Best Setup for Sandbags

umm no

 

before i built my little shitty set up, they slid a few times on me when stopping... and not a hard stop. bam. right into the front of the bed.

 

It does make a difference when the sand bags are close to the tailgate

 

+1 on rubber bed mat. Using a wood frame as a blockade also works.

Put sand bags over the rear axle.

 

not a good difference. they go over the rear axle.

 

In my S10 with the metal bed, I bought some of this non-stick toolbox padding:

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_389437_389437

That stuff worked the best.

The polycarbonate box in my Tacoma doesn't seem to need it like the metal box did...

 

No doctor of physics here but pounds of weight directly over the axle just instinctively seems better for traction purposes than near the tailgate. Besides, that area near the tailgate is for cargo. Interesting discussion though. Anyone able to provide proof in the pudding scientific explanation of reasoning? In this case my purpose is not to create a fulcrum effect of raising the front end (which is what happens by putting weight farther from the axle) but to place as much downward force as I can to the rear tires. Friction is what you're seeking here, not a lift.

 

True, levers and angles.

 

My first car was a 2wd Ranger. A studded set of rear snow tires and 400 pounds of cinder block and it would go almost anywhere.
Even without the studded snow tires it was impressive with weight in the bed. This was in rural Appalachia with steep mountains and poorly maintained roads.
I think with good tires and some weight a 2wd pickup is better than a front wheel drive car in snow.
Since then I’ve had 4wd and lived on flat land. I don’t think it could snow enough here to stop the Taco.

 

I put my sand in 5 gallon buckets. You can fit about 75lbs per bucket if you pack it, and put a lid on it. Strapped them down, and good to go.

 

Living in Lander, WY - I was a believer in adding weight by the tailgate - and I still am. The physics is on the side of moving it as far back as possible - and it works well. It multiplies the effect of weight on the rear axle and increases the "polar moment of inertia" of the truck.
Usually chose to get water softener salt to use for the purpose. About 40 pounds a bag - cheap and very available.

 

Didn’t read everything but yes over the axle. And not excessive weight either. You want to load your rear without unloading the front.
Just what I do here and my best advice born and raised in vt.
I have a mat and carry 160lbs of the old style canvas plastic bag tube sand. My tonnaue keeps it dry if I need it.

 

Six 50 lb. bags of sand double wrapped in plastic garbage bags, duct taped around twice in each direction and strapped down near tail gate.

 

Rubber mat is not a bad way to go and there are those https://www.homedepot.com/p/Keeper-...3NGQqq7hY94WDpVjDKhnZgubv8TDTR0hoC-OMQAvD_BwE

 

I have a real simple setup that puts 4 60lb bags of tube sand by the tailgate. It's a canvas tarp that wraps around the bags of sand and is secured to the tie downs with cheap carabiners, the piece of wood is to distrubute the weight of the sand, I didn't have this last year and the tailgate has ever so slightly bowed outward in the center. This has worked well for a couple of years. My problem is that after a couple storms and frost/thaw cycles the additional load of iced up snow has the rear dragging.

 

Ummm, yes. I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night but I am a Mechanical Engineer. This is Statics 101.

Put them wherever you're comfortable with them. Stand in the back of your truck near the front of the bed. Have someone watch what happens to the back end as you slowly walk toward the tailgate.

 

here is what i

Which is why you put them over the axle. If you want to take weight off the front, fine, go ahead. I'd much rather put the weight on the axle and maintain my steering and braking.

 

Also use salt pellets and then use in my softener during warm months. Cmon no fair using technical terms like "polar moment of inertia."

Right, so when you walk towards the back you see the weight move from front to back, away from where the added traction does the most good, over the axle. Moving the weight away from the front to the rear also has diminishing returns as the front end begins to "teeter" and steering ability is compromised not to mention traction if 4WD. One of the reasons a front wheel drive car goes so well in the snow is because its weight, the motor, is directly over the front traction wheels. Those Koreans know a thing or 2 about going in the snow yea? Anyhow great thread thanx OP.

 

I just shovel the snow until the bed is full, its enough weight for more traction and makes it more aerodynamic too

 

So more engineering statics 101 required here? The distance from the rear axle to the weight by the tailgate is about 30 inches - wheelbase is about 130. So (assuming those dimensions) the weight "removed" from the front is roughly 23% of what is stacked 30 inches behind the rear. Soo..... 400 lbs at the tailgate is worth about a 46 pound reduction at each front tire and the resultant at the rear axle is 400 lbs + the 92 lbs shifted from the front. The CG shift is very worthwhile.

Truckers do this dance all of the time - moving loads and shifting the fifth wheel makes predictable axle load changes - purely due to leverage.