Winter in the snow belt puts the kibosh on most ‘wheeling activities. Some of us get to play in the snow a little or a lot, but many use their rigs for foul weather transportation. Others put their rigs to sleep for the winter. Either way, your rig needs some special care to be ready. We’ll cover it both ways.
Warmup... or Not?
From the purely mechanical viewpoint, your engine needs just enough time to get the oil flowing good and, after that, the fastest and best way to warm it up is by going down the road. That puts the fuel to good use and gets the engine quickly out of cold-start enrichment mode and into closed loop where the oxygen sensors trim the fuel mixture for best economy. Among other things, extended idling in cold weather leads to fuel dilution of the oil.
Starting Aids
Under this heading are battery, block and oil pan heaters. Block and pan heaters not only help your rig start more easily, they increase winter fuel economy by about 10 percent, reduce exhaust emissions and reduce cold start wear. Instead of starting at whatever the ambient temp happens to be, the engine gets a head start on the warmup... up to around 150 degrees water temp for a coolant heater. Because batteries lose power with cold, a battery heater keeps the cranking amps near the warm weather specifications. All of these devices can be hooked to a timer and set to come on 2-4 hours before “lift-off” so you aren’t wasting electricity.
Anti-Freeze
An anti-freeze hydrometer is a must have for the toolbox. You want a 50-50 mix of anti-freeze and water, which will protect down to about -34F on average. If you bump the mixture to 60/40, you can get 
down to about -50F, but it may reduce cooling system efficiency in hot weather. There are three basic types of anti-freeze/coolant, the old stand-by Ethylene Glycol (EG), which is toxic, Propylene Glycol (PG), which is much less toxic, and Organic Acid Technology (OAT) which is a long life coolant designed for certain vehicles. They work equally well when applied correctly and they are color coded. EG is generally green, PG a redish shade and OAT yellowish. PG and EG mix with each other, but not with OAT.
Electrical
Battery power is reduced in cold weather, so besides getting a battery with the most cold cranking amps for the application, it’s important to make sure the terminals are clean enough to deliver all the amps available. The alternator will be working hard over winter trying to recharge what you take out, as well as running the lights and heater continuously so have a look at the belts for condition and tightness.
Lubricants
Thanks to multigrade oils, it usually isn’t necessary to change the oil before winter... but that depends on the definition of “winter” in your area versus the oil in the engine. Lubricant flow in cold weather is a vital element in the life of your vehicle and a high viscosity oil will cost you wear and tear on each and every cold start.
In looking at oil viscosity specifications, the bottle will read 10W30, 5W30, 15W40, or whatever. The “W” number is the winter viscosity grade and is not comparable to the warm weather viscosity grade. The “W” grade is a cold performance rating that indicates how the oil conforms to a particular low temperature cranking and pumping viscosity
specification. A 0W oil has better performance in cold weather than a 5W, which does better than a 10W or a 15W. With today’s modern oils, it’s possible to have an oil that stays almost as fluid at zero degrees as it is at 150 degrees. The engine spins over faster, the oil flows better and there is less fluid friction, so your fuel economy is fractionally better. The commonly available 5W oils will provide cold weather lubrication well into the negative temperatures area and 0W down into the artic type cold.
The larger the disparity between the W number and the warm viscosity (the “5W” versus the “30”) the more
expensive the oil. It’s possible to make a 5W20 or 5W30 oil with less expensive conventional base oil, but the 0W20, 0W30, 5W40 oils, etc., require a synthetic base oil and better additives. The bottom line is that you will pay more for the performance.
Gear oils also come as multigrades, with 75W, 80W and 85W winter grades common. The 75W grades pretty much are all in the synthetic oil realm. While an axle isn’t quite as immediately vulnerable to lubrication problems due to thick oil, it’s still a factor and thick oil will definitely cost fuel economy.
Older transmissions and transfer cases that use 80 or 90 grade oil can be extremely balky in winter without a multigrade lubricant. Transmissions, transfer cases and power steering systems using ATF viscosity oils (usually 10 or 20 grade) are much less effected.
Visibility
Your job here starts with the wiper and washers. Start by looking at what’s there. Ordinary “rubber” blades more than a year old may not serve well. A really cheap blade may last only a few months. The time to change them is at the onset of winter.
The best winter blades are made of silicone, because they don’t get hard with the cold and they don’t freeze to 
the windshield. Better winter blades are also sheathed so that ice cannot build up in the mechanism of the blade.
