Unexpected Ice!

I know the best way to drive on ice is not to drive on ice. Last week I hit a patch of ice at about 60 mph while accelerating onto the interstate. Last thought in my mind is ice out here in the desert where a cold winter day is 50 degrees or so. Anyways, steering into the skid and adding throttle did not result in a positive outcome. I know how to turn the traction, and the stability control off, but the last thought in my mind was I might hit ice. I guess I am gonna have to re learn how to drive in slippery conditions. Or, just turn the traction, braking, control off every time I feel a nip in the air. No harm done, I came to rest at least 1/2 inch from the big rigs blowing by on the I 10.

 

If you spun out and lost the back end while accelerating, you need even more traction control than they gave you from factory. Feather the pedal, son.

 

The temp gauge on the dash is your best friend. Turning off traction control is the worst thing you can do. One can’t react fast enough when you hit black ice.

 

black ice is the most dangerous condition u can drive on u can be the most experienced driver and have the best tires and it still won’t make a difference .the only thing u can do is try to control the slide and prevent yourself from crashing . Sounds like u drove away in one piece so be glad u drove away unscathed .

 

It's not a dirt track, I think giving it gas is the worst thing you can do.

Next time, maybe ease off the throttle, and very, very gently keep the front wheels pointed where you want to go. Flipping the wheel around like you're trying to drift is also a near-guarantee to spin out.

 

You are a lucky man. Ice is impossible. I pounded the sound wall with both ends years ago with a 99 Tacoma on ice on the on-ramp trying to get from 30 to 35. Semi-trucks were doing 40 on the freeway.

 

Yep. Once the ass end goes it does not matter if you left it on or turned it off. Your truck told you "You're on your own" and turned it off for you.
Maybe practice in the sand?

 

Glad you (and the truck) made it out alive!

Ice can be very tricky, especially if you aren't expecting it. The type of ice (how slick) plays a huge factor. But in general you want 0 pedal inputs, gas or brake, and steer into it. If you need to stop ease into very light brake pressure.

 

Power is the enemy and skidding is the enemy. Just let off the gas if you're sliding until you regain control, or at least control enough to feel comfortable enough to accelerate. Then it's a very light touch. Black ice is probably the worst because you don't know it is there, but nevertheless the same principles apply. FWIW I used to drive a Zamboni for work. Those things generally have studs but even those only go so far. Being gentle is your friend. Pretend you're hitting the throttle with an egg between your foot and gas pedal if you have to.

 

Really good advice so far. I am wondering if a Tacoma that was driven and parked on black ice could get itself off the ice using Crawl Control?

 

Minnesota ice driver here. If you do start to spin the best thing to do is ease off the gas so that the back end can hopefully get some traction then countersteer into the skid again to try to regain traction and control.

The traction control and stability control on the truck is surprisingly good. After having driven with mine there is no way I would turn it off on ice. This truck is super slippery on ice without it and the stability control does a very good job of maintaining control when there's sufficient traction. When you completely lose traction there's nothing you can do or the truck can do.

 

In my gen2 I would have loved to turn TC and VSC off. Didn't work well at all and could have been a killer. The gen3 works really well and you're much better off and safer leaving it on.

 

I'm in Indiana and we actually have a lot of black ice out this morning. In my experience, if it's a large sheet, you're kinda just left with wherever your momentum takes you. But if it's broken I find getting off gas completely and gently pressing brake as to gingerly slow yourself down and avoid throwing yourself into a different direction if a wheel catches.. That's worked for me a couple times though I think the response to black ice is situational and often doomed to begin with.

 

Only thing I can add is that the speed at which you encounter the surprise ice is also a determining factor for how much control you will have and for how long.
I encountered almost the exact same situation several years ago in my first gen. Break up, warm days, freezing nights, on ramp under an overpass, black ice on the highway in the shade.
Hit the icy straight away in the shadow of the bridge doing 55-60 in 2hi trying to get to speed (65 mph). Ass end was out before I could do anything. Foot off the gas, hovering over the brake waiting for traction. Back of the truck went left, right, left and did a 180 across both lanes, winding up on the shoulder facing oncoming traffic on the left side of the highway within maybe 5-10 seconds.
Point the wheels where you want to go while you’re facing toward, try and keep them straight as you’re rotating on dry pavement. Brake lightly and slowly on ice then hard on pavement.

 

Why would you give it more throttle?

 

Same for me, a friend was driving in Indiana. Ended up 90 degrees to the lanes, across 2 lanes. Terrifying is borderline-understatement.

Acceleration does not help when driving on top of the snow (moving between lanes over those humps) or on ice.

 

Use the correct tires for the seasons conditions https://snowbrains.com/new-ice-grip-symbol-for-winter-tires/

 

From my experience with icy roads, your best bet is to let the truck do it's thing, ease off the throttle.... The Stability control will start applying the brakes to control the skid. By applying the throttle you override the Stability control and make things worse. A new vehicle is a learning experience for us stuck our way older drivers. Applying throttle is not the best way anymore.

 

Absolutely correct.