I really don't use my bed in the winter but I agree on the cost of antifreeze especially when sand is so cheap.

 

My ranger. I cut it down to fit cut then double it up in the rear

 

It used to have a fiberglass topper so we would just put in two 70 lb bags, but I took the topper off for a soft tonneau and lost the weight of the topper. I have the two in now, so I think I'm just going to get 3 or 4 more. Any ideas on how much 70 lb bags cost?

 

Back in the early 90's a Buddy of mine had a little 2-Wheel drive Sonoma,and here in WV we usually get a lot of Snow.So what he would did to put weight in his Truck during a Snow was definitely different,but it worked.First he would roll up a couple Big ***** of Snow,and he would back his Truck up to a Bank & then roll the Big Snow ***** into the Bed of his Truck.And when you get a couple Big ***** of Snow they have a lot of weight to them,and so it did the job.And the good part of it was as the Temp' got warmer the Snow would melt so he didn't have to unload it,and if it melted off to much & he still needed the weight he'd just add more snow to keep the weight up..

 

That is great for someone who doesn't actually USE their truck

 

I like the 1/2" plate idea, but thats gotta be spendy. As far as putting bags behind the axle, does anyone else think taking weight off the front end is a good idea? I just keep my slip tank full when i want weight. 100gal x 7 or 8 whatever diesel weighs.

 

Shouldnt any weight be in front of the rear axle?! Placing weight behind the axle with cause it to fish tail and displace the weight from between the axles...

 

You WANT to take weight off the front end. The problem isn't that the back end weighs too little, it's that too low a percentage of the weight is on the drive wheels.

You also want weight at the two ends more than all in the middle to provide stability. All the weight in the middle is what you want for quick turning. School busses don't spin out nearly as often as sports cars do!

 

You want to take weight off the steering?! Lol, um, thats absurd. And engine weight is over the axle, should be the same in the bed.

I spent 20 years of winters in Montana. I have seen both ways, and weight behind the rear axle will put you in the ditch

 

takes less weight behind the axle than it does over it which in turn leaves more weight on the front axle what most people think, however after backing it up with a scale on both a truck and a pulling tractor, adding weight in the back doesnt take any off the front, it just adds more to the back

 

That would be actually wrong, because the center of weight is between the axles, no matter that most of the weight is toward the front axle. Adding weight towards the rear of the center of axles, still adds weight between the axles. Displacing weight behind the axle only creates another pivot point, the rear axle. It works against the weight between the axles.

Ideally, you are trying to create more surface area of your tire to contact the road, as well as maintain center of gravity.

 

I love the idea of the half inch plate, with the exception of the cost.

I used to work at a place that dealt with plate like that, and its super expensive, just for weight in the box.

Best thing i ever had (besides 4 wheel drive haha) was one winter i found a 3ish inch thick chunk of concrete that was damn near 4x8. It fit in between the wheel wells and we were able to load sleds and whatnot ontop of it.

It was a bitch to get in and out though. im a pretty strong guy, and I struggled to slide that thingin and out.

It did work awesome though.

 

So you are saying that towing a tractor in the snow, you can drive at normal speeds and normal cornering?

Im not sure what you are saying...

...and, in no way am i flaming, just having fun conversation

 

The 70s Econolines had a "recall". It was because they had a tendency to flip forward during a hard frontal braking. The recall consisted of going to a Dealer where they would bolt a 1/2" of plate steel to the under body...

 

no you cant corner and drive normal speeds in the summer with a tractor i am saying adding weight behind the axle doesnt take weight off the front, i have tested it in the truck and the tractor, as in 2 different vehicles, and more specifically the tractor, it gets weighed at each tire to be ***** on accurate when i am pulling so it doesnt pull left or right under load, so i can tell you that adding more weight to the rear doesnt take any off the front, and i have had over 3000 pounds on the rear axle and zero on the front axle and the combined weight of both tires on the front was the exact same when there was zero and 3000 pounds on the back axle sorry if it doesnt match what you think/know but it is what i have tested and PROVED to be true every summer we weigh it