Winter ballast

[gogmorgo]

Interestingly I saw this video come up last night. It basically provides evidence to the contrary of my last post, so I figured I’d share.

Dynamically the Amarok is a very different vehicle from the Comanche, with IFS and modern traction and stability control, and different weight distribution. They also chose to do the test on mud tires, probably because they confirmed they did the worst everywhere in a previous test and were hoping for the most dramatic results, and I wonder how the test would turn out with tires that had a modicum of traction somewhere.
But they did show slightly reduced braking performance with the added weight, which makes sense. They also show pretty clearly how big a difference 4x4 makes. But it would have been nice if they’d compared 4x4 loaded vs unloaded instead of just dropping in the 4x4 loaded run at the end for fun.

[Car Enthusiast]

I like to take the bed off and run helium in the tires and run wide open. Let the tail hang out in the turns.

[89 MJ]

1 hour ago, Car Enthusiast said:

I like to take the bed off and run helium in the tires and run wide open. Let the tail hang out in the turns.

Heck yeah! 

You couldn't even make it up our driveway in the snow though if you did that. It would be a great time in a parking lot though!

[derf]

One of the best phrases in the English language:

 

Throttle induced oversteer  

[87MJTIM]

I shovel the snow into the bed of my truck.  That way I have the weight on the axle.  As the snow melts, I lighten the bed load.  Pretty easy.

[Car Enthusiast]

7 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

Heck yeah! 

You couldn't even make it up our driveway in the snow though if you did that. It would be a great time in a parking lot though!

I'll take that bet. I spent a lot of years daily driving a 79 Camaro in the winter.

[gogmorgo]

3 hours ago, 87MJTIM said:

I shovel the snow into the bed of my truck.  That way I have the weight on the axle.  As the snow melts, I lighten the bed load.  Pretty easy.

Mine doesn’t melt out in any sort hurry so I usually try to shovel it out so I don’t need a jackhammer to bust out the glacier if I ever want to use the bed.

[89 MJ]

2 hours ago, Car Enthusiast said:

I'll take that bet. I spent a lot of years daily driving a 79 Camaro in the winter.

We had a 2wd S10 for a while. When we would get a snow/ice combo on our driveway (it’s a steep rural driveway), there were days the S10 could not get up it. And my dad grew up driving a 2wd V8 S10 with a 4 speed and a V8 4 speed swapped 81 El Camino. 

[Pete M]

just don't forget that a bag of sand can be used as a road surface traction aide in an ice emergency.  snow... not so much.  

[thecodemonk]

On 10/19/2011 at 11:14 AM, Pete M said:

snow tires are infinitely better than weight.

 

While true, at a certain tire size, snow tires become very limited in avaiability.  I do generally have a tire shop sipe the center blocks on my mud tires though and it helps.  Winter traction is all about how many "edges" you can get on the ground (which is why siping helps).

My wife's subaru, however...I put winter tires on that because I want them to have ALL the traction.  Gotta protect the wife and daughter.

 

On 12/15/2020 at 7:02 PM, Pete M said:

just don't forget that a bag of sand can be used as a road surface traction aide in an ice emergency.  snow... not so much.  

 

This is a handy underrated reminder of the benefits of that.  I need to get some fresh bags as the bags from last year are a bit frayed.  

[Pete M]

siping is half the equation.  a compound that stays super soft and pliable is the other half.  

 

I've had no trouble finding sizes in the 31" range, although availability is a whole 'nuther animal (especially is you wait until the snow flies to seek them out). 

[89 MJ]

My family runs a mild all terrain on all of our vehicles year round. We have a 2004 Suburban 2500 and a 2000 Silverado 2500 regular cab, longbed (our 2017 JKU has all seasons, but we haven't driven it in the snow yet). Both are 4wd, but they rarely are in 4wd (unless we are plowing with the 2500). We just accelerate slow and plan on long braking distances. Between those and knowing how to control a slide, none of us have wound up in the ditch yet.