Do you put weight in your bed for winter driving?

I put 4 bags of water softener salt in the back over the wheels in covered tubs and strap them down. When I need it for our home I pull from there. Guys make sure you are strapping whatever you put back there down. You don't want them becoming projectiles in the unlikely event you get into an accident.

 

Last year I just let the snow and ice build up in my bed. Worked great for traction, but was a shit show when I needed to remove 6 inches of ice from the back. This year im going with sand bags since I have a topper to keep the snow and ice out.

 

Just toss a 25lb plate in your bag every time you leave the gym. You'll be good to go in no time.

 

and you can start your own home gym after enough trips!

 

Who is gym?

 

https://youtu.be/PGLzm-Gy0dQ

 

Yeah I shovel driveway into the bed.

 

I just toss the wife back there, have to turn the radio wayyyyyyy up though!

 

I filled Homer or lowes buckets with sand and strapped them to the sides of the bed between the wheel and tailgate. No more broken bags, easy to more or store and resealable if I need to use the sand for traction.

 

I've never seen any advantage by adding weight. Only good thing about having sand bags is that you have sand if you get suck.

 

I do a lot of winter driving. To ski resorts and trails covered with snow.

never put weight back there and only have OEM tonneau. Never had issues.

I do carry traction boards and a snow shovel.

4H and slow is the way to go in normal snow driving conditions.

 

That's Mr. Nasium to you and I.

 

180 lbs. of tube sand and a Ridgid roller toolbox in my truck all winter long. Makes a big difference when in 2wd. It’s not for loose snow so much as it’s for ice and hard pack. I drive about 20-30,000 miles a year. I grew up driving in Maine and live in Ohio’s snowbelt now. Not quite Nor-Easter snow, but Lake Erie’s lake effect snow is no joke.

 

4WD is not some panacea that protects you from every possible danger on winter roads. It can help, but shouldn't be relied upon, since 9 times out of 10, you're not going to have the front end locked in when you hit that icy/slushy spot on a shady curve on the highway. Having proper tires and sufficient additional weight to assist with traction is just common sense.

Just as important as weight however is the placement of that weight. A lot of people will add 50, 100, or even 300 lbs but just toss it in at the back of the box and call it a day. This is actually potentially detrimental; your rear axel becomes a pivot, and while you may push the back down a bit, you're lifting the front up, and reducing traction on your steer tires.

On the west coast we get little snow, but when we do, it's usually a very wet, greasy mess falling on frozen roads. I have a wooden frame that holds up to five 110 lb steel bricks I salvaged off of an old pulling sled. The frame holds the weights so that the rear-most edge of the weight is a few inches forward of the rear axel, ensuing that I get maximum downforce at all four corners.

 

When I lived in cold states I always put some weight in the back, be it a trunk of a RWD sedan or truck bed. A little goes a long way. 50 lbs is usually enough. Since where I live now we get limited snow I've not added weight and just depend on 4wd to keep from getting stuck. We get more ice than snow, and in ice-rink conditions extra weight in the rear can be detrimental if you go into a skid. The extra weight in rear tries to catch up with the front and you might find yourself doing a double lutz.

 

Last winter I use a bladder bag filled with about 35 gallons of water. Thats about 300 lbs. it’s baffled so water doesn’t slosh around too badly. It will allow about 200lbs of material loaded on top of it just need to be mindful not to puncture it with sharps and that its tied down in some way, i used bungee cords.

Worked well for me last year, since then I’ve added a Decked storage sys that added about 185lbs, so we’ll see how that works out.

 

Water ~ bed
Clever

 

Years ago with my old 2wd GMC pickup I used to put patio stones in the back. They made a big difference with that truck. I haven't felt the need with the Tacoma yet. With 4wd and proper winter tires it handles the Canadian winters pretty good.

 

Just for summer driving

 

+250 Year round.