Washer fluid is also a vital element. The washer fluid should be immune from freezing and will have a temperature rating like anti-freeze. Some have deicing capability. These deicer chemicals are not usually effective on major ice incrustations, but will take out the small stuff. Some formulations of washer fluids advertise a coating element that will help prevent ice from sticking.
Lighting becomes an issue in winter, both from the seeing and being seen standpoint. From the seeing side, proper headlight aiming is step one. From there, aftermarket headlamp replacements with better lens material make a better light pattern. If your lighting system has sealed beams, Hella, IPF, and others, offers replacements that have replaceable halogen or Xenon bulbs as well as improved lenses
Replaceable headlamp bulbs offer many options. In choosing lamps and bulbs, the rated wattage is only a part of the choice. Watts indicate power consumption but the Lumen rating is the brightness specification and you can get more Lumens for the same legal wattage with a better lamp or bulb. The Kelvin rating (degrees “K”), often quoted in lamp ads, concerns the color output. A white light is preferred by most people and a white 5-6000K is close to daylight. Many stock halogen and HID lights are around 4-4500K. The old incandescent sealed beams were very yellow at a low 2500-3000K. As you go past 6000K, the light begins to turn blue but a higher color temp rating does not equal better visibility.
As far as being seen goes, LED (Light Emitting Diode) marker lights are now commonly available as replacement bulbs for many applications from PIAA and others. They are not only brighter, but they last virtually forever and use less wattage.
One way to shed light on a bad lighting situation is with auxiliary lamps. For street use, output may be limited by statute (often 55 watts) but you can make up for that by careful placement and by picking the correct lamps. Above all, use your enhanced lights with respect to other drivers. We’ve all had our eyeballs fried by some careless guy with a Close Encounters of the Third Kind rack of lights that melts paint.
Tires
Nothing beats a dedicated winter tire on an icy highway... except chains. Studded tires are next, but they aren’t legal everywhere and shouldn’t be run much on dry pavement. Next best are the tires that wear a “Snowflake” symbol that indicates the tire has met a winter performance standard. “Everything else” may, or may not, perform adequately. Aggressive mudders are especially bad. How can you equalize a mudder on ice? Tire chains are probably the best way, but they are a chore. Some ATs are very good on road snow. While it makes little sense to buy a dedicated set of tires for an occasional snowstorm, if you live in the truly frozen north and drive daily, a set of ATs is the minimum spec to keep you outta the ditch.
Preservation
This mostly concerns how winter effects your vehicle’s appearance. Most notable would be the salt used to clear the ice from the roadways. It will eat your rig like candy. The metal in newer vehicles is better than ever and rust protection is a major commitment from the OE, but you still have to do your part.
If your truck isn’t clear coated, give it a good waxing with a top-notch product like Mothers Carnuba Cleaner Wax. Mothers also has lots of other protective products for your wheels, tires, trim and interior.
Street Survival
Getting stranded on the highway in snow and dying from it is not common, but every winter that happens to a few people. If nothing else, a few common-sense items will make an unplanned wait a bit more pleasant. That includes a heavy jacket, hat, gloves and boots, a little high-energy food, your cell phone (and a 12-volt charger for it), a working flashlight, etc.
Having a few recovery items on hand also makes some sense, if not for yourself then for the average road weasel stranded in a parking lot. Nothing like adding to the hero quotient and upholding the honor of the 4x4 crowd by helping out stranded motorists. Include snatch strap, chain, shackles and a tree strap for fabbing up tow point on cars with no hooks. If you have a winch, keep the accessory kit in the truck. A shovel is a must and sand or a traction mat for ice can also be included.
Winter hibernator
Some rigs are just too built to drive on the street in winter. Other people simply don’t want to subject their pride and joy to the ravages of cold starts and road salt. In some cases, it’s simply unwillingness to live with the bare-bones discomfort of a stripped down 4x4 in cold weather.
Cosmetic
Your rig should be spit-shined before storage. On the outside and underside, dirt and grunge can hold corrosive elements that can activate in winter and slowly erode parts. Washing up, including a pressure wash underneath, enough time to thoroughly dry, followed by a good coat of wax on the paint and chrome will not only have your ‘wheeler ready to roll for next season, but protected for the winter.
Inside, clean and dry is the order of the day. Especially dry! The windows should be rolled up. There is plenty of airflow through the truck’s ventilation system. Leather should get a treatment of a preservative and softener.
Mechanical
It isn’t absolutely necessary to change lubricants before winter storage, but if anything is close to needing to be changed, it’s better to have fresh oil for storage. Otherwise, an exception might be the axles. They may have ingested water over the operational ‘wheeling season, so check for signs of water in the diffs. A white milky look to the oil, or a milky coating above the oil level are signs of water ingress. Change the oil ASAP and run the vehicle around which will get the axles good and hot to bake out any remaining moisture before storage.
