Winter driving; weight in pick-up bed

[obbop]

The particulars:

ABS brakes. 4-wheel discs. 4,500 pound Chevy Silverado 4x4. Long bed. Auto tranny. 4.8 liter engine. Lots of snow and ice driving experience. Will be putting on 4 decent snow tires when the weather report tells of the first real snow to hit us. Truck is a 1/2-ton version but has the towing package that adds, I believe, either an extra leaf spring or thicker than non-towing version leaf springs. Torsion bar front suspension.

Boards placed towards end of bed to insure sand bags don't impact cab in case of head-on wreck or whatever.

Question: bought four 70-pound bags of sand. That's 280 pounds of dead weight. Reminiscent of some folk's head I've met.

Don't want too much weight in the back yet want enough to maximize vehicle handling during acceleration, braking and cornering.

Interestingly, I can feel the difference in cornering even now with dry dusty roads. The truck corners a little "snappier" with the feel of having more control.

Any suggestions of what may be the optimum amount of weight to have in the back? Had 350 pounds last year but it was a rare very mild winter with little slippery stuff on the ground so did not have the opportunity to determine if that amount of weight was "optimus prime."

Without measureing equipment and repeated tests of the type I am likely not qualified to conduct I rely upon seat-of-the-pants subjective feeeeeeeeeling that is not all that useful.

Any suggestions as to the weight needed? From experience I believe that four bags is the minimum needed.

On wet roads with so-so tires the rear traction is marginal (yeah, I know, get better wet traction tires for non-winter use). Of course, did not have sand in the rear for non-winter driving. Just aware of the unique handling characteristics of the pick-em-up truck.

If anyone has real-world experience to add to that I have obtained y'all may help keep a crotchety old coot out of the ditch or from impacting innocent objects.

To save thee from excess typing, rest assured that I, the Mighty Obbop, am well-aware of winter driving skills, tips, tricks etc. Yah' shoulda' seen me jack-knife that rig on purpose and slide down the mountain pass sideways when it was ice- and snow covered. Wheeeeee!!!!!!!

Okay, will read thine comments and ascertain an optimal weight of sand to toss into the conveyance.

Happy T Day, herd.

 

[wander2039]

I'm wondering the same thing. On my Ranger which has a camper shell i'm going to put three 50lbs bags of kitty litter in the back. I'll rotate them out with new when the cats stink box requires. I figure if I get stuck I can always use the kitty litter under the tires. I don't know I may start out with 100lbs and work my way up. Find the balance between mpg and feel of the truck in the slush.

The Ranger is alot lighter than your truck though. I remember as young'n dad putting a 1k round bale on the back of the old F150 when I got bad out. On my old S15 I think had two sand bags in every year and never got stuck. For the last couple of winters i've been spoiled with fwd and limited slip... i'm not looking forward to this winter.

 

[eljefino]

What's your terrain?

If you just have to shoot straight up hills, put 'er in 4x4 and point up. Front axle will pull nicely. No weight needed, in fact it'll hold you back.

If you have flat land with curves, drive in 2x4 unless you get stuck. Weight on rear will help tires dig down to pavement. Tires will have more weight and chatter on bumps & ruts less, increasing traction. Important concern with your heavy duty springs. Unlocked middle diff will help with steering, reduce the lurching effect of locked diff. Things like sand that help you keep diff unlocked more often= good.

An ideal test would be to add weight and skidpad the thing in a parking lot until you get neutral handling, no over/understeer. But ABS will ruin the experiment. I'd say pull the ABS fuse but pickups rely on ABS as a rear load proportioning valve.

I get to drive the work plow truck; 3/4 ton dodge with 1 ton of sand in the back (used for sanding). Very positive action and digging at low plow speeds. Possibly lots of extra inertia and stopping distance at near critical speeds. Not my vehicle, not going to experiment.

Summary: Bed weight on flat land. None on hills.

 

[Al]

I personally never put anything in the bed. If I can't get where I need to go in 4WD without a load-screw it. I drive to suit the road. I realize that pickups slide in the rain so I slow down. One other thing to keep in mind: If you get stuck with weight on the back, you will be more stuck than without weight and you will have gotten down a road further than you should have gone. When you try to go in reverse and snow from the front wheels comes over your windshield..shut it off and look for a farmer with a tractor.

Just my advice for what its worth. I have been driving 4WD vehicles since 1978..have always had one.

