I've got some money to burn, and thought I might do some updates to my drivetrain this summer. My vehicle is 99.9% daily driver, and most of the time I'm in 4 wheel drive, it's because of snow or ice. My first thought was locker or limited slip, but after some searching I see those aren't good for pavement or snow. I've been doing some digging and can't come up with much. Is 4 wheel drive with both differentials open the best you can do for snow?

 

4wd with air lockers (arb or toyota e-locker) with some good tires is the way to go, you want the locker for deeper snow and you can turn it off for icy roads.

 

Chains and a winch!!!

I'll take some money if you don't need it

 

I found a limited slip worked very well in the snow:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/TrueTrac.shtml

I have a similar unit in my VW (FWD) and have had in in snow once or twice and it did very well. One time I was tagging along on a 4x4 club trip and hit one steep rocky section of road with snow/ice on it. A number of the 4x4s could not make it up but I drove up without slipping a tire.

I now have ARBs on my 4Runner and find them very good in the snow, mainly because I can leave them disengaged.