Because brake fluid is hygroscopic (meaning it absorbs water), an upcoming period of storage is the best motivator for changing brake fluid. Heat from the brakes can vaporize small amounts of moisture, but eventually it builds to a point where corrosion can start. It’ll do its worst work on an inactive vehicle. Another brake related tip is to keep the parking brake off so the shoes or pads won’t corrode to the disc or drum.
Disconnect the battery. That will prevent the small discharge that is common to newer vehicles. Even better, remove the battery, put it into a warmish spot and trickle charge it periodically over the winter. An easier alternative is to place it on a floating charger that will maintain a state of charge automatically.
For short periods, it’s not absolutely necessary to put the vehicle on jackstands. After a few months, be prepared for flatspotted tires in the spring (especially bias tires), though they “drive” out in short order. A little extra air in the tires will help reduce this. For longer storage, at least take most of the weight off the springs with stands and put insulators between the tires and the floor, or lift the vehicle off the ground altogether. For longer term storage, some folks recommend a sheet of plastic under the car as a moisture barrier.
Your antifreeze should be suitably strong for the climate and not excessively old so that the rust preventatives are strong to protect from corrosion. If in doubt, there are cooling system supplements that can partially recharge these additives.
Internal engine corrosion can be forestalled with fogging oils, such as the one offered by Sta-Bil, that can be sprayed into the intake of an engine to coat the insides. You can go farther by pulling the spark plugs and straying into the cylinders directly. The fogging oil adds a protective coating to prevent cylinder wall rust that can reduce piston ring sealing. If your fuel injection system uses a MAF sensor (Manifold Air Flow) with a sensor wire (many Ford products, some GMs and some imports), avoid spraying oil down the intake as it can coat the sensor wire and ruin the MAF sensor
Fuel
This is deserving of a separate section because problems with the term storage of ethanol blended fuels has become so pervasive. The problem with ethanol blends in gasoline is water, which can come from condensation, poor storage or other means. Ethanol is hygroscopic. In the short term, that’s a good thing because it will allow 
small amounts of water to mix and be burned. When the ethanol has absorbed all it can, however, that’s when nasty things happen and it’s called phase separation.
When mixed ethanol and water separate from gasoline, they form a milky mix at the bottom of the tank. The main problems with that are threefold. First, ethanol is the primary source of the octane rating, so the remaining gasoline may have dropped three to five octane points. Ping city! Second, when the engine gets a big slug of this separated ethanol-water mix, it ain’t gonna like it. It may run really bad or it may quit. Third, it’s a highly corrosive mixture, so anything not impervious to ethanol is going to be eaten up more quickly.
Overall, it’s best to drain the fuel tank for storage longer than 60 days. That way you eliminate potential problems and can start the season with fresh fuel. That’s not often practical, so the next-best is to store the vehicle with the fuel tank full and add a ethanol-compatible fuel stabilizer (not all are... read the label). Sta-Bil from Gold Eagle is one such product and they have an extra strength marine product that’s especially good with ethanol blends. Add stabilizer to the tank as you top it off and run the vehicle long enough so it circulates through all parts of the fuel system.
Storage Facility
A heated, low-humidity garage is ideal but anything temperature stable with low humidity is a close second. The heated, dehumidified garage speaks for itself. Temperature stable needs a little explanation. You want to avoid rapid changes in temperature. There are warmer and cooler days in winter but when warm air meets cold metal, you get condensation unless the air is very dry. Condensed water is one of the elements needed for rust and it can appear inside and outside of the vehicle.
Creating a temperature stable storehouse starts with avoiding dirt floors, which will increase humidity significantly. Next step, cover the windows with insulated curtains or blinds. Sunlight is one of the fastest ways to heat up the air in a garage. Ditto a southern-facing metal garage door. It will rapidly soak up heat from sunlight and transfer it to the air inside. Opening and closing the garage door is another quick way to condensation. A truck cover can protect the vehicle from dust but also insulate it from rapid temperature changes. Anything you can do to slow the time it takes for the vehicle to warm and cool will help reduce, or eliminate, condensation without having to run a dehumidifier.
The facility should also be as critter-proof as possible. You don’t want to know what a family of mice can do to your rig’s interior and wiring over a winter. Rodent bait or traps around your truck will both kill the critters off and give you evidence of their presence. You need to check these things periodically to catch problems.
