IF, as universally claimed for fancy sports cars, an even weight distribution on the wheels is a GOOD THING, then the poor weight distribution of every pickup truck simply puts them at a inherent disadvantage. ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL, they simply cannot handle as well as better balanced vehicles. Case dismissed.
I disagree. Just to be sure, I went and checked the weight distribution of several 4x4 pickups to see how "poor" the weight distribution is. I found a low of 58/42 to a high of 62/38. At first glance this seems bad. Until you look at the weight distribution of most FWD cars. About the same. 
The 2012 Camry, which I know is very capable in the winter (for a FWD car) scales in at 61.5/38.5. Again...about the same as most any 4x4 truck. And I'm sure you've driven a FWD car in the winter and have gotten along just fine when driven sensibly. BTW, neither of these will outhandle a sports car with 50/50..but equipped with good winter tires and driven sanely, they will handle winters just fine. In general terms, there is no way you can exploit a car's "handling" in the winter anyways. The limiting factor is not the car/truck's weight distribution, it's the road conditions and tires.
You've packed a lot of fallacies and illogical arguments into remarkably few sentences.
You are mistaken to suggest I was comparing the weight distribution of large pickups to fwd cars. So that part of your argument is irrelevant.
Your statement about being unable to exploit a car's handling characteristics in the winter probably would make little sense to rally drivers, for instance.
You say this vehicle and that vehicle do fine in the winter if driven sensibly. Once again, that is not a response to anything I said. Note I used the term "ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL"... a vehicle with an even weight distribution will handle better than one with an uneven weight distribution. This means the vehicles being compared are driven with equal skill, in the same conditions, with equivalent tires etc. etc. Surely you've heard of comparing apples to apples.
Yes, I've driven fwd cars in the winter. All else being equal, a balanced awd does far better.
I still dont get what point youre trying to make?? That my truck is dangerous and I should quit driving it in the winter??
My first comment was:
"These huge pickups, in 2wd, are as clumsy as beached whales. At considerable cost in money and hardware 4wd makes them better, but they're still fairly useless in slippery/snowy conditions."That you have concluded I said:
"my truck is dangerous and I should quit driving it in the winter?? suggests that you would better approach the disagreement as an interesting exploration of a proposition, rather than a confrontation.
I will agree I understated the winter capabilities of big pickups. (And in so doing turned a sacred cow into road kill.) It's just that where we recreate in winter, the big pickups with 2wd don't even make it, and as kindly pointed out by rrocket, the 4wd versions do as well as fwd cars. Which isn't very impressive.
All the bluster and irrelevancies and insults won't change the fact that, ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL, 2wd pickups really are poor in snow and on ice, and while the 4wd "solution" makes them better, they can never be as good as something with better weight distribution. The weight distribution numbers provided by rrocket are actually pretty dismal.
As for the shot of the totally modified Grand Vitara on Pikes Peak, a more relevant reference would be the performance of Grand Vitaras in the first Trans-Siberian Rally.
