he never asked how to load a snowmobile. The only mention of a snow mobile was by you, not him.

 

Hi folks,

Well thanks for the replys!

I would never have thought about putting patio stones in the back of the truck. That certainly would add weight over the back axel.

Even that water bladder thingy. I never seen that before in my life. Wild.

Now, I have my own thoughts on adding weight.

1st off. Don't. Dead weight is just that. Non functional. It takes more gas to move that weight.

If you are on ice, you want to get something that will provide traction. Sand would be good. Salt would be OK too. But is this more dead weight to carry around? Then again, I am not saying that you need to carry 500 pounds of sand in the back of your truck.

2WD vehicles, especially RWD seem to be alot more fun to drive in the winter. You can get that wheel slip that you can't in FWD vehicles. Wheeeee!

FWD vehicles, normally have the engine over their drive wheels. So there really isn't any advantage to putting heavy stuff in the back.

My argument to my wife and my mother, is that I own a 4x4 now. If the truck is slipping, it means the roads are slippery. I can go 4x4 on the fly.

Not like the days when we had to stop, lock the wheel hubs and then get that other stick shift into 4 Hi. Then, hope like hell you don't run into a dry section that could bust up your transfer case. Then, later on, unlock the wheel hubs, drive backwards to make sure they are unlocked, and then proceed on your merry way.

Also, according to the sticker, my truck weighs in at some 5800 pounds. Do you think that all 5800 pounds is just sitting on the front axel? I am sure there is some weight distribution going on.

Most of us own a vehicle that has a V8 under the hood. Match that up with tires that only have a contact with the road, just over the size of your own hand print. Too many horsies thru the drivetrain will make those tires slip.

So, I know for myself, I am not putting dead weight in the bed of my truck. I guess mother nature will do that for me by putting snow in the bed of the truck. When it melts, that should mean that the snow on the road is melted too.

But talking of snow on your truck. Yesterday, I took the time to get into the bed of my truck and brush the snow off the roof of the truck. The Mrs was pestering to leave, but I wanted to get that done first. It was evident later when a small sports car pulled up to the stop light and the snow off the roof came over his windshield and he couldn't see any longer.

Anyways, once again, I want to thank you folks for your reply.

Mitch

PS. Good tires, front or back. If I couldn't get a set of 4, I would put the good tires on the front. Better to be able to steer, than get to some place that you can't steer out of, because the vehicle was going too fast.

 

All I said was In my oppinion they are worthless, and make the bed of your truck into a waterbed.

And belive it or not, I know I am the one who said that......

 

i just bought 400 pounds of sand for about 37 dollars... go to a hardware store, and buy multi purpose sand, its no more than 6 dollars a bag, and weighs 60-70 pounds per bag...

 

It doesn't hurt. Plus adding some weight in the bed makes the truck ride better IMHO.

 

I happen to like the water bladders. being able to add several hundred pounds of weight without having to bust a gut loading and unloading is in my mind way cool.

 

Hi folks,

got more snow today. The truck is all over the road. That is until I put it in 4x4. Then she is solid.

Except for stopping. A 6 thousand pound truck doesn't stop on a dime in the snow. I don't care who you are, you can't break the laws of phisics. (sp?)

Mitch

 

Physics, Mitch!

Extra weight gives some extra traction to a lighter rear-end. Even though the truck may weigh 5800+ pounds, the rear is still much lighter than the front. I have usually used the mother nature method of adding weight, the snow fall itself will add weight to the bed of the truck. Then, as I shovel the snow from my sidewalk and driveway, I shovel it into the bed of the truck, adding a little more to what mother nature did. The snow will melt and run out of the bed and the truck will be back to normal.

 

Hi folks,

thinking about RWD and FWD. It has to come down to that push - pull thing.

Pull 6 K of weight, and you will slip on a slippery surface, but it will be in a straight line. Or what ever direction your FWD tires are pointing.

Push 6 K of weight, and you will slip on a slippery surface, but it will be in the direction of least resistance for your RWD.

4x4, all the tires are rotating together. No spin, unless all the tires spin. (As I understand it, all 4 tires are locked together, that is why you don't 4x4 on dry pavement)

The police will caution folks not to drive with the cruise control on, in incliment weather. Not so bad with FWD, if the traction tires are on the front, as least with the tires spinning, it is pulling in the direction the tires are turned into. If the RWD is on cruise and the traction tires are spinning at highway speed... makes for exciting driving, or even a spin out.

I was looking at one F-150 that had AWD. It had the Volvo Halidex system. Pretty cool! For the most part, it was FWD, until it felt one of the tires slip 1/8th of a turn, then the halidex system would send power to the other wheels. If 3 of the 4 tires were spinning, it would even apply the brakes on those spinning tires, to allow that 4th tire to apply more traction. I had this on my Freestyle, but couldn't afford the extra $10+K for this. Also, it was a very pretty truck and wasn't really a work horse style truck. But you could also select 4x4 on the fly by means of a toggle on the dash. It had power everything... sigh... someday... some... day...

But I am still not sold on putting extra weight in the back of the truck. Right now I got mother natures weight... snow... in the bed of the truck. I will not likely shovel it out, just yet. That is until I need to. Nobody has asked me to move them this week.

Mitch

 

i drive in snow 7 months a year. the best advise i can give is no sudden accelerating, braking and no quick steering wheel changes. you just drive according to road conditions, and 4 wheel drive helps. i drive 67 miles to work each sunday and return home each thurs. my trip home last night was averaged at 110 km/h on an 80 km/h road. i feel comfortable traveling at this speed and my truck has no weight in the back except my canopy.our snow here (so far 1.5 feet) is the dry type and offers good traction. also the colder it gets,traction gets better. -40 is better than 0 celcius.