Getting a doozy of a snow storm today and tomorrow! I have good tires on my 1991 Chevrolet K1500. 4WD is great but really squirrelly without weight. I put nine 70 lb sand bags between the wheel wells. Is this enough weight? 630 pounds total.
How much weight for traction?
- Thread starter otis24
- Start date
2WD or 4WD? What the good tires? If you have 2WD the you can't put enough weight in the back. If you have snow tires it's a better situation.
I think you will be OK.
Looks like I posted this same question back in 2015 (same vehicle). That would have been my first winter with it. One poster asked why the need for weight in a 4WD. Partly traction, partly to keep from fish tailing. The rear end is very light and squirrelly in snow. Truck is a regular cab, 8 ft box.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
I was happy with 4 of those sand tubes with a full size when I was in NW Pa. Good point about stopping with more weight. You could experiment, take 1/2 the weight out and go for a drive and see what you think.
I run 210 lbs. Already have another 30 lbs in a tonneau cover and another 70 lbs in the dual liner, so effectively 310 lbs above stock.
I run winter tires and it is amazing how this settles the truck down and makes it less squirrely, even with it being a 4WD truck.
I run winter tires and it is amazing how this settles the truck down and makes it less squirrely, even with it being a 4WD truck.
I think you have enough weight for your truck. The weather is pretty nasty in SD right now that's for sure!
Around 250lbs is what my Dad runs in his crew cab, short box 4x4 trucks. Seems to work good, and you don't always need to be in 4wd all winter just for the odd stoplight with some slush in it.
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Never had a squirrelly pickup in the snow. Never added weight. Always had a good tire with a mountain peak symbol. Drove plenty of those early 90's GM trucks back then too in New England winters.
Weight doesn't make up for pathetic tires, especially during emergency stopping or maneuvers.
When its time for new tires, pick a quality tire for those winters.
Aggressive and good thread doesn't mean anything.
Weight doesn't make up for pathetic tires, especially during emergency stopping or maneuvers.
When its time for new tires, pick a quality tire for those winters.
Aggressive and good thread doesn't mean anything.
Yep, only run it in 4WD in deep snow/slush. Unfortunately, I do not have the Dana locking rear differential, which I heard is good even in 2WD.
yes its good to put you in the ditch.
if you spin both rear tires at the same time it might get beyond squirrely esp. in a turn.
I usually stack 10-15 40lb bags of softener salt all the way back in the bed. One, it’s good ballast, and 2, the chunky salt makes a decent traction aid if I get in a pinch. 
MolaKule
Staff member
I use about 3-4 sand tubes as well here in Iowa in my Frontier 4X4. I have Yokahoma A/T tires and have found them to real pavement huggers in all kinds of weather.
You've got it about right. I would want the rear axle to weigh similarly to the front one. Like they say more weight is more to stop, but you want enough for the tires to dig down to pavement vs riding on top of the snow. Assuming you're running like a 235 75r15 you're probably good.
I’m running a 245/75/16. The stock tire was a 225/75/16. The 245’s are what it had on it when I purchased the vehicle so I stuck with those.
You can also move the weight forward. I realize that shifts some of the weight towards the front, but it also moves mass towards the center, where it will have less impact on pushing the rear sideways. I think its plenty of weight to give you some flexibility. Also, I’ve found in bad snow, that airing down to 20psi or less to 14 can be helpful if it’s really bad. My Fwd minivan was a beast in the snow in all seasons when aired down… it was just speed limited to about 30 mph with those pressures in the clear.
