techrep

iTrader: (1)

Yes.. your pick-up truck will feel squirrelly compared to the big SUV's your used to... my wife's Lexus GX-470 runs circles around my truck in the snow. She has a locker and I don't .. and she has rear end weight.. not her the GX..lol

antony1103

I mean, it was either that or add to the pile-up occurring in front of me... I was lucky I had enough traction to turn at all.

bassJAM

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is your truck's configuration makes a difference. A crew cab short bed will do better without weight than a regular cab long bed. Still though, I like to add 200-300 pounds regardless because it makes a noticeable difference.

I did snow plowing for a couple years. With a full ton of salt in the bed, I was amazed where those trucks could go in 2WD!

antony1103

I used to go on a lot of ski trips in college and it was amazing how well the buses got around in the snow with just rear wheel drive. All that weight really makes a difference.

Tony Raine

Instead of sandbags, I buy sacks of concrete and put them in trash bags (i also have a bed cover). when spring comes along, I have a stock of concrete for fixing fences and stuff. last winter i ran about 600# at the front of the bed. took my 2wd w/e-locker everywhere i needed to go.

my plan for this winter is to take an old 35" mud tire & wheel and fill it with concrete. tire helps protect the bed, and the center of the wheel can be used to strap it down.

Spiky

I'm not calling anyone out, just general comments.
Last time I had to it was a curb instead of a ditch, so that was easier to recover. Didn't do my alignment a lot of good though. I don't know if I was more pissed at the idiot that cut me off on glare ice or myself for not being a block away from fools.

antony1103

Yeah luckily it was a shallow ditch so no damage done. Unfortunately my only option is to trust the guy in front of me on narrow Pittsburgh streets. As soon as one guy in the line gets scared and locks his brakes, everyone behind him suffers...

M0RRIS

The last two sentences were what I was referencing. When I said you quoted the wrong guy, it was that "why were you so close?" Comment.

Im not saying you called anyone out. Again, you quoted the wrong individual. Antony learned from his experiences, as I'm sure you and I and others have.

Pigman67

I throw in a two drawer storage bin that I built. Probably 150lbs or so loaded with tow ropes, chains, jumper cables and other tools.

We had 55" of snow in just December last year. Never stuck once. Truck got through everything.

EcoBoostJake

It depends more on your tires and driving habits, but trucks do have less weight over the drive wheels. So they can be harder to get moving from a stop, or be more likely to fish out behind you with gas in a corner.

The addition of a few sand bags will solve the weight differences and help keep traction on the rear tires. It is also useful to have if you end up stuck, or helping another driver.

Just don't do like all the jacked up trucks do in my area and get a false sense of security that leads to a ditch. Those big trucks get going so easily that the drivers forget 4x4, sand bags, and locking differentials don't help you stop any better.