I agree too a point, if you are only worried about ice and cannot afford a dedicated set of tires, get some sandbags and a good set of chains for the drive tires. You will want some weight in the back to set the chains into the ice. I have had good luck with the V-bar style. The good chains are pricey though but work great. Make sure you keep them tight on the tires and watch your speed since they are designed for slow speeds. When things get really nasty I will put my chains over my studded tires.

 

yep. more surface means more weight.
its already snowing here!! just not sticking yet

 

snowed here too, a bit a slush on the road on the way to work, was burned off by 9am, snow still on top of the rest of my fleet that didnt get moved today. probably an inch and a half thats on top of the car.... a wee bit early in my opinion, kinda like to get the rest of the crop out of the field before the snow flies, bt ohwell....ive been dreading snow for years now, but odly once i got my current truck, im all BRING IT ON *ICHES OH YEAH!!! lol

 

Haha Gramps.. lol. That's funny.

Lots of good information in this thread. I aquired a heavy pallet that fits perfectly in my truck. I'll be using that with a couple heavy sand bags. That should be all the weight I need.

It's supposed to snow here this weekend (did I mention that?). I'm SUPER excited! I REALLY hope it does snow but I doubt it, to be honest. God bless those weather people, they can't predict what it's going to do an hour from now! lol!

 

I've never used anything in the back, aside from a wooden folding chair I've been too lazy to remove from the bed. >.>

Chicago winters get BAD, and they've been cutting plow and salt schedules so Daley can pay more people he knows personally. Still, I've never had any trouble getting traction in my 2WD, even when it hits 6 inches on the street.

I do have a supercab shortbed, which helps. I also have a fiberglass camper top which adds some additional weight. Other than that, I just keep the rear tank full, and I've never needed to add anything else.

If I had to, I'd go with a couple bags of play sand or quickrete.

 

Yeah, that camper is like what, 300 lbs? So yes, you do have bed weight. lol

How slow do you guys drive over bridges in the winter? I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone here. Everyone keeps saying "Slow down when you're about to cross a bridge." but I don't know what's "slow" enough? 60 mph? 50? 40?

It's funny.. seems like most of our bridges around here are always curved. It's almost like they want you to slide into the wall, heh.

 

i just fill my bed up with snow. its free and if you load the whole thing up its plenty enough weight for me to get through the Michigan winters.

 

The folks around here have been saying we don't get much snow anymore. I don't understand that, but that's what they've been saying. It still gets icey even without snow, doesn't it?

 

yeah it does still get slick without snow. i just dont understand why you would pay money for sand bags (the hardware store i work at sells Quickrete sand tubes made for trucks for $5.99). when i go out and shovel the driveway i just fill up the bed with the snow im already lifting. killin two birds with one stone

 

I see weight evenly distributed in the bed for "winter traction" as a
better idea than mine. :)

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/bumper1.jpg

My idea was for a different use, the idea was to "lighten up" the
front-end for going over sand and up steep spots on rough roads. :)

Also helped the pickup not want to "dance" sideways on high speed dirt
roads and not "buck" so much too. Dual shocks all around was used in
the old days but since I've got the lead in the bumper, a single set of
Rancho 5000's are working real good now. :)

Alvin in AZ

 

Lol yhea, and it's one of the ugly ones with the slightly raised roof hump. I hate it, but I don't have anyplace to store it, since I still have a black one from the old truck that I can't even give away. It's probably about 300 pounds, takes two people to lift.

Around here it can get bad with ice on bridges. Even major overpasses, 3 lanes in each direction can get icy. I've hit some at 15-20 and ended up with noticible lack of grip. I had to stop once from about 20, and it was a brake-pumping nightmare.

 

Is that camper one of those with the large windows and square design? You can get campers that comform to the truck, they look really good. I know they're expensive though!

So basically what I'm hearing is there are no set rules. Drive slow when in doubt..

 

The camper on this truck has a hump in the back that comes up higher than the top of the cab. It's color-matched to the truck, and hasn't been off since the day it was bought new. The rear sliding window of the cab has never been opened, and if you push back the weatherstripping, you can see some totally unfaded paint. The old black one sits at cab level.

Just be careful. People do 60+ over bridges and it's all good until one wheel breaks loose.

 

Good Thread. Several ways to build a better mouse trap! Seems like the most efficient method is the Significant Other/mother in law/dead-beat brother in law/etc. in the bed. Remember National Lampoon's vacation? chair in the bed covered with a bedsheet or tarp? LOL If it's cold enough for long enough it wouldn't smell for awhile. I digress...disgustly digress.....

Around here (Dallas) we get hit with ICE/black ICE. Can get real ugly. Last real snow accumulation here was late eighties.

I'll do the 4-6 sandbags or (gulp) drive the wife's '07 volvo if I have to get in to work. It's also got full coverage


I've seen every rig imaginable stuck on the sides and medians around here when it ices over. Weather like that is HUGE headlines around here. Wow!


/Ricache

 

My Great Aunt and Uncle are in Houston, so I hear about it when stuff gets interesting.

What's wrong with the wife's Volvo? They've made some damn good cars over the years.

You know Ford owns Volvo, right?