How much weight to put at the back of truck to make it steady in snow

Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in snowy
region. One person has suggested to put some sand bags or cement bags
in the empty truck bed to make the truck steady during driving in
snow. He has all weather tires. How much weight needs to put in the
back of this truck? Did any member of this NG did this? With thanks in
advance.

arfam4 wrote:

>Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in snowy
>region. One person has suggested to put some sand bags or cement bags
>in the empty truck bed to make the truck steady during driving in
>snow. He has all weather tires. How much weight needs to put in the
>back of this truck? Did any member of this NG did this? With thanks in
>advance.
>
>
Usually a couple of 75# sand bags behind the rear wheels is
enough. Of course, those "All Weather" tires just won't cut it in real
snow. Get some Michelin LTX M/S tires for the rear at least.

--
..boB
97 H-D FXDWG - Turbocharged!!
01 Dakota Quad Sport, 5.9/Auto/4x4
83 GMC Jimmy (beater)
66 427SC Cobra Replica - Project
66 Mustang coupe - Daily Driver



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> Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in
> snowy region. One person has suggested to put some sand
> bags or cement bags in the empty truck bed to make the truck
> steady during driving in snow. He has all weather tires. How
> much weight needs to put in the back of this truck?

Idealy you would want a 50/50 split in weight front and rear.... That
would probably leave the back end riding low though with all that weight.

> Did any member of this NG did this?

I drive a 2001 Silverado 2500HD 4x4.... Adding 500 pounds to the bed
made no difference. Of course, it's got a torque pumping diesel motor and I
have a heavy foot.... =)

Mike

Roughly 1/6/04 21:04, arfam4's monkeys randomly typed:

> Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in snowy
> region. One person has suggested to put some sand bags or cement bags
> in the empty truck bed to make the truck steady during driving in
> snow. He has all weather tires. How much weight needs to put in the
> back of this truck? Did any member of this NG did this? With thanks in
> advance.

He may want to invest in something like a Pirelli Scorpion A/T
or Michelin LTX A/T tire for that thing to keep the rounded end
pointed forwards on snow.

One problem with putting sandbags in the back is that they
slide forward hard the first time you hit the brakes on
dry pavement. However, the sand in them does come in
handy when those all weather tires get you stuck in snow.

For snow you need snow tires. Adding 3-400 lbs of sand in
the back won't make an all season tire a snow tire.


--
Fan of the dumbest team in America.

with my 2001 2500HD 4x4 I noticed improvement with a few hundred pounds of
extra weight.
"Mike Borkhuis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in
> > snowy region. One person has suggested to put some sand
> > bags or cement bags in the empty truck bed to make the truck
> > steady during driving in snow. He has all weather tires. How
> > much weight needs to put in the back of this truck?
>
> Idealy you would want a 50/50 split in weight front and rear.... That
> would probably leave the back end riding low though with all that weight.
>
> > Did any member of this NG did this?
>
> I drive a 2001 Silverado 2500HD 4x4.... Adding 500 pounds to the bed
> made no difference. Of course, it's got a torque pumping diesel motor and
I
> have a heavy foot.... =)
>
> Mike
>
>

You don't say where you live - makes a big difference. I noticed a strong
like of the Mich AT or M/S tires in the replies. From my experience, if you
are living in real snow country, get yourself a for real set of dedicated
snow tires (and maybe a spare set of cheap rims from the junk yard - so all
you have to do is switch rims each season). I ran some Kleber (sp?) and
they would go anywhere - when I lived in snow. I personally have found that
dedicated snow tires - in particular if you can find some good European or
Scandinavian ones in your size) are much better than combination tires -
they are designed to stay soft in cold weather - which is why you don't want
to run them year round.

Don


"arfam4" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in snowy
> region. One person has suggested to put some sand bags or cement bags
> in the empty truck bed to make the truck steady during driving in
> snow. He has all weather tires. How much weight needs to put in the
> back of this truck? Did any member of this NG did this? With thanks in
> advance.

> with my 2001 2500HD 4x4 I noticed improvement with a few hundred
> pounds of extra weight.

Like I mentioned, with the power of the Duramax and my heavy foot it
didn't seem to matter.... The truck performs better in 4 wheel drive with
the empty bed.

Mike

Don wrote:
>
> You don't say where you live - makes a big difference. I noticed a strong
> like of the Mich AT or M/S tires in the replies. From my experience, if you
> are living in real snow country, get yourself a for real set of dedicated
> snow tires (and maybe a spare set of cheap rims from the junk yard - so all
> you have to do is switch rims each season). I ran some Kleber (sp?) and
> they would go anywhere - when I lived in snow. I personally have found that
> dedicated snow tires - in particular if you can find some good European or
> Scandinavian ones in your size) are much better than combination tires -
> they are designed to stay soft in cold weather - which is why you don't want
> to run them year round.

I used to run an old set of Klebers on my FWD VW and it was unstoppable. They used a special hydrophillic rubber compound that really gripped compact snow and ice. They finally dies after about 15 seasons, rubber dried out and cracked and the steel
belts broke. I think Michelin bought Kleber a number of years ago and I've not seen the tires available in the US any more.

