I have a 2 wheel drive F-150 Ext. cab with a 6-1/2 foot bed. I was wondering how much weight I should put in the back of the truck, over the axle, for good winter snow traction?. The Ford service department said 1000 pounds. That seems like too much. Last question, will it damage the axle if I leave the weight in the bed all the time? Thanks.

 

personally, i used to run 4 sand bags (bout 100 pounds) and a good set of cooper snow tires..... never had any troubles(course i kept a pair of ice chains just incase)

 

You don't want the weight over the axle, you want the majority of the weight infront of the rear axle. If you put it over or behind the rear axle, it takes weight off the front which will increase understeer. Understeer is very difficult and next to impossible to recover from w/o slowing down. Most of the time on snow it's hard to slow down so understeer is very difficult to recover from. It is much easier to recover from oversteer than understeer so you want more traction if available up front. Putting the weight infront of the axle will put weight on the rear, but won't take much weigt off the front. 2wd trucks usually don't have a very hard time moving forward, any vehicle has more trouble turning/braking.


Primary rig is Green Thunder:
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Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

Welcome to FTE!

Whatever you choose to use for weight, make sure you secure it somehow. You don't want 500-1000 pounds coming forward into you cab during a panic stop.
Like the concrete blocks a friend of mine used for weight a couple years back. Gave him a new spring time bodywork project.

 

You make what ever you use out of soft material. A girl I went to school with was decapited by the wheel weight from a farm tractor her boyfriend had laying in the box. They came right thru the rear window when she ran off the road. Secured anything can easily become flying missles in the event of a crash so be careful.

 

I once filled my bed to the top with snow (shortbed) and had astounding traction! But seriously, that was an old truck and it made it sag in the back. I would suggest 500 pounds should not hurt the springs and if right behind the cab ought to give you reasonably good traction. The Ford dealers 1000 lb suggestion is great and is probably all you would ever need in the worst storms. Try 500 lbs all the time and on those days when it is going to be a really big storm double it just to get through a couple storm days. Then the springs should be fine.

 

Yeah man, if it snows enough to need weight in the rear, there should be enough snow on the ground to shovel your driveway into the bed of your truck. That's safe weight, too: no flying objects in the event of a collision.
If you want better traction on ice, get your tires siped, and strap a sandbag or two right behind the cab.
KEEP THIS IN MIND: If you add 1000 lbs weight to your truck, you'd better be good and ready to stop a truck that weighs 1000 lbs heavier than you're used to! Your loaded truck becomes a missle when you start to slide, plus that extra weight puts added stress on the traction surface, thus making you lose some stopping power during braking. I think 500 lbs would be plenty for a truck as heavy as yours. But you get to be the judge...
BDV

 

IF it were me, I would invest in some good winter tires, I got some firestone winterfires which are an excellent tire for $50 a piece. Also, if you have an open differential, think about switching over to an LS. I am doing the swap in my truck and it cost me $50 bucks for the carrier, and $75 bucks to rebuild it (just new clutches basically, very easy procedure). I don't like to put more then 300 or so lbs in my truck because it will start to effect braking. I had a 2wd F-150 with an LS and I never had a problem in winter weather. The only time I ever had trouble is when I was pulling my snowmobile trailer, which is a no no on a 2wd truck. If you can't get around on a 2wd truck with LS and a good set of tires, you shouldn't be driving anyway IMO. My new truck has 4wd, but two open diffs and I have very little traction when in 2wd.



Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Check out my Gallery for a look-see.


Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

I used to drive a Dodge slant six, regular cab, full size bed, 2WD that I filled with about 25 old tires laid and squeezed into the bed. I drove home at night from work for about 20 miles along the river bottoms. Had a set of Cooper Discoverer tires on the rear. That worked for me over 15 years. If the weather got better, I'd just throw'em off till the next storm. I'ts kinda of a pain to fool with; but it worked for me. :-)

 

The cooper discoverer tire is what I had on my red truck when I bought it. My firestone winterfires are 10 times better in the snow than those tires. Those cooper's were on my truck when I got in the accident. They are a good street/rain tire but thats about it.


Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Check out my Gallery for a look-see.


Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

Maybe it wasn't the tires that "got (you) in the accident"!

 

so just for reference, about 6-10 sand bags behind the cab of a 2wd truck, and put the chains on the front right? not sure which.

1977 F250 460
C6 Hedman Headers
Dual 40 series
edelbrock performer
holley 4160
msd 6a and blaster coil

 

Well, it's not the sole reason I got in the accident. I was going downhill on a bridge in slush/snowy conditions. The person infront of me slammed on there brakes suddenly and I swerved to miss him. I hit him by a foot, his driverside brakelight into my passangerside headlight. In all honesty I believe that if I had a good quality snow tire that I would have had enough traction to miss him. I've driven on the coopers in the snow and I have driven on the snow tires and am able to say that there is a huge difference in traction. I think that there is enough difference in traction that would have given me that 1 foot i needed to miss him.


Primary rig is Green Thunder:
95' F-150 XLT 4x4, 302, 5 spd, MSD 6A, Flowmaster Exhaust, Sunroof, Clear corners w/ Diamond headlights, CD player with 2 10" subs and some 32" BFG Muds .

Check out my Gallery for a look-see.


Justin - One Happy FTE Member

 

Thanks, GT. I'm glad you didn't get hurt.

 

>Also, if you have an open differential,
>think about switching over to an LS.

Limited slip is a good idea, but there are two sides to the LS story as I understand it. Light loaded on slippery pavement when the LS breaks loose both wheels lose traction and the rear end slides out, whereas with an open differential only one wheel loses traction and the other wheel that is still turning helps keep the rear end from sliding out. I learned this when someone got a new truck with LS and said the rear slides out really easy (Of course maybe that was just because that truck is a Ch**y ). And then of course, the open differential is going to lose its one wheel of traction more often than the LS loses traction.