Winter Weight

It helps with trucks, the back end has no weight and only one tire spins, typically the right rear, so if there's polished ice, all the power goes to one tire with no weight and no traction.

I used concrete slabs on my Tacoma, favoring the right. Just for better performance.

A lot of people brag about using 2WD, but honestly, I paid for 4x4, I use it. Why feather the throttle when I can run winters and 4x4 on low traction roads.

Quebec winters are crazy simply due to snow volume. I'd love to drive through the snow you guys get. Here in Calgary we see mostly packed snow and black ice.

 

Yeah I always have those bags in there and have quite a few tools and a sub box that weighs over a hundred pounds in the back of my access cab so that adds some too. Just this past weekend I stacked the entire bed two high of 24 and 30 packs of beer and soda from my brothers wedding. Squatted just about to the bump stops but just ate every bump in the rear end. Smoothest ride Ive had

 

I use 3 bags of tube sand. I put 1 each over the axle tucked up against the inner fender hump in the bed and the 3rd laying across about 3 feet back. Gives me about 180lbs of extra weight and i usually carry about 150lbs of gear as well. I also use 4 snow tires ( usually Bridgestone Blizzaks). I travel pretty extensively for work and get into Northen Ontario and I live in the snow belt just off Lake Huron. So weight and snow tires are a must. Plus i get a nice Insurance discount for having snow tires .

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/quikrete-tubesand-27kg/1000143996

 

that's because the morons think 4 wheel drive = 4 wheel stop and they have invincible traction and control. In 4x4 if poor road conditions only allow for 60km hr average then that's all i give it and usually about 60 km/hr the flow of traffic speed on bad roads unless visibility is really bad. There's always that one Mouth breather in a jacked up Dodge Pickup that's gotta show he's all that and a bag of chips and fly past in the fast lane at 100km hr on snow covered roads. He's usually the one you see in the ditch. I refuse to stop and help those types. Had one last year fly past a whole line of traffic driving like a complete douche. about 10km up the road he's in the ditch, front end all screwed up and he's standing outside on shoulder looking rather pissed. By this time suns pretty much 75% set for the night and not a single person pulled over. I did hear a few horn beeps and i think i saw a middle finger or 2 as well.

 

During the snowstorm in texas last year 240lb worth of concrete bags to weigh down the back of my truck. Helped a lot with my 2wd Tacoma on street tires. Three bags went straight over the axels, is there a better way to distribute the weight in the bed?

 

Add nothing never needed it use 4x4 as needed plus good tires.

 

Y'all are weird carrying all this crap around all winter.

Good tires, drive to conditions, and 4x4 when warranted.

 

No extra weight on my 2017. I did switch to Goodyear Duratrac.

 

Not arguing with you or anything, but I found the stock Goodyear w/Kevlar’s to be more than adequate the last few years in the snow I drove through. Now, these weren’t deep northern winters, but it was a descent bit of snow nonetheless.

 

I’ve seen winter tires do much better up here in MN than weight in the bed. If you haven’t tried it, the increased grip vs any all-terrain will impress you. I run Blizzaks but next time around I’m going to give the Hakkas a try since they get such great reviews.

 

Four 70 pound tubes of sand over the axle, simple 2x4 frame to hold in place and Michelin Defender tires with 4WD work well for me in our hilly rural area during winter.

 

I've easily managed many ottawa winters with no extra weight in bed just good winter tires and driving sensible. Stock wranglers are not suitable in winter they are terrible on ice...blizzaks are great. I use 4x4 maybe 3 times a season mainly to punch through driveway plow wall.

 

I haven't needed any extra weight in the two winters that I've had my Tacoma for, but if I decide I need some ballast, we always have extra bags of kitty litter or kibble that I can add if needed.

Back in the day, when my DD was a '75 Camaro, I used to have a couple of lead bricks that I'd put into the trunk for some extra weight over the drive wheels. Not sure if those are still in my parents' garage or not... might have to check the next time I'm there.

 

Snow is totally situational. They got me completely hung spinning free in under a foot of old snow multiple times. My own fault I guess, but they failed miserably. Fresh snow or following someone's tracks? Sure, they've been okay with a bit of sliding around. Anything in the mountains with old pack where you get ice on dirt, I won't ever take them through again. Once you have to dig out a few times for a few hours you just go buy real winter tires.

 

I think people are getting what you CAN get by with and what you WANT to get by with confused. Snow tires work, weight works. Some are fine getting by with all season, and some want the extra confidence snow tires bring. Same with weight, maybe to a lesser extent. Ive gone many winters on all seasons just fine, but once i got winter tires there was no going back. I like the added steering and stopping traction snow tires bring especially on ice. More winters now are icy over snowy in the northeast. Weight definitely works better for plowing, dont use it when im not. Its all in your comfort level. Im a bit of a tire snob and always put good tires on.

OP, i would always start with good tires. You may not need or want snow's, up to you. I would agree with a previous poster that compound is better than a cheap tire studded, in my experience. I used blizzaks for a few seasons, they were fine, expensive and were worn after three seasons. Going on my fourth season plowing with firestone winterforce unstudded. Pleasantly surprised at their price point, and i plow a steep paved driveway. All seasontires... i even plowed in my michelin defenders and again was surprised how well they did. Not as good as pure snows but could have plowed all winter i think.

 

I live in the mountains of Colorado right outside of a major ski resort, so I drive in snow with large elevation gains all the time. If it’s nuking out, 4WD does great in combination with winter tires. However, I run sand tubes in my bed during the winter for those frequent situations where there’s some snow on the road, but you don’t necessarily want to be driving under 55 in 4WD or when the snow is patchy on the road and it’s difficult to constantly being changing in and out of 4WD. The other nice benefit of the weight in the bed is that it cuts down on fishtailing when changing lanes in the snow. I view it as $20 insurance. I’m also not 70 years old.

 

This is a really good point! Different strokes for different folks.
I’m lazy. That and cost in dollhairs/time are the only reasons I don’t mess around with swapping a winter set of tires every 6 months.
Similarly, while I would get around just fine leaving the truck in 4 and switching it off for dry parking lots, I prefer to add weight and stay in 2 until things get nasty and I absolutely have to.

Why would you need to stay under 55 in 4wd?

 

I know that you don’t technically have to stay under 55, but generally if I’m in 4WD I’m not doing more than 55 or 60.

 

Totally fair! Just means you’re sensible and won’t be one of the people going ditch diving due to overconfidence

 

Good point about fishtailing, like tires and using 4wd many focus on the "go", and not the control. The weight does help with keeping my ass end in check. On slow turns, the traction control does a good job too.