 

[1sttruck]

Some weight seems to help, maybe more on snow than on ice, as the rear end is obviously light and prone to breaking loose. I'll guess with a limited slip you'll pay more attention to such things as when a tire breaks loose it'll tend to break the other loose too, kicking the rear end around. If skinny tires tend to do better in snow then more weight will produce a similar effect, so load up the bed. If lots of weight tends to form water on soft ice then don't overdo it. I'll run at least a couple of 'sand tubes' in the bed in the winter, but would prefer 'gravel tubes' as it'll be more useful ifyou get stuck somewhere. With chains more weight helps a lot.

 

[alreadygone]

Won't begin to tell you how to drive! Can't tell you exact weight to use either. One helpful hint I've seen used for years, put sand in innertube sections with ends held shut with radiator hose clamps. NO SLIDING, no mess all over bed of truck, reasonably easy to load/unload as needed.

Friend used to be head of cleanup dept at local chicken proscessing plant,, when bad weather threatened he'd back up to loading dock and dump large amount of chunk ice (as used to pack chicken). When weater cleared, ballast was self unloading!

Bob

 

[-Clayton-]

Just get a fat chick.

 

[-Clayton-]

or 2, Depending on weather conditions.

 

[moribundman]

You should probably bolt those sacks down. You wouldn't want them to shift during high-g maneuvers.

 

[Shannow]

speaking of shifting loads, try driving a ute with a tray filled with water (it was hot watching the car show, and we needed a mobile pool).

It made for interesting handling.

 

[RichR]

Speaking of shifting loads.
Tie down whatever you do put in the bed.
Heavey items coming through the back window can cause one #@$%! of a head ache.
I haven't put weight in the bed of my trucks since I went 4WD in 1997.

 

[rpn453]

The optimum would be that which gives you a 50/50 weight distribution, while minimizing overhung weight. For a 4500lb truck with a 60/40 weight distribution, about 900lb near the back axles, but not past them, should do it!

 

[Reg# 43897]

I wonder about those new-fangled heavy-guage water bags that they are now selling for truck beds. Seems like a neat idea.

John.

 

[1sttruck]

Empty my diesel pickup has something like over 4000 lbs on the front axle and around 2500 lbs on the rear. Some people wonder why they don't do as well in mud as more typical vehicles, duh :^)

 

[RichR]

Quote:

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Empty my diesel pickup has something like over 4000 lbs on the front axle and around 2500 lbs on the rear. Some people wonder why they don't do as well in mud as more typical vehicles, duh :^)

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Must be a REAL Diesel(Cummins)

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Back in the day, when I had to work for a living, I put 3 or 4 railroad ties in the back of my 66 Chevy 1 ton. More then once I passed the snowplow on a service call to Sandusky. Never ditched it or got it stuck. That was a good old beater, too bad it rusted out.

 

[Dark Jedi]

I have never had to put weight in the back of my 4x4. just as long as you drive for condition and not hotdog. my 2x4 ranger I put about 40 4x4 in the back and at the tailgate I put 2 rows of cinderblocks and the wood never moved. granted my 95 ranger sucked in snow no matter what.

I have heard those bag bladders to put in the back of truck beds work great. but you have a 4x4 so you dont need all that stuff. unless your palnning to plow snow on the side.

 

[jmacmaster]

I've driven pickups with weight just in front of the tailgate since the 70's. It makes a considerable difference in traction. I wouldn't be without it. Sandbags are the best. You can also use the sand under the tires if you get stuck. A 2 x 6 cut to the width of the box and placed on edge behind the wheel wells, with the sandbags holding the 2 x 6 in place, will keep the sandbags from sliding forward. For a full size pickup, after much experimentation, I found that 300 lbs. is plenty of weight. For the Ford Ranger I've had for 3 years I've found that 220 lbs. is sufficient. I would not go over 300 lbs. for a compact pickup or 400 lbs. for a full size. These weights are for both 2WD and 4WD. You want the sandbags even for a 4WD, because it increased traction on the rear wheels in both the 2WD and 4WD setting. Best and cheapest place to get sandbags is at a local sand and gravel pit.

 

[1sttruck]

"You want the sandbags even for a 4WD, because it increased traction on the rear wheels in both the 2WD and 4WD setting."

It should also help to minimze the rear end kicking around on uniformly slick surfaces. A brother in Alaska commented that a state trooper doing a winter accident survey, where vehicles left the road, said that pickups were usually bass ackwards.

 

[hone eagle]

Quote:

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I wonder about those new-fangled heavy-guage water bags that they are now selling for truck beds. Seems like a neat idea.

John.

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I got one for my F250 ,needs two and they are $$$ but for me they save my back every spring ,just pull the plug and drain then fold up,they are very well made with tie downs and 400 # load limit (nothing sharp of course)