Winter p/u weight

[trailertrash]

Trying to come up with a cheap ,easy , safe weight to put in the back of the supreme commanders 4wd ranger .I know why it's 4wd but I don't want her driving in 4wd from oct.-mar. Really, really, does'nt like slickery roads.I don't want her driving around with a bedfull of potential projectiles. Anybody run a little p/u in the winter ? how bad are they?I have zero experience with this wannabee size truck. Suggestions for the amount of weight?

 

[PhilNH5]

I had a 2WD Mazda PU (rebadged Ranger) when I moved to NH 4 winters ago. The first 2 winters I filled the bed with firewood. Last 2 winters I used rocks as firewood was to expensive. I only got stuck once - 1/2 mile from home in an ice storm. But like you I worried about the wood or stones becoming projectiles in an accident.
I brought a Dakota 4WD in the summer just for that reason. I posted questions here about it. Someone - Franz I believe - said they used large tractor or truck tires in the bed for added weight. Lots of weight and little to no chance the tire would come through the window like firewood in the event of an accident.

Phil

 

[Egon]

About 4/5 hundred pounds of sand placed over the back wheels , held in position by 2x4 lumber and covered by a sheet of cheap plywood has worked for some in the past. Leave's the truck bed very usable.

On construction sites with 3/4 tons we often used a sheet of 3/8 steel in the back. That worked well too.


Egon

 

[I_am_the_Walrus]

Get some bank run sand or sand and fill acouple of feed sacks and or 1 and put in the bed next to the cab ahead of the fenders ,do not put blocks or loose items in bed....if you have a wreck the impact could send them flying through your back glass and injure someone....

 

[Thomas]

Burlap bags work pretty good fill w/ sand..2 bags around 60# each..one for each rear tire,also comes in handy if you should need sand for traction at some point.

 

[WVBill]

I have a Ram 1500. For extra winter traction, I cut a piece of 5/8" exterior plywood to fit in the area from the wheel wells back to the tailgate (about 2'). I screwed a piece of 2X6 on edge to the front edge ot the plywood. The 2X6 fits the whole width of the bed. Lay this in the bed and it can't slide forward because of the 2X and wheel wells and it can't slide back because of the tailgate. On the plywood, I lay 4 sacks of Quickcrete "Tube Sand" from Home Depot. Tube Sand is a plastic/poly mesh sack of sand that is about 6" in diameter and 2 1/2 feet long. Weighs 60 lbs per sack so I get about 240lbs of extra weight for traction. Pretty easy to remove if I need the full length of the truck bed flat for hauling something.

 

[hazmat]

Something to keep in mind. While extra weight will give extra traction force, it also requries more braking force to stop in the same distance, so the net result is you don't stop any better.

Another option to consider is snow tires. Several non-studded options available these days. check <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tirerack.com>tirerack</A>. Snow tires will help her go & stop. Also less wear and tear on the truck vs. carrying around an extra 500# for 1/2 the year.

 

[markct]

another thing that my father always did was fill the bed of his truck with snow, it is heavy, cheap, and if you have to carry something with the truck you can simply take the snow out and dispose of it almost anywhere. it wont come thru the window and kill you in a crash, it will usualy melt around the time that you dont need it anymore too. also most of the time after a slippery storm the bed is half full of it anyhow

 

[fishman]

You could always do like I did and move south./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

What we have used is: 2 2x6's one in front of the wheel house one behind lag bolted together with 2 more 2x6's (L brackets) along the sides of the wheel houses approx. 200lbs+ of kids play sand with plastic to help keep dry. If its icy and could use some more traction take some sand out for the tires and in the spring use it in the grand kids sand box, everything is also light enough to lift out by one person. if you put the weight against the cab you would have to have more weight for the same effect if you put it by the tail gate it can act like a pendulmn and keep the tail going around if it breaks loose. The key is the weight over the axle.

another .02

Tony