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PSA: Stay safe out there folks. Share and discuss cold weather driving, maintenance, home/personal safety tips here.

Blue Sky Country

Urban Cowboy
Full Member
Minuteman
  • current-temperature.png


    Most concerning is that places not regularly subject to these kinds of temperatures are getting gut punched right now.

    WATCH THOSE WATER PIPES. Even for people acclimatized to brutally cold temperatures, plumbing often becomes a pain in the ass. And other pieces of technology post-1890s start getting fucky as well. I remember in northern China during vicious cold spells when diesel fuel would freeze. Turn that truck off? It ain't starting tomorrow...
     
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    Must be global warnings fault. 🤣🤣🤣🤣


    Doc


    Recent ground-shattering study by based and no-nonsense scientists have determined that the planet is actually undergoing a periodic "cleansing" cycle right now, and that all we humans have accomplished since the Industrial Revolution have still not made a tiny pindrop of influence on the planet's natural functions, whether positive or negative. Earth can merely give a hiccup and we would be wiped clean off of it and the biosphere restarts without as much as a blink...
     
    Winter. One of the very few times I don’t want to move out of CA.
     
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    Reactions: Maggot
    Don’t worry, I would leave all of my state’s wackiness far behind. Still, the weather’s pretty nice 👍
     
    I’m in Ft Worth area. I work 2nd shift. Driving home tonight I saw exactly how 100 car pileups happen. It is 23 degrees and misting. I was doing 60 and a bit nervous at that. People were flying by me some had to be doing 80. I didn’t encounter any slick spots but this is the kind of ass fuckery that gets people killed 😡
     
    Recent ground-shattering study by based and no-nonsense scientists have determined that the planet is actually undergoing a periodic "cleansing" cycle right now, and that all we humans have accomplished since the Industrial Revolution have still not made a tiny pindrop of influence on the planet's natural functions, whether positive or negative. Earth can merely give a hiccup and we would be wiped clean off of it and the biosphere restarts without as much as a blink...


    I took a leak in the ocean and, I swear, it got warmer......
     
    I giggle about all the fuckers down in south TX shivering at 32 degrees. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

    This could play hell with fruit orchards across the country. We are 6a and looking at a couple of -20 zone 5 nights. I have been icing ups couple zone 6 trees I have and getting the frost blankets ready to wrap them. I put about a foot of mulch on some three year old gladiolas that aren't supposed to over winter here. I forgot to do the amaryllis. I will right now. We will see, this winter might kill some trees.
     
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    I learned to drive in 6" of snow and ice so its no big deal but the other idiots on the road are a true hazard.

    Rules:
    +1-Avoid driving unless necessary.
    1-Slow down
    2-Slow the fuck down
    3-Pray and stay off the phone, focus on wtf your doing.
    4-If you hit and icy spot and start to slide DONT TOUCH THE BRAKE, DONT TOUCH THE GAS, steer into the skid until youre back in control.
    5-Carry a spare set of underwear and pants.
     
    I learned to drive in 6" of snow and ice so its no big deal but the other idiots on the road are a true hazard.

    Rules:
    +1-Avoid driving unless necessary.
    1-Slow down
    2-Slow the fuck down
    3-Pray and stay off the phone, focus on wtf your doing.
    4-If you hit and icy spot and start to slide DONT TOUCH THE BRAKE, DONT TOUCH THE GAS, steer into the skid until youre back in control.
    5-Carry a spare set of underwear and pants.

    Slow the MOTHERFUCK down!!

    I’m in NW Louisiana, and we’re expecting single digit temps, 5 degrees, and a possibility of 12” of snow before it’s all over. This will be crippling for us in the South. It’s gonna be a long week.

    7CE106C0-3AFE-4068-9D1C-4E4B18B707D5.jpeg
     
    I spent my childhood in the sahara desert, No snow nor ice there.
    I learned to drive in Georgia, Not much ice or snow here.
    I went to school in Miami, there in 96 and there was ice on South Beach. roads were fine.
    Now back in georgia for the last 20 years and find I need to go places when the weather does turn to shit. I have driven in the snow and ice here and been ok. My cars were basically disposable.
    I have a question, bearing in mind what I mentioned above, where does one put chains on a four wheel drive when one MUST go somewhere and there is ice covered with snow on the ground? How do I use chains on a 4x4 pickup? A Ford Ranger if it makes a difference. Do I put them on the front and use 4 high? Do I put them on the back and use 4 high or 2 wd? Do I put them on all four wheels and use 4 high? Do I invest in a Sherman tank?
    Last time I had to pick up my daughter when it snowed and the school was cancelled. They had to quit running busses due to ice and busses in ditches. Her school is about 5 miles away so I used my 54 Ford NAA tractor with a box I built on the back and went and got her and some of her friends. They thought it was great fun, Going by $500,000 houses with a rust and dirt covered tractor got us some looks. Warmed up for a bit at the school before heading home. Would freeze my red neck ass off if I had to go further.
     
