Prepping truck for winter?

[23STX]

Is there anything y’all recommend doing to my truck to prepare for winters in Montana other than some decent tires for snow?

Is the factory coolant concentration adequate?

Are external heating pads for oil pans a thing?

How bad is MT, with dumping salt on roads? Thinking rust prevention.

Standard oil weight recommendations any different?

Southerner moving to a whole different area, let me hear it.

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[Polo08816]

Is there anything y’all recommend doing to my truck to prepare for winters in Montana other than some decent tires for snow?

Is the factory coolant concentration adequate?

Are external heating pads for oil pans a thing?

How bad is MT, with dumping salt on roads? Thinking rust prevention.

Standard oil weight recommendations any different?

Southerner moving to a whole different area, let me hear it.

I think the only thing you have to be concerned about are tires. I'm pretty sure Montana winters are within the design parameters.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

I'd coat under truck for rust prevention just like every other northern state.
I asked about the OEM FX4 tires in another thread and was surprised Canada owners said they are fine.

 

[LCMM55]

I'd coat under truck for rust prevention just like every other northern state.
I asked about the OEM FX4 tires in another thread and was surprised Canada owners said they are fine.

i would undercoat with Amsoil MP HD protector. I did my F150 PB back in January 2022 after buying used with 7000 miles on it. The rear end had not rusted yet so i still have the oem paint. These rears are known for lots of surface rust. And u can do a little touch up later every year. Just spray liberally, cleanup on your hands and eye glasses is with alcohol. I live in SC but travel at Xmas to CT for 4 weeks. 4 cans should do the entire underside. I bought a dozen cans and do that touchup every year. Put a tarp down to protect driveway or garage floor. Its does drip a little but dries within a hour or 2. Waxy kind of film.

 

[23STX]

Thanks, I’ll look into undercoating protectors.

 

[Henfield]

Mud flaps and rear wheel arch liners. I'm ditching the Hancook tires after 22k and flipping to Michelin. They may look half worn, but their grip is garbage on wet road

 

[12Lariat21]

I live in Minnesota, so much colder, worse winters than Montana. Good tires, undercoating is really all you need. Remote start is nice. Heated seats and steering wheel are nice to have. You won't need to change oil weights or anything special. Block heaters are nice, but not needed. Only other thing I can think of is you may need to replace your battery sooner than you would have in the south, but that's nothing to worry about for a few years yet.

 

[23STX]

Mud flaps and rear wheel arch liners. I'm ditching the Hancook tires after 22k and flipping to Michelin. They may look half worn, but their grip is garbage on wet road

Thanks. Already ordered some Husky wheel liners. Hate these tires, can’t believe they put these on a 4wd vehicle.

 

[23STX]

I live in Minnesota, so much colder, worse winters than Montana. Good tires, undercoating is really all you need. Remote start is nice. Heated seats and steering wheel are nice to have. You won't need to change oil weights or anything special. Block heaters are nice, but not needed. Only other thing I can think of is you may need to replace your battery sooner than you would have in the south, but that's nothing to worry about for a few years yet.

I’ll definitely miss the heated seats I had on my 2017

 

[ryanc111]

I live in Minnesota, so much colder, worse winters than Montana. Good tires, undercoating is really all you need. Remote start is nice. Heated seats and steering wheel are nice to have. You won't need to change oil weights or anything special. Block heaters are nice, but not needed. Only other thing I can think of is you may need to replace your battery sooner than you would have in the south, but that's nothing to worry about for a few years yet.

Solid points although I don't know that many people go the undercoating route here. After many years living in the CO mountains and now Montana I haven't ever done it and haven't had issues. That being said, I rarely keep trucks over five years so . . .

Other than good snow tires the other recommendation I would have is making sure you have some weight in the bed - it goes a long way towards helping your traction. Sand tubes from the local hardware store do the trick nicely.

Oh yeah, make sure you've cleared all the snow off your vehicle and your windshield is clear and warm. Nothing worse than dumping snow on the vehicle behind you when you're driving . . . except for being that vehicle.

**Edit to add - washer fluid rated for at least -20 degrees (I typically run -30 in the winter). Frozen windshield sprayers suck but not as much as washer fluid that freezes to your windshield when you spray it (see point about keeping windshield warm above).

 

[Gros Ventre]

Shift to 0W-30, I use it year round since in warmer times its near 30 weight...
You'll find the coolant circuits are 50-50 solutions, this freezes at about -35ºF. I use 2/3 Anti-freeze to 1/3 water. This gives you about -67ºF. I live in Western Wyoming, likely similar winters. I've seen -40ºF in my neck of the woods... Not often, but it happens... So-o-o... I raised the anti-freeze concentration. Roger the tires, carry some chains anyway...

 

[Eskram]

I live in Florida, so take this with a grain of salt - washer fluid that won't freeze.

The stuff they sell down here generally isn't freeze-rated, because freezing isn't a thing really. May not be an issue there though.

I ran into an issue years ago driving from FL to IL in the winter season. The reservoir tank cracked once we hit colder regions and the fluid froze.

 

[23STX]

Shift to 0W-30, I use it year round since in warmer times its near 30 weight...
You'll find the coolant circuits are 50-50 solutions, this freezes at about -35ºF. I use 2/3 Anti-freeze to 1/3 water. This gives you about -67ºF. I live in Western Wyoming, likely similar winters. I've seen -40ºF in my neck of the woods... Not often, but it happens... So-o-o... I raised the anti-freeze concentration. Roger the tires, carry some chains anyway...

Ok, I see the owners manual recommends 0w-30 for colder than -30F. This will be my first winter in Montana, I’ll see just how cold it will get and go from there.
Guess it wouldn’t hurt to use 0w-30 on the last oil change right before the colder part of the year then switch back to 5w-30?

 

[23STX]

I live in Florida, so take this with a grain of salt - washer fluid that won't freeze.

The stuff they sell down here generally isn't freeze-rated, because freezing isn't a thing really. May not be an issue there though.

I ran into an issue years ago driving from FL to IL in the winter season. The reservoir tank cracked once we hit colder regions and the fluid froze.

This is exactly the type of stuff I don’t want to get caught off guard with.
?

 

[ryanc111]

Ok, I see the owners manual recommends 0w-30 for colder than -30F. This will be my first winter in Montana, I’ll see just how cold it will get and go from there.
Guess it wouldn’t hurt to use 0w-30 on the last oil change right before the colder part of the year then switch back to 5w-30?

What part of Montana are you moving to?

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