will weight help my pickup in the winter

[Donald]

I basically park my 2WD pickup for the winter? Its useless in the snow even with a fiberglass cap and M&S tires.

Reading another thread about weight in a pickup for the winter so I am wondering about my pickup. Its got a Cummins diesel engine in the front so its obviously front heavy. Maybe sand bags in the rear?

I do have other 4WD vehicles so if it had to be sidelined for the winter it would not be the worst thing.

 

[bullwinkle]

I put studded snows & 300 pounds of weight over the rear axle in my 2WD 6.2 diesel GMC C3500 regular cab-but a 2WD Cummins pickup is even more imbalanced due the 1200 pound engine (roughly twice the engine weight of my 6.2)-you'd need even more weight in the back. At least you might have a posi in your '99, no such luck in my (stripped down) GMC!

 

[mrsilv04]

So, if it has a Cummins, then it is a heavy duty truck.

Put about 500 pounds back there.. maybe something like a old car tire filled with concrete.

Can't hurt. I always put some weight in the back of mine.

 

[KGMtech]

It will help, but if the weighted rear end does break loose it will spin with a higher polar moment of inertia than before.

This means you'll bury the back end harder and farther into the snow bank or guard rail.

Park it and take the others.

 

[NHGUY]

If you have a lot of weight up front,you would need a whole lot in the rear to balance it out.My old 89 S10 4cylinder/manual/manual steering/no AC was decent in the snow,because it was lighter up front and better balanced. Your best hope is studded snows and maybe positraction/Sure grip,and rearmost weight.

 

[supton]

Since you have the other 4WD vehicles... I'd just park it for the winter.

 

[eljefino]

If you have hills the extra weight will bum you out. If it's just tooling around town you'll dig down better.

I'd park it though just on account of how awesome it is and how it'll last forever, if you keep the salt off.

 

[Rolla07]

Park it and enjoy driving that Forester!!

 

[earlyre]

so...as someone who's never owned a Truck(i've only owned FWD sedans), i'd like to pose a question...

lets say i have something like a 2wd Ranger. I don't, but i've thought about it, and this weight scenario.

would 200 Lbs be sufficient?
thinking of a 30gal storage tote, with about 25 gal of water in it, framed in with 2x4's around the wheelhouses.

Water weighs 8Lbs/Gallon, so 8*25=200 Lbs.
plus, as long as it's stays below freezing, is should eventually freeze up, and in the spring, you just have to dump/pump 25gal of water.


if I'm being a an Idiot, or just naive , don't be afraid to say so.

 

[eljefino]

Put sand in the tote so you have traction grit if you get stuck. If you don't need the bed, let nature do its thing with snow accumulation.

 

[Wheel]

If you do add some weight, make sure is is well attached. I have seen several accidents due to weight moving unintentionally. (one was a giant subwoofer setup)

Snow tires would be best, but in either case, find a safe place to see how the handling changes before the weather is bad.

 

[Tuffy1760]

Nothing beats some serious studded snow tires... get some cheap rims and some recaps, have studs installed... couple of 5 gallon pales filled with sand... shovel or two.
Last thing to bring with you is some common sense...

 

[MNgopher]

Yes, some weight would help. In this case, a lot of weight. Start at 500 lbs or so... Lot of weight to offset the front imbalance of the cummins!

That being said, using something like that would be my last resort if I had other options for winter driving...

In regards to the idea of a 30 gallon tote with theoretically frozen water, just fill it with sand. You can use it for grit if traction is needed, and you don;t have to think about the water not being frozen. Odds are water isn't going to stay frozen all winter. Even in Minnesota we get warm days in the winter, and if the sun is shining, it doesn't have to be that warm to start melting ice...

 

[Ramblejam]

From personal experience, I can agree that these trucks are absolutely atrocious in the snow -- no weight on the rear, and all that low RPM torque make for a poor winter vehicle.

However...

Quality studded winter tires, the proper pressure, and a few hundred pounds over the rear end make all the difference. If you're unwilling to do this though, and will continue running whatever tires are on there now, then you need to park it.

 

[KD0AXS]

Adding weight in the bed will definitely increase traction. Once when I used to plow snow I broke a U-joint in my front axle. I loaded up 2000 lbs of sand in the bed so I could plow in 2WD.

For those recommending studded tires, remember that they not allowed in many places. I don't know if they're allowed where the OP lives, but I do know they're illegal here in MN.

 

[Andrew1972]

Majority of winter in coastal New England is dry or wet no winter conditions. Drive on the likely 90% decent days of winter...okay maybe 75% time it bare pavement in NY.

Our roads turn black in short order. Lots of nice days to take it out...

 

[bullwinkle]

The danger of 4WD, though, especially with good sized load range D or E tires, is ice-it doesn't take a lot to get things out of control. Let off the gas in 4WD on ice, steering goes bye-bye. Not in 2WD with studded or studless rears (or all four)-just have to go very slowly & carefully. For example, my XJ (which my college age son drives) has four Conti studless snows on it, makes it hard to spin on ice as long as you're careful. He's spun it once with the summer Yokohama Geolandars on it, fortunately it stayed shiny side up. He learned not to take curves quickly when it first begins raining!

 

[jmb3675]

I put 5 60 pound sand bags over the back axle in my 4x4 F-150. I think it helps a lot. I only used 4 in my 2wd Ranger. I tried putting 4 bags by the tailgate once, and it affected the stability and breaking enough to notice. I was really surprised at how noticeable it was. I keep my truck in 2wd unless I am in deep snow. I think it is more predictable and I get a better feel on ice in 2wd. That could be due to all the rear wheel drive cars I have had played in the snow with.

 

[hemitruck]

put a locker in the rear, studded snows and use the 4x4 you have during the storm.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
If you have hills the extra weight will bum you out.
his cummins wont even notice 500lbs