Adding weight for winter?

I usually keep a couple 70lb bags of sand in the bed in winter.

If the roads are snow covered I'll put in 4WD, but a lot of times a couple days after a decent snow the roads are clear and dry but you'll have spots coming out of parking lots etc where there is still snow piled up. Little extra weight on the rear helps get you going in 2WD, even with good tires.

Long story short you don't NEED weight in the bed, but it helps in certain situations and as long as it's properly secured it won't hurt anything. Added bonus that you can bust open the bags to give yourself or others some grip if stuck.

 

I made this jig to keep my sandbags from moving around. Also keeps all of my other stuff in place. I keep 4 70# bags of sand in it and have been very happy with the results

Also, as others have mentioned, good tires are more important than anything.

 

Let’s see it go on rougher terrain at slightly higher speed

 

That rig and setup belong to a buddy of mine. Believe it or not, those tracks are the original tracks made by Toyota for R&D. No doubt the are not made for speed, and they are hard on the truck to run, but they look like a blast to drive on.

 

well if you get in a bind I can lend you 200# of mother-in-law for added weight. It will also tell you everything you are doing wrong and how to fix it.

 

That’s pretty cool actually.
I’m not knocking the concept entirely.
I just find them more as a toy then a practical thing.

 

Yup, and my buddy would likely agree with you wholly on that. Probably the only time he bolted them on his buggy. Even Toyota bailed on the project, for likely the same reasoning.

 

Pretty tough making ones that would last/work properly, I imagine.

 

Back on topic tho, they would make for great weight in the back of the box for added traction

 

Ha ha ha Totally!

 

Winter tires a must, I have blizzaks and they work great. If you put any weight in the back make sure it is tied securely, if your truck i ever in an accident the load will go flying and can go through the cab etc.

 

Not a bad idea. In 300"+ area here. Poly tubes bags of sand common. Only issue is if the sand inside freezes rock solid its hard to use as traction spread on ice/snow. Plus if conditions right they freeze to bed. Some people use plate steel and pieces of railroad track to get weight without taking up space. I have noticed this Dbl Cab short box '17 tends to do a bit better than our '14 Silverado dbl cab 6' box did (diff tires of course) in 2 wheel drive. Maybe rear wheels not as far back on the Taco.
My 2 cents to the OPoster is to get at least 150-200lbs of whatever and put in bed for your first winter. Then after a few months take it out and feel difference. Also, do what other person said and try truck in snow in a parking lot. Make sure no dry pavement nearby...
As many have said tires will make all the diff. Blizzak are good. Many here use Firestone Winterforce because cheaper. Our suburu has General Altimax Arctic. Those have done amazingly well for winter. They wear very well. Forgot to take em off one summer (subie doesnt go far, 2012 with 25k miles on it) and they didnt wear much. Open tread does amazing in slush and snow drifts, mud during the thaw, and the venerable plow burm at end of driveway. For light trucks I think they are called Arctic Grabber. Might have to try them on our taco.

Other thing is don't hesitate to use 4H if you feel any rear end slipping or seeing other cars start jiving. Ice is the worst. Same with white hard pack snow which never got salt or sand.

So if you really want the best snow traction, get a second set of wheels and put snow tires on in winter, and put some weight in the back. I kinda like really fine gravel like the size of BBs vs sugar sand for traction. plus it tends to not freeze as readily into a concrete blob vs tube of beach sand. Made my own bags by using a poly bag from loose whole corn, 3mil contractor bag x2, then another poly corn bag on top. Tie off with twine and a wrap or two of electrical tape.

During the occasional Winter storm warning that morphs into additional Lake Effect Warning, I'll take the weight out and put my 4wheeler in the bed. If I get stuck, might have a chance to get to a house with the 4 wheeler.

Try some weight. Easy to take out if you dont like it. Remove ALL snow from grill, hood, roof, windows, blinkers etc before driving. Hood snow flips onto windshield. Roof snow if packy can slide down over windshield when u stop....

 

Can u snap a pic of buckets, or see what weight of kitty litter they held?

 

Be Careful with Using Landscape Rocks there have been incidents where the Pickup came to a sudden stop for whatever reasons and they were using Large stones and or Cement blocks for traction weight and it went right through the bed wall and Cab wall into the interior of the truck. So secured Sand bags or pea gravel bags would be a safer bet.

 

Back when I was young, some guys would throw old cylinder heads in the bed, unfortunately they found out they were heavy projectiles that luckily didn't kill anyone.

 

The Use of Plate Steel or Railroad track is one of the most crazy things I have seen, saw a lot of that thing when I was up in Berwick, Pennsylvania these guys just had the back full of unsecured junk like that or they would just put a 2 X 6 across at the back of the wheel wells and fill it up.

 

Where do you live, that you already have snow? I want to move there.

As for the weight, don't even bother adding any weight to the bed of the truck. My 17 Sport DCSB had 0 weight in the bed all last winter in Maine, and we get some crazy snow storms in our area. I never once had an issue, drove around mostly in 2WD, and only hit 4WD during the massive storms before the trucks starting plowing the streets. Never one had an issue this past winter, and it was actually one of the better vehicles I've had in the snow (Aside my Wifes 18 T4R Pro, that things a tank in snow)

 

I add 200 pounds and it seems to be just fine.

 

I Live in Alberta, Canada.
Most of the snow melted this afternoon though.

I do the same thing, 2WD unless it’s really dodgy out or the snow has been packed into ice.

 

Just laughed my ass off. hahaha