Derrick Bradley

With a quick search on the forum, I did not see anything on the subject I was looking for. I am Southern Louisiana born and raised. Our winters consist of shutting down the roads every five years for a little bit of ice on the roads. So I have no real winter experience. I will be spending this winter in Dayton, Ohio in training. My truck will probably only get used once or twice a week while I'm up there.

Any advice for surviving my first real winter? Anything you would do to your truck to prepare?

If there is already a thread on this subject, I apologize.

Thanks for the help!

2000 F-150XLT 4.2L, 5 speed with 235,000 miles

danfan

2 wheel drive, I assume? Get some good snow tires in the rear, and put about 250 lbs of sandbags all the way to the rear of the bed. That will help you go. Stopping is the real problem, drive like an old lady, at least until you get some practice. Make sure you have enough antifreeze, and wiper solvent. Good wiper blades are a must. Most of us, up here have 4WD for a very good reason. Good luck, and be careful.

Potatoe

Put sandbags right on top of the axle in the back. You can also take some 2 x 6 and make a little holder so they do not slide around. We just did this for my son, basically just try to trap the sand bags in the center of your bed. The extra weight will give you better traction.

10thGenScab

Looks like you have a 5 speed, so practice starting off in 2nd. And drive slowly. Sandbags are also a great idea.

RCButler

Best thing you can do is after it snows find an empty or relatively empty shopping center parking lot (after hours) and buzz about....see how it handles and get a little practice. Make the truck break traction and slide. Remember it's a parking lot so you won't be going more than 25-30 mph tops. That's how I taught my daughter to drive in Michigan in the snow....and slow down, leave space to stop, don't "jackrabbit" when taking off either. Leave yourself plenty of time to get where you're going.

Sand bags work great for traction. You can also use the sand if you get stuck (kitty litter is another great option for unsticking yourself).

Dropkick_pride

I spent some time around Wright Patt...

Plenty of bars with college students to stop at. haha! If by chance Dayton does get significant snow, the army of plows will be out full force to keep those streets clear. Odds are you wont have anything anything more than slushy-icy roads to contend with. Just make sure you drive slower, keep extra distance between you and those in front of you, and hopefully you have good tires.

If you need any specifics on what to do in the area, shoot me a pm and Id be glad to help.

Derrick Bradley

Thanks for the input everyone! So far I have been lucky and haven't had to drive when it was icy. The truck does not like the cold at all! Ha ha! She squeals the belts on startup, but no real issues!

rsylvstr

Snow tires on all corners.

guyina4x4

nothing drives good on ice, stay home

normal winter conditions don't usually include very much ice, they spend millions of $$ on salt and other ice melting concoctions
snow tires are great
sandbags help a lot
but the big thing to remember after you get going is it takes a lot longer to STOP

generally you'll only have trouble when it's actually snowing/raining or whatever, within a coupe hours roads wil be passable with just a little caution.

JCH841

Everybody says drive slow. From someone who learned to drive in upstate NY (feet of snow!), don't lose momentum. If you have add power going up a hill you'll probably lose traction. So it is a balancing act; slow enough to maintain control, fast enough to give up power and still go over the top. Long time ago, I was driving south to Syracuse with my grandmother's Rambler and everyone had spun out and slid off a long hill on Rt 81. There was a path to the top and I hit the hill at 65 mph and went over the top at about 10 mph. First vehicle to make it.