--
Roger

Fletcher wrote:

> with my 2001 2500HD 4x4 I noticed improvement with a few hundred pounds of
> extra weight.
> "Mike Borkhuis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>>Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in
>>>snowy region. One person has suggested to put some sand
>>>bags or cement bags in the empty truck bed to make the truck
>>>steady during driving in snow. He has all weather tires. How
>>>much weight needs to put in the back of this truck?
>>
>> Idealy you would want a 50/50 split in weight front and rear.... That
>>would probably leave the back end riding low though with all that weight.
>>
>>
>>>Did any member of this NG did this?
>>
>> I drive a 2001 Silverado 2500HD 4x4.... Adding 500 pounds to the bed
>>made no difference. Of course, it's got a torque pumping diesel motor and
>
> I
>
>>have a heavy foot.... =)
>>
>>Mike
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
Adding weight to the rear of a 4x4 doesn't help much as you are simply
transfering some of the weight of the front drive wheels and adding it
to the rear wheels while increasing the mass that must be accelerated
and controlled. Adding weight to the rear of a 2WD transfers weight off
of the non-driving front wheels.

With a 4x4 truck you are normally in 2wd aka rwd most of the time.
Adding weight to the back improves the traction of a normally front
heavy pickup considerably. This allows you to start up from a light in
snowy conditions without spinning the tires or fishtailling without
needing 4wd and the drivetrain windup and steering issues that brings
when there is patchy snow and dry spots on the road. With my Chev 3500
dually I use 1,000# of concrete blocks which helps tremendously and
still leaves plenty of capacity for cargo when needed. For a F150 srw
500# is probably plenty.

W.P.


Rob Munach wrote:
>
> Fletcher wrote:
>
> > with my 2001 2500HD 4x4 I noticed improvement with a few hundred pounds of
> > extra weight.
> > "Mike Borkhuis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >
> >>>Hi! My son has a Ford 4x2 F150 Supercab truck. He lives in
> >>>snowy region. One person has suggested to put some sand
> >>>bags or cement bags in the empty truck bed to make the truck
> >>>steady during driving in snow. He has all weather tires. How
> >>>much weight needs to put in the back of this truck?
> >>
> >> Idealy you would want a 50/50 split in weight front and rear.... That
> >>would probably leave the back end riding low though with all that weight.
> >>
> >>
> >>>Did any member of this NG did this?
> >>
> >> I drive a 2001 Silverado 2500HD 4x4.... Adding 500 pounds to the bed
> >>made no difference. Of course, it's got a torque pumping diesel motor and
> >
> > I
> >
> >>have a heavy foot.... =)
> >>
> >>Mike
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Adding weight to the rear of a 4x4 doesn't help much as you are simply
> transfering some of the weight of the front drive wheels and adding it
> to the rear wheels while increasing the mass that must be accelerated
> and controlled. Adding weight to the rear of a 2WD transfers weight off
> of the non-driving front wheels.

"Pete C." schrieb:

> With a 4x4 truck you are normally in 2wd aka rwd most of the time.
> Adding weight to the back improves the traction of a normally front
> heavy pickup considerably. This allows you to start up from a light in
> snowy conditions without spinning the tires or fishtailling without
> needing 4wd and the drivetrain windup and steering issues that brings
> when there is patchy snow and dry spots on the road. With my Chev 3500
> dually I use 1,000# of concrete blocks which helps tremendously and
> still leaves plenty of capacity for cargo when needed. For a F150 srw
> 500# is probably plenty.
>
> W.P.

Right.
I always carry my heavy wooden toolbox (round 90kg) and some other nice handy
stuff with me in my BJ42. This green gherkin has a very light backend always
wanting to overtake in fast turns. Winter DOES make this issue more critical.

Axel

Hey - thanks Roger - I always wondered what happened to the Klebers -
haven't seen them for quite a while. Thanks for confirming my comment that
they were unstoppable. I had a front wheel drive car VW Scirocco at the
time, and lived in a rental property where the driveway sloped away from the
road and the driveway was always covered with a sheet of glare ice. With
regular tires, I had to push the car out every day. After I put the Klebers
on (at the recommendation of Eurotire store in New Jersey - don't know if
they are in business still) the car drove out as if it were on dry pavement.
They woud go anywhere and I had great glee at watching all the 4-wd's stuck
spinning with their all terrains while I drove through the snow and ice as
if it wasn't even there. Sure sold me on dedicated snow tires. I'm really
sorry to hear that Michelin bought them and they are no longer available. A
friend of mine recommended some Scandinavian snow tires just recently that
he said would do as well as the Klebers. If I run into him again, I'll ask
him again what the name of the tires are and post it for everyone.

Have fun playing in the snow.
Don

"Roger Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Don wrote:
> >
> > You don't say where you live - makes a big difference. I noticed a
strong
> > like of the Mich AT or M/S tires in the replies. From my experience, if
you
> > are living in real snow country, get yourself a for real set of
dedicated
> > snow tires (and maybe a spare set of cheap rims from the junk yard - so
all
> > you have to do is switch rims each season). I ran some Kleber (sp?) and
> > they would go anywhere - when I lived in snow. I personally have found
that
> > dedicated snow tires - in particular if you can find some good European
or
> > Scandinavian ones in your size) are much better than combination tires -
> > they are designed to stay soft in cold weather - which is why you don't
want
> > to run them year round.
>
> I used to run an old set of Klebers on my FWD VW and it was unstoppable.
They used a special hydrophillic rubber compound that really gripped compact
snow and ice. They finally dies after about 15 seasons, rubber dried out
and cracked and the steel
> belts broke. I think Michelin bought Kleber a number of years ago and
I've not seen the tires available in the US any more.
>
> --
> Roger