RE: Towing on Snow! What I ve learned...

[Joe Gleason]

 

 Last year we headed out... Pulled the snow tires off 2 days before leaving... As we started down the road a little light snow came in... Our first trip....
 
 
 Lesson 1:  Starting up - Slides sideways ...
 Missed a key highway change in Detroit so I got off the side road... With 2 inches of snow on the ground... I could barely get going forward on flat ground... when I did the car would slide off to the side following the lean in the road... Just barley making the next intersection before slidding against the curb...  
 
 Lesson 2:  Loosen the Sway control:
 I didn t know this.. Found out the hard way...  This being the first trip I was white nuckled about sway... Paranoid almost... Driving in one lane deep snow on I-75 our little snow storm settled in...
 
 As we rounded a corner - My wife asked why I was going into the left lane, I replied... " Prefer not to ... it doesn?t seem to be a choice right now" ... Knowing you can only turn so much at a time ... I just waited for it to turn...
 
 Turns out the sway tries to keep the car straight as much as the car tries to keep the trailer straight and on slippery conditions can make turning really hard... Turn it way back if you encounter slippery conditions!
 
 Lesson 3:  Uphill exit out of Truck Stop on 1 inch of Solid Ice:
 It can be done... It requires " just the right"  running speed...
 Not enough you ll get stuck and jackknife as you roll back... To much you ll go over... At least I had good experience on my side for that one... (I Ice drive an 8 wheel buggy - pulling stuff in the winter for fun)...
 
 Sooooo Why drive when it s snowing...... Like so many things... You just don t think it s going to keep getting worse....
 
 I find the HWY quite safe with lot s of snow as long as  you don t have to stop for gas... It snowed right into KY last year!   Ie.. If your stuck between getting off on road that are closed, and staying on a HWY ... Keep going ... Take your time and hope you have enough gas till the weather clears!
 
 Tempted to leave the snow tires on this trip!
 
 

[tlhdoc]

 Joe Gleason
Joe thanks for posting your lesson.
 
 I do have a couple of questions though.  When you " could barely get going forward on flat ground...when I did the car would slide off to the side following the lean in the road...Just barley making the next intersection before slidding against the curb..."  did you ever think you shouldn t be driving/towing in that kind of weather?   Why would you drive on 1 inch of ice?  Why not sit at the truck stop until the ice is melted by the hightway workers?

[Joe Gleason]

 Joe Gleason
The Truck Stop and it s connecting road had the 1 inch of Ice and full of trucks.
 
 The HWY was in much better shape... Still snowy and rutted by moving along @ 25MPH... And the weather report showed it to be something that was centralized.  So getting stuck on the HWY wasn t part of the plan...
 
 Yes, we could have stayed... Moving on didn t seem dangerous as much as it did potentially expensive...
 
 Dangerous is when you THINK coniditions are OK and your crusing along, that s when you DIE!    
 
 Like when it hasn t rained for 20 days, and you get a modest sprinkle... As dangerous as ICE as it lifts up the oil...

[AustinBoston]

 Joe Gleason
Lesson 4: Don t tow with front wheel drive in slippery conditions.
 
 Austin