Fishtailing tacoma in the snow

Why do plow trucks travel at quarter or half the speed limit, at their fastest? Because they have weight which prevents them from stopping in a reasonable distance. That's why.
Putting extra weight over the rear axle is only to allow extra traction, if all you have is rwd. If you have fwd, awd or 4wd, you will get adequate traction from the front axle.
That extra weight in the back will only increase your stopping distance.

 

They travel more slowly because they are moving snow out of the way and you would drive more slowly in icy and snowy conditions anyway. The extra weight isn't what makes a plow truck drive more slowly. Fully loaded semi trucks also stop faster than lightly or empty vehicles.

 

For about a decade. Left it and have been a real estate broker for about 14.

 

I did also. For about ten years as well. Great experience, glad I did it, made a lot of great friends in LE but as a life time occupation enjoyed doing other things and managing traffic accidents was the worse part, especially with PIs. One thing I was most adamant about was picking up drunks, processing them and getting the MFers off the road.

I never did write a speeding ticket for driving too fast for conditions. I did pull a lot over and write warnings for it; that and PUs carrying things like unsecured cement blocks for traction weight. Drivers meant well, but they didn’t seem to know much physics.

Wish we had SUVs like they do now instead of those Crwn Vic’s for winter.

 

Ha ha. I beg to differ. Carrying that little weight only adds slightly to stopping distance but aids greatly to balance which helped keep trucks under control when brKing . Using 4 wd as a cure all for poor driver winter preparation causes more vehicles to leave road then nearly anything else.

 

The extra weight does help traction which keeps plow trucks including Tacos not plowing, under control. Been in plow business for years. The plows on front without much weight in back makes plow trucks a bear to control. The extra weight in the back of any vehicle in slippery weather helps maintain control.

 

And locking diffs has nothing to do with four wheel drive ?
Ha ha... sure.

 

He's not completely wrong. It depends on the snow. I was just out in some deeper wet stuff and turning at a tighter angle (more than ~40°) resistance was burning the clutch.

 

Exactly. Prerunners were pretenders...but in areas with no snow, they were fine. Maybe they were better for pizza delivery in Miami.

 

They travel slowly, mainly for safety and durability reasons. You couldn’t afford the taxes for repair of plow trucks and roadways with trucks that go too fast let alone, the insurance for hitting parked cars hidden by snow.

 

This is actually true

https://youtu.be/8bXdXRbc2Rc

 

Totally un scientific and rediculous. A dufus pushing a stop watch...dah. His times are all over the place. Thats why we measure braking by distance and not time on prepared uniform tracks and Conditions.

 

He explains in the end.... watch the video please and learn.

There is a thing called break balance between the front and the rear. When in 4x the power of the front brakes is transferred to the back as well because the drive line is locked between the two. The reason for the breaking balance is because it lessens the chance of the rear sliding out while cornering and because it just needlessly wears the rear breaks out in normal driving conditions. So, yes you'll get better braking in 4x with the trade off that you'll have a higher chance of the rear end sliding out.

While others are somewhat right about engine braking in a manual being better in off road conditions while in 4x, that isn't the whole story.

 

Honestly, with the way this thread is turning out, I can't tell if your serious or not

 

It’s true...in certain conditions. There are other videos out there showing the stopping distance and 4wd definitely stops faster. But it seems to have the advantage mostly is heavier snow.

 

You proponents keep going down the wrong rabbit hole with your false narratives. First, control is more important then distance. In control, the brake pressure should NOT BE EQUAL front to back.
Science in car brake design has long since determined that control and the ability to steer is more important then absolute distance. Better braking is controlled barking and retaining steerage. Locking the rear brakes on icy conditons eleiminates steering. In snow, the lock plus snow in front of the wheels at low speeds....everyone stops straight because no triesto avoid anything in the tests. The test does not measure the ability to steer while braking and avoid hitting anything.

 

Exactly. The control and higher speeds shift dramatically in favor of abs systems. 4 hi negates the advantages of abs systems. The deeper the snow, the less abs becomes a factor.....we are talking about slippery conditons. Science has long determined that the ability to steer is more important then absolute stopping distance. Everyone knows if you want to stop fast, turn into a snow bank and then slam the brakes on. Big deal. Trees work even better. At higher speeds where most injuries occur, retaining steerage and avoiding hitting anything is most important.

 

Yes. That... that is exactly what I said. Your rear end will have a higher chance of sliding out. But you will have more breaking power.

Your basically arguing with yourself at this point bud.

Also, I never brought up locking the breaks...

 

Simple solution: DON'T DRIVE faster then you feel comfortable driving! I've spent many hours driving 70,000# of Semi down a snowy interstate at 30 because it didn't feel safe to go any faster. In other words: Don't overdrive your abilities.

 

Not really, “bud.” Absolute braking power more often gets you in as much trouble as absolute acceleration. Some or the all or nothing guys are the ones chasing your own tails. They refer to “ absolute” braking power as “ better braking”. It isn’t. I’m debating with a bunch of people who don’t even use winter tires. Seems kind of like they’re rationalizing being cheap.