Some of you that live in Southern California knew about that storm that landed yesterday. I was anticipating this storm for several days and I had been planning it for several days. I had an idea of what to expect, but I had no idea it would be this bad. This was the my first time driving in snow, and I found it to be similar to driving on mud. I had read so many stories about the Tercel's snow prowess, but I wanted to put it to the test myself. What a better way to do this than driving in the middle of a snow storm!
I decided I would make my way into Big Bear Lake through Hwy 330. Traffic was heavy and I passed so many accidents on the freeways, I had never seen so many accidents before. It was raining hard so I kept my speed about 50 mph to avoid hydroplaning. I reached Hwy 330 and I expected to hit the Caltrans chain control area soon and my prediction was true. Caltrans asked me if I had chains and asked if I was going to put them on. Then while my friend and I were wrestling to put them on a chain installer told me not to bother because they weren't allowing people on the highway anymore. I asked a chain installer if he knew if Hwy 18 was open, and he said I could try it, but that he would only try it with 4WD. He then looked at the front of my car and asked "this is 4-wheel-drive?" I said, "Yep, it is..." So I went back onto the freeway and went onto Hwy 18, going up to Big Bear through the Waterman Canyon.
When I got to the CalTrans chain control area, I was asked by the Caltrans worker if I had chains and I affirmed that I did. He said, "Ok, drive safely." I proceeded up the hill. After a while I started hitting rain/snow... at this point there was no need for 4WD, yet...
I went a ways from the last picture when, great, someone was stuck and was getting towed out. It was pretty pathetic as it wasn't even very slick (at least for the Terc, haha). I was very cautious and was traveling 20 mph or so.
The higher I went it was getting worse, visibility was poor as evidenced here:
By now I definitely had 4WD engaged and it wasn't getting any better. My windows were very foggy, and my heater wasn't putting out. I was freezing inside. My rear defroster wasn't working well either, which made things more difficult.
I kept going, no real problem other than the rear wanted to slide out a little with the uneven snow. Somewhere around the town of Arrowbear, this guy was coming and was taking up the entire lane that was plowed. I had to no choice but to keep going straight in my path and then my friend was "NO!!!" and it was too late and I drove right into a snow drift. It was hard to differentiate that it was too high to drive through, and this was evidenced by several other cars stuck. Behind me this is how it looked like:
I didn't know what happened until I couldn't go further and I tried backing up to no avail. I tried revving to 3000 rpm and easing the clutch, but it was definitely not going anywhere, I tried it twice, but I started smelling my clutch so I stopped. I remembered mac's experience burning out the Rhino Pac clutch, and that was the last thing I wanted to happen so I quit trying. When stuck, time to shovel! To the right of the car was a snow drift, at least 2 ft. I looked under the car and it had high-centered. It was completely blocked by snow. I didn't have a shovel. Blast!! I tried putting chains on the rear, but it was useless I couldn't get in there. I saw a lady shoveling out her Explorer, after she was done, I asked if I could borrow her shovel and got to work. I removed as much as I could and my friend helped me, but the snow was piling quick. I saw a man with a Ford Ranger 4x4 truck, he had also high centered and was shoveling too. This made me feel a little better, but felt stupid for driving right into the snow drift, but I blamed the poor visibility. My friend locked the steering and when I went back to unlock it, it wouldn't budge. We had to wrestle it until it came free. Luckily, the lady lived nearby and brought her neighbor over. They jumped up and down on the front of the Terc, while her daughter and my friend pushed and rocked the front. I got back in and feathered the clutch in reverse several times until the front came free and kept backing up until I was able to move forward and get back onto the plowed portion. My friend said the wheels were spinning quite a bit. In retrospect, I should have put it in FWD, spun the wheels and had my friend rock the front end back and forth... it just didn't have the power to spin the wheels in 4WD in this hard-packed snow. Whew! I was good right? Wrong...
