Winter Driving
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Winter Driving
Hey guys, its winter time here in Maine, and we got our first dosage of it yesterday with almost a foot of snow. I wanted to hear from you guys what you guys do with your trucks when driving in snow. I got a 1995 F350, and it weighs plenty, but it never hurts to add weight to her when driving in very bad backwood roads. I put 700lbs of playsand over the wheel base of my truck yesterday to help put some weight on the rear end. And I got to tell you, it made a massive difference. The truck does great in snow as it stood alone, but with the sand over the wheel base, the truck wouldn't move at all when it hit piles of slush in the roads. Before, when I took turns the truck would have the tendency to slide like trucks tend to do. the only pain in the *** is loading and unloading all that sand after and before each storm when I have to travel.
Last edited by FordF350Baby; Dec 4, 2007 at 08:04 PM.
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From: sunny fla sometimes windy
Some brackets on the back of the frame and either steel plate weights or even
skid steer plate weights. Is alot easier to swap out when needed. 700lbs is most
likely overkill well placed weights of 150 well aft of the axle will have the same
affect. Here I am telling you about when I don't even have to worry about turning
my heat on anymore!! But weight on the drive wheels is important on muddy roads
or snow, which is the closest I come to snow handling anymore thank god, sorry!!
skid steer plate weights. Is alot easier to swap out when needed. 700lbs is most
likely overkill well placed weights of 150 well aft of the axle will have the same
affect. Here I am telling you about when I don't even have to worry about turning
my heat on anymore!! But weight on the drive wheels is important on muddy roads
or snow, which is the closest I come to snow handling anymore thank god, sorry!!
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haha ya I think it was overkill, my brother put 600 on his 1500 dodge! You say I should add the weight after the axle, up by the tailgate, i always thot over the wheelbase was what you were suppose to do.
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From: Lancaster, MA
Do you have 4WD? I have never needed a lot of ballast with a 4WD truck except when plowing. Just keep her sideway and out of the ditch. Winter is supposed to be fun! Are you running your American Racing rims in the winter? How are they going to hold up with all the salt and brine that they put on Maine roads? I was in Maine last winter when it snowed. My buddy's white F350 came back brown. What is it that they put on those state roads? Molassis?
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Ha-ha, yah these roads are ruff! I am a little nervous amount running the rims in the winter, but I am such a neat freak I am pretty confident about them not getting destroyed from the salt. I do have 4WD, but the truck isn’t the greatest in snow surprisingly, it’s pretty tall, and the wheels are pretty big, so it sometimes plows thru the snow instead of cutting thru it. But I just thought adding the weight would help give the rear some extra grip when it’s those really intense storms like Mondays. We had a foot of snow, and they couldn’t keep up with it on the roads, so the extra weight did help a lot keeping the truck on the road. They use real nasty stuff here on the roads, it’s a pre-treatment that goes down before the storm, and then regular salt during the storm. If you don’t get on it, it eats brake lines in one winter season! No matter how bad the roads are, I still always get a car wash with a bottom blast to get the salt off my frame ect, because it will eat right thru it. My dads F150 frame had a hole in it from a pocket of salt that has been sitting in it for the past few years. His truck is only a 2000. It can be very devastating!
Last edited by FordF350Baby; Dec 7, 2007 at 12:15 PM.
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From: Atlanta GA
When driving my 4x4 Ranger I put 600+ pounds evenly distributed in the bed, wrapped the sand in plastic and put something over it to keep it in the bed during an accident.
I carried a compressor. When it snowed or iced over I aired my tires down to 20 psi or under. This greatly increases the footprint and makes the tire conform to the surface. On iced over gravel roads this is almost a must for good traction. If you ever slide off the crown of something such as I-95 you will never get back on the road with tires aired to 35 psi.
Are you allowed studded tires in ME? I can't remember. What you could run is retreaded green diamond tires for max. traction.
I carried a compressor. When it snowed or iced over I aired my tires down to 20 psi or under. This greatly increases the footprint and makes the tire conform to the surface. On iced over gravel roads this is almost a must for good traction. If you ever slide off the crown of something such as I-95 you will never get back on the road with tires aired to 35 psi.
Are you allowed studded tires in ME? I can't remember. What you could run is retreaded green diamond tires for max. traction.
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From: Lancaster, MA
Originally Posted by FordF350Baby
No matter how bad the roads are, I still always get a car wash with a bottom blast to get the salt off my frame ect
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Great points guys, thank you. Ya maybe I will bring it down . Ya the bags are in plastic, 50lbs bags, I got them at Lowes during the storm. I think I spent $40 for 14 bags, I overkilled just in case, but it was a lot of weight, even the F350 was sinking a little bit
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From: Lancaster, MA
It's better to have too much than to little. If any of the bags split, you have some extras. Around here people like to take them from other guys trucks.
You got a good price. Well worth the money.
You got a good price. Well worth the money.
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