AWD w/Cross Terrain Michelins not good enough for a bit of snow?

It's a steep street here and we got the unusual couple inches of snow
tonight. A neighbor kept slipping and sliding with his 2x4 truck, so I
offered to pull my 98 Limited 5.0/AWD out, to give him more room to maneuver
into his parking slot. What a mistake! The thing wasn't much better than his
2x4! Spun its wheels, wouldn't steer, even threatened to slide downhill a
few times, totally out of control. It just didn't feel like an
all-wheel-drive at all. At some point even the ABS warning light turned on.
Finally a God-sent neighbor came and helped me put chains on the front
wheels. This saved the night, but what a red face I got! Now those Cross
Terrains aren't new, but at least half of the tread is still on them. Last
year, with about the same amount of snow I couldn't even tell that there was
snow on the ground. And this time - just an egg on my face!
I am completely puzzled. Something wrong with the transfer case? (I don't
think so). And that won't explain the slipping downhill and the poor braking
anyway. I need real winter tires? Any snow country residents, offer some
advice, please.

If ice forms under snow, no tire is any good. Without traction, 4 wheel
drive or AWD is little better than 2WD. Last year we had one storm that
dropped just a tiny amount of snow, but because the first bit melted,
and then refroze to form a layer of wet ice, the whole town came to a
standstill. I saw cars literally slide down hills with all four wheels
locked. For this situation, chains are the answer. Good thing you had
some.

"Happy Traveler" > wrote in message
...
> It's a steep street here and we got the unusual couple inches of snow
> tonight. A neighbor kept slipping and sliding with his 2x4 truck, so I
> offered to pull my 98 Limited 5.0/AWD out, to give him more room to
maneuver
> into his parking slot. What a mistake! The thing wasn't much better than
his
> 2x4! Spun its wheels, wouldn't steer, even threatened to slide downhill a
> few times, totally out of control. It just didn't feel like an
> all-wheel-drive at all. At some point even the ABS warning light turned
on.
> Finally a God-sent neighbor came and helped me put chains on the front
> wheels. This saved the night, but what a red face I got! Now those Cross
> Terrains aren't new, but at least half of the tread is still on them. Last
> year, with about the same amount of snow I couldn't even tell that there
was
> snow on the ground. And this time - just an egg on my face!
> I am completely puzzled. Something wrong with the transfer case? (I don't
> think so). And that won't explain the slipping downhill and the poor
braking
> anyway. I need real winter tires? Any snow country residents, offer some
> advice, please.
>
>
>

I don't know what the tread looks like on the Michelin Cross Terrains but I
had some BFG AT/TAs on my '92 and icy snow would basically clog the treads.
I seem to get much better performance overall with the Michelin LTX M/S
tires. From what I have seen and experienced the agressive, gnarly-looking
tires may be best for loose dirt and sand but that's about it. And they are
a bitch to put chains on.