I kept going and then for some reason I ended driving right into another high snow drift. I didn't know what happened until the snow splashed up all over the front of the car. I opened the door and the snow was really high. This time I had done it, it was really stuck. I had no shovel. I tried to find someone with a truck, my only hope was to get pulled out. I was lucky that I was able to catch the attention of a passerby with a Chevy Suburban 4x4 I believe. He hooked up the tow strap and dragged me out of there, but not before some serious wheel spin (he said to keep it in neutral)... the guy driving the Chevy said that it was pretty bad since the snow plow was having trouble as well. It didn't matter if you had 4WD, chains, etc, if you were to get stuck, you got stuck.
I was determined to attempt NOT to drive it into another snow drift or high-center it. I truly believed that luck was one my side as I got stuck, I had great people help me out. It was hard driving in the poor visibility. When I got the Hwy 18 & Hwy 38 fork, it looked like Hwy 38 was the better route. Before we proceeded, we put the traction cables on the rear wheels and it seemed to be a tad bit more stable and the rear seemed not to want to slide out. After over 2 hrs we made it to Big Bear Lake. We waited out the heavy snow at a fast food joint.
Notice the traction cables on the rear wheels:
I am convinced that the Terc is beast in the snow. Even in EL 4WD, I didn't perceive any noticeable wheel spin on take off and was right on. I did have some Nissan Pathfinder pass me and some other car, but I wasn't trying to race. If many trucks and cars got stuck back there and I had made it this far, this had to be something special.
I encountered a Jeep Liberty 2WD with no chains on the rear tires, just barely moving as his wheels struggled to grip the road, blocking traffic along as well.
After all that drama, we needed to find a way down the mountain and it looked like we were running out of options. The only two ways were through Hwy 18 through the Lucerne Valley or back down through the Waterman Canyon. I tried going through the desert route, but it wasn't going to happen, a UPS truck was stuck ahead and later we learned they shut down the road. So, we drove back to the 18 and we were greeted with unplowed snow. It was pretty deep, but I just kept it in 1st or EL and kept the rpms up. At some point I was flying by two SUVs and a stuck Camry on the other side of the road, and those folks were gaping at my little mountain goat because it was flying right past them. Then traffic was completely stopped. A Chevy Avalanche 4x4 was stuck, I had no idea what this guy was doing, but his truck was blocking the road. There were already several people trying to help him out. My friend, myself, and another disgruntled driver came over to see what could be done. The front end was stuck to what appeared to be a foot of snow, no chains on the tires. It just kept spinning the rear left tire. Over a half a dozen guys were trying to get the truck freed. About five guys pushing the front and two jumping on the back and eventually it was free. Then...
Yes, we had to wait in traffic again. My traction cables were getting noisier and eventually I pulled over and took them off as the road had been plowed and felt I didn't need them anymore. Visibility was even worse than on the way up as there was lots of wind blowing the snow and then further down, lots of dense fog, I was literally guessing my way down the road. I made it back home safe and sound, I could not ask for more. There were other people who had it much worse, either completely stuck or struck by out of control vehicles, etc.
I have to sort out a problem, it was running hotter than normal, sometimes passing the middle of the temp gauge, but not overheating. I just replaced the thermostat and tried to bleed as much air out as possible, but it was very erratic. I'll try and see if there is anymore air trapped in and try replacing the cap. Any suggestions?
If we get more snow, I'd like to try my luck in my '86 Terc. We'll see... once flatlanders (I do mountain driving regularly though), such as myself get hooked on the white powder, it's hard to get off of the effects. The adventure, and the fact that not all the years bring this much snow down here makes it truly a special opportunity to take advantage of, but it is very dangerous travel.
I invite other Tercel 4WD owners to post some of their snow pictures, stories, etc.
Until my next adventure, this is T4WDrules reporting lol!
. The deepest I've run one through without getting stuck was hood high fresh-Couldn't see a blasted thing straight ahead- drove by way of the trees on the side of the road. 