    I spent my childhood in the sahara desert, No snow nor ice there.
    I learned to drive in Georgia, Not much ice or snow here.
    I went to school in Miami, there in 96 and there was ice on South Beach. roads were fine.
    Now back in georgia for the last 20 years and find I need to go places when the weather does turn to shit. I have driven in the snow and ice here and been ok. My cars were basically disposable.
    I have a question, bearing in mind what I mentioned above, where does one put chains on a four wheel drive when one MUST go somewhere and there is ice covered with snow on the ground? How do I use chains on a 4x4 pickup? A Ford Ranger if it makes a difference. Do I put them on the front and use 4 high? Do I put them on the back and use 4 high or 2 wd? Do I put them on all four wheels and use 4 high? Do I invest in a Sherman tank?
    Last time I had to pick up my daughter when it snowed and the school was cancelled. They had to quit running busses due to ice and busses in ditches. Her school is about 5 miles away so I used my 54 Ford NAA tractor with a box I built on the back and went and got her and some of her friends. They thought it was great fun, Going by $500,000 houses with a rust and dirt covered tractor got us some looks. Warmed up for a bit at the school before heading home. Would freeze my red neck ass off if I had to go further.
    Usually chains are put on the front on a 4x4, if not on all four. Use high in all but the worst conditions, if you have to use low keep it slow or you can burn up the gears.
     
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    Chains on the rear and use 4wd High. If you need chains on all 4 wheels you're in some serious shit.

    4Low shouldn't be used unless you're climbing or pulling. On ice and snow you don't want that extra torque to the wheels.
     
    @Porksboy

    Do you have good tires on your truck? Use 4x4 high and go slow. Lots of room, 4x the time to slow down. 4x4 low is if you are stuck or pulling someone out. Few other times, but thats it for slick.
    I only would used chains if absolutely necessary, like you ran out of whisky or bacon.
    I used chains a lot to help control and drive very heavy fire engines in the CO mountains, up passes and such. I would avoid at all costs unless lives depend on it.

    Find a slick place with no people or cars (empty parking lot) to go slide around and learn how it handles. Thats how we all got our first lessons in driving a rear wheel drive on ice and snow where I grew up.
     
    if you're driving a FWD or AWD in snow, you need your foot on the gas not the brake to turn.

    Depends upon the nature of the 4WD/AWD system - how the various differentials and couplings distribute torque, how the system is calibrated, etc.

    Part-time 4WD systems require throttle mid-corner; attempting to coast will cause terminal understeer and is a great way to drive straight off the road. "Slow in, fast out" is the mantra. Note that the presence of absence of a limited-slip as well as the specific type may cause different cornering characteristics on and off the throttle (Gov-Lock and TrueTrac users, raise your hand).

    Full-time AWD systems may or may not behave similarly, depending upon how they provide torque bias across the center diff and the amount of traction available.

    Active couplings will behave differently depending upon a number of factors. The coupling in the wife's AWD Ford Flex will stay open until the front wheels spin, then it locks in about a second (not at all fast by the standards of modern systems). The result is a bit of understeer, then some oversteer, then relatively neutral handling if the driver stays in the throttle. If the driver gets spooked by that bit of oversteer, they'll jump off the throttle, then the coupling disengages due to lack of wheelspin, and you're back to a FWD. A modern electrohydraulic coupling that is reacting well within the driver's bandwidth (response times from open to fully closed around 100ms) are going to work faster than the average driver can perceive and will be mostly seamless in their operation.

    Then we've got stuff like torque vectoring (either a proper laterally torque biasing diff, or systems that convincingly fake it using the brakes). These systems can be calibrated to provide understeer, oversteer, or perfectly neutral behavior right up to the physical limits of the tires. Some of these systems are calibrated to be very user-friendly and will merely reduce understeer up to about 9/10ths, then gracefully transition to large amounts of understeer until the vehicles slows down or the driver reduces steering input. This is a bit frustrating to an experienced driver, but safe. Then you've got some systems which will provide dead-neutral handling right up to the limit, and then - surprise! - there is no more grip to be had and you've gone from driving to going for a ride.

    The bottom line is to learn your vehicle's handling quirks. Don't mistake low-speed stuff in a parking lot or traffic circle for what happens at speed. And learn to interpret what the tires and road are communicating.
     
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    I cannot emphasize enough what a difference winter tires makes. I was never a believer until stationed in Germany where it was mandatory after November. Now, back in America, both dailies have a set, and the truck has a set of chains.

    But my all-seasons are just fine... No. No, they are not.


    Most would be blown away how much safer you are in bad conditions when you have good winters. It's also strange to me to see people here in KY driving as fast as I felt comfortable on winters the other night, but then again I came across 4 accidents in a 40 minute drive.
     
    I spent my childhood in the sahara desert, No snow nor ice there.
    I learned to drive in Georgia, Not much ice or snow here.
    I went to school in Miami, there in 96 and there was ice on South Beach. roads were fine.
    Now back in georgia for the last 20 years and find I need to go places when the weather does turn to shit. I have driven in the