How much weight are you putting in bed for snow

Well I changed my mind from the last time I posted. Now I have my Hi-Lift in the bed, passenger side.

 

Well I sold my tacoma sadly so I guess this will work lol about 800lbs of concrete. 2002 f550 7.3 4x4 diesel. Don't even need 4x4 with this on the back. I wouldn't try it with a tacoma though

 

I never put any weight in my bed what is the wost that could happen?

 

Nothing lol the more weight the more traction. But you have to find that balance of weight and wear and tear and fuel milage.

 

240 lbs of tube sand and proper tires makes me a happy winter camper. And you can use the sand as traction backup.

 

Worst could happen is de-arch the springs. I wouldn't worry about hurting them you would be better off if they broke

 

Wouldn't want to spear it into the cabbage with that behind me

 

It would be the last thing going though your mind in an event like that.

 

Bed's about 6' x 4' x 1.5', snow is about 1/3 the density of water. When I'm shoveling, I fill the bed with water.

With my truck box in there taking up 18" or so, I figure I have about 25-28 ft^3 of space, and probably have about 300-400 pounds of snow in the bed. Probably a little more, since it gets compacted when it's being shoveled/packed.

 

I have a short-bed with a 300lb ARE cap on it and about 150lbs worth of random crap I pitch back there and promptly forget about, so I'm good.

 

I put two 60lb bags directly over the rear axle of my prerunner and I'm good to go all winter. I live in western NY, about an hour from Buffalo, for what it's worth.

 

I have a leer topper good enough

 

Oh, the sweet delicious irony.

 

mines bigger...

 

Seeing that your profile says "norcal" (yah, you're definitely a super bhra) I'd feel pretty confident saying your real life snow driving experience is nil (unless you live on Sonora Pass).

Defending the point that MORE weight in the rear of the truck DOES provide for more traction needs no real evidence save the real world results that those of us who use it AND drive in the snow.

I've found that 450 LBS is more than enough for additional traction. Add in a set of studded snow tires and you're in good shape. Not as good as an AWD vehicle, but those don't have lockers.

 

California is not one big beach. You can make whatever assumptions suit you WRT my snow driving skills and experience; I don't really care. Ironically, Sonora Pass is one of the places I spend a lot of time.

I do not refute that more weight equals more traction.

My objection comes in that while you will create more traction, you will also need more because of the added weight. In accordance with Newtons 2nd Law, more mass will need more force to accelerate it, i.e., more traction is needed to start,stop, or turn on a heavier vehicle. Disprove that point and I'll get you a Nobel Prize in physics.


This is what I'm saying:




I say approximate because the normal force equation is an assumption; the relationship is not actually linear but friction is still a function of the normal force and this is the assumption that most are working on here.

C1 would reflect the weight distribution of the truck. This is where I believe the sandbags might actually help. You are changing the distribution of weight. I do not know what the best F/R distribution is; could be 60/40, could be 50/50, could be 40/60.

For the record, I've never stated that it won't help; I don't know definitively. My position is that seat of the pants measurements are notoriously inaccurate and I want someone to go out and actually take data.



ETA: Okay your turn, flame on (cause I know it's coming)

 

=small pee pee

 

You want someone to go out and actually take data ?

go do your own math and data gathering.


unless you can say 'about how much weight to toss in the back'
(like the other posters who have replied and gave nice neat answers without needing a Ti-83) then plz stfu.

I'll summarize: about 200lbs will make a noticeable difference. That was easy.

 

Why does every thread end in people fighting...who cares if you agree or disagree..give your opinions/facts/ experience and move on...let all the readers decide for them self what they feel is right. No reason to get banned by losing your cool over traction in the snow..

 

Something to consider is the foot print(surface contacting the road) of your tires,if you have a tall skinny wheel(pizza cutter like) with a small foot print you get better traction because the weight is distributed on a smaller print therefore more pressure to generate friction.If like me you run wider tires 275/65/17 the weight is distributed on a larger print and if you want more friction putting weight will help.I put 4 X40lbs bags across the wheels in the back and I see a good difference when starting to move forward in snowy conditions.The downfall is like the physic teacher wannabe would argue is that the extra mass in the back wont help you stopping when its moving forward.
And that's what I had to say about that.
Oh by the way I live in snowy Quebec I learned to drive in snow.