Winter weights for a pickup

[aczlan]

My wife drives a '97 Dodge 1500 4x4 with the regular cab and a 8' bed, the back end of that truck is quite light, and often squirrelly in the show/ice, I have been thinking (to add weight) of taking a couple of old tires from her truck and filling them with concrete (leaving some pieces of something poking out to act as lifting eyes) and putting them in the bed of the truck, this would give her a bunch of weight, it would be somewhat padded by the tires, it wouldn't freeze in a odd shaped mass like tube sand tends to and it would be easy to move around with the FEL in the summer.
I could probably get some bags of tube sand, but I figure that if I can fit 2 80# bags of concrete in each tire, I will be at 320 lbs between the two tires, which would be easier strap down and keep still than than 5-6 bags of tube sand.

am I off base here? any suggestions?

Thanks

Aaron Z

 

[2COR517]

I think that's a great idea. A scrap of plywood to cover the hole. You would need to split it to get it inside the tire. A piece of rebar in a U would be good for lifting. You should make up some sort of frame to keep the weight from sliding forward, right over the rear wheels.

 

[EastTexFrank]

Wish I'd thought of that.

When I worked up in the mountains in Oklahoma during the winter, I used to use 6 sacks of sand in the bed, between the wheels. It was surprising how much better the truck rode, even on dry pavement. In the spring I'd add the sand to my garden in Dallas, where we were on black gumbo, and till it in.

 

[LBrown59]

I've heard adding weight in the bed is not a good idea .
Can cause fishtailing or something like that i think it was.

 

[aczlan]

I've heard adding weight in the bed is not a good idea .
Can cause fishtailing or something like that i think it was.

well, atm the truck wont go up a snowy driveway without kicking it into 4x4, it just sits and spins, so it is in need of some more weight over the back tires. there isn't anything in the bed most of the time, not even a toolbox, so weight is needed.

Aaron Z

P.S. This is post # 300 yee haw

 

[Travelover]

Be careful to securely fasten any weights in the pickup bed. Years ago I had a Ranger pickup and I used those sand tubes that they sell at big box stores. I didn't realize they had enough moisture to freeze into solid chunks. One got loose and slid into the back of the bed on a panic stop and put a nice dent in the sheet metal. I can't imagine what it would have done in a collision.

That 4x2 Ranger took about 400# to really make it drivable in Michigan winters.

 

[Northland]

That's a great idea Aaron! I think I will try that too.

I have a Tacoma 4x4 with severe weather/winter rated Dunlop ATV tires on it and it is still not good in the snow or on the highway here without weight in the back.

I had a cap (200 lbs) on the truck as I use to transport my two Great Danes (310 lbs) with me everywhere but they both died this year That weight made the truck fine in the winter.

I hated the cap as it ruined my visibility so I took it off after my last Dane died. I had three 60 lb each sand bags left over from my old truck so yesterday I threw them in the bed. They were frozen solid and must have weighed 100 lbs each. After driving around awhile I remembered how they would slide around in the back bed and bang around.

 

[Egon]

The weight in the back is a good idea and will do wonders to for winter traction.

 

[nate_m]

I use 10 x 40lb bags of crushed gravel. Secured in place by a 2x4. I noticed much improved traction in my Dodge Ram.
In the Spring, the gravel is used to fill in any pot-holes that have formed in the driveway.

 

[Foothill Rancher]

The company I worked for installed a sheet of quarter inch diamond plate in the beds, just enough weight and left the bed open and protected.
Only had to buy it once and was moved from truck to truck.
For safety reasons make sure it's bolted to the frame.