Anyone adding any weight to the truck bed for better winter traction?

Living here in the northern most part of Michigan, tucked away along the shore of Lake Superior, our winters are 5-6 months long and we average about 250 inches of snow. We are already half way to that mark this year and winter just begun. We are in the bulls-eye for a 4-day blizzard that could dump an additional 1-2 feet starting tonight. The factory tires are labeled as "all-season", but anyone that lives in a place like I do knows that "all-season" tires are for crap in the snow. I drive in 2WD as much as possible, but use 4x4 when needed. With the lack of weight in the rear in 2WD, I got to thinking about adding weight (sand bags, etc.) for better traction. I've been driving in this type of weather for almost 40 years, so I get around pretty good, but... Anyone doing this? And what are you using?

 

Oh, of course. I forgot to check for prior posts about this subject before I posted. Appears there are a few.... sorry.

 

Yep tons of threads on this... 200 pounds of sand bags over the rear axle definitely improves traction

 

Yup, 200lbs of play sand fixed my sliding problems.

 

no good snow days here in central PA. yet.. but I'm covered just added about 200lbs , in form of a new ARE shell.....

 

Last year I threw 4 60lb bags of sand in the back (theyre like $4 a bag). I figured if the weight didn't help, the extra grip from dumping it out in front of my stuck/sliding wheels would.

Didn't get stuck or slide around at all. The OEM Goodyear's aren't bad either.

 

We're about to get a decent amount of snow here in Denver tomorrow afternoon/night. I just threw a couple hundred pounds of tube sand in the bed.

 

Two 70lb bags for me. Works great!

 

I drove on some snow/ice covered roads last weekend. Truck did good with stock tires and now weight. I did use 4x4 once or twice. No real slipping back to speak of.

 

is tube sand like tube steak?

 

When you are shoveling snow off the driveway or walk ...... fill up the bed of your truck with snow.

 

• +1 This was my MO for the best part of 15 winters. I have to shovel anyway, throw a dozen shovel fulls into the bed, gives you weight for traction. Won't turn into a projectile (see below). Don't need to lug it around until you actually need it, And most of the time it melts ~ the same pace as the snow on the ground so you don't really have to unload it.
• Once during a long cold spell I had one of those tubes of sand tied to the back corner of my never garaged Gen-1. Worked fine but had evidentially turned into a frozen solid 50lb projectile. A month or so in, the rope breaks and scares the heck out of me sliding up the bed liner into the cab...

 

I just use some pieces of firewood held in position by my cargo divider. Plenty of it here, and when I don't need it any longer, I stack it back in my woodshed to cure more for next winter.

 

Yup, that works...

 

I'll take your word on that. I even once thought of doing it, for maybe 2 seconds until I realized my garage would turn into the next Great Lake overnight.

 

Works for me since I don't have a garage, and have to park outside...

 

I'd do the same if mine wasn't garaged especially since snow is free and I'm a cheap bastard.

 

I've never bothered in any of my 4x4 trucks.

 

Going is one thing, stopping and turning are other things altogether. Sand won't help you with those things - and those things are what will keep you out of a car accident.

Snow tires are a must if you live not just in a snowy area, but an area that gets really cold. All seasons (and any non snow-tire) are basically worthless when it gets cold.

I live in Colorado and my RC-F is my daily driver in the winter, even in snow. Snow tires are the reason this is possible. My 2015 Land Cruiser has M/T tires and full time 4wd and I usually don't even take it out in the snow unless it's a blizzard and I need the sheer size and ground clearance to make it somewhere.