains on then to go to LaGrande when he didn't need them on the trip west. The cars weren't chaining up. Half way up the pass traffic came to a stop as a empty truck and trailer had spun out and was blocking the road. When the road reopened the cars really had a problem but we didn't have a bit of a problem in our mh. When you have places to go in the winter you don't always have a choice.
Ron

Driven in snow many times. The super long wheel base makes them very stable.

That said: Do yourself a favor a spray the whole underside and engine compartments with something like this.

http://www.theruststore.com/Boeshield-T-9-Gallon-P5C4.aspx