First snow

Ha! No worries. TireRack. They're legal here, but nobody uses them. Thus, the local tire shops don't do studding here. So, TireRack...

I'm from NH. It's pretty common up there. Here in NJ, people are out trying to Drive Mustangs with summer tread in a snow storm...

 

I think most places where they are legal, they're only legal during the winter months. That's how it is in NJ and NH. Anyway.

 

The situation earliier today was a test done near my house on a little used straight flat road. Conditions were about the same as right now although the snow was fresher it was a light fluffy snow which when compacted did become slippery underneath. I went to that road again tonight because it was bothering me so much I needed to do more simulations. It was completely different my brakes were far less sensitive to the abs kicking in and when it did kick in I felt more in control. The only thing I can think of was that earlier today I gave my abs a needed workout and that this evening the system was sort of warmed up because it performed a 1000 times better and I was really trying to get the abs to activate tonight and it did but much smoother. I know everyones gone to say I'm crazy or imagining things but that's the only variable that was moderately different. But in no way do I disbelieve other posters with the same problems I had this morning they were real and quite alarming.

 

I believe you , so many people think snow is snow , whereas snow can change grip levels dramatically depending on it's moisture content

My grandma can drive in fluffy dry powder

 

I didn't have brakes on a bike I had when I was younger. That ended well, most of the time.

ABS sucks when creeping up to a stop in snow / ice.



That is all.

 

Almost bought the farm yesterday. 5 inches of snow and after the so called "plows" had their way it was ice underneath the snow. Going up a slight incline with cruise control on. Knew I should not have had the cruise on in icy conditions but thought "I can click it off if I start to fishtail." NOT. Started fishtailing at about 40mph headed straight for some trees and had it not been for the ABS I wouldn't be writing this today. Was able to steer it out of trouble with the brakes smashed down and came to a halt in some guys driveway facing the opposite direction. Checked my britches for any leakage and drove on home whistling Dixie. Without the ABS I know absolutely those trees were in my cockpit. Thank you Lord and thank you modern technology. Moral of the story is slower slower slower on ice.

 

This is the important part. It doesn't matter what your ABS/VSC/(Insert more technolgy here) is doing, you can avoid all of it by driving for the conditions and vehicle that you are in.

 

Snow for me consists of 4WD, plenty of stopping room, and trying my best to not make any abrubt maneuvers, as well as no cruise control.
I have had my ABS click on me stopping while going over a pothole, but I wouldn't consider it an issue. I have always given myself plenty of room to avoid a collision.

Now my motorcycle, thank god for engine braking as I had the ABS kick in on that while going over a bump and if you wanna talk about a puckering experience...

 

Many of you probably already saw this but I will post it again. I believe the abs added a dew feet to my stopping distance as my tires lft perfect tread marks for the last few feet.

So it snowed heavy christmas eve. The snow plows were not up and running on the little streets. The cars were still driving on the roads and compacting the snow. Christmas was cold and the snow turned to ice. I made this same turn multiple times on both those days. The next morning however I was in 4hi chatting with my wife driving slow and safe. I started to make the right turn. Almost a U turn onto the street my inlaws live on. The snow had still not been plowed.

The turn is the purple pin



Photos of the turn the next day saturday.


Looks like some one did the same thing saturday


I started the turn like normal but the truck quickly decided to ignore my turning and braking. Even though I was going slow I hit a post (an older post) that was rotted on the bottom and broke upon contact with my relentless bumper. We started going over the edge and I thought for a moment. This is it.



The cable had been cut when they replaced the two new posts on the end and instead of sinking a new cable in the ground they Ubolted the two cabels pieces together. This did not hold so the post just fell over. The saving grace was my truck was completely sideways and I hit a new post on the side of my truck that held us in place.







I was looking over the edge in shock. It happed so slow it felt unreal. Like this cant be happening. The ABS brake system would not let the tires stop.

My wife quickly snapped me in gear and said what do we need to do. I handed her my phone and said take pictures Ill grab the recovery gear. I couldnt back up because the post was resting agianst the side of my truck. I ran the winch to a tree across the road but this did not work as the back end if the truck started going down the hill while the front went up. I grabed the snatch block given to me by my TW secret santa and ran the cable back to my slider. Once I was off the post. I had the wife spin the wheel in reverse while I winched sideways. This seemed to have the best result.



The good news is we were safe. My $250 diductible is nothing and the body will be fixed. I had to make the same turn several more times this weekend. What did I learn? 40 PSI is too high. A nice 30 in the mountains helps. Using my gears to brake gives me much more control. It was an experiance that will be with me for a long time.

 

This maybe a silly question, but why in the picture and in your statement are you steering right down the hill for at least the last 20 feet while you were still on the road? ABS might of let you steer out especially if you had snow tires on...

Or where you worried about rolling down that hill if you pinned the wheel over maybe...

 

Are you talking about this photo below? This was tread marks from someone the next day.

 

My truck was sliding mostly sideways

 

and when that doesn't work maybe you will meet your maker.

 

Okay, sorry it just looked that way from those tracks lol. I'm sure you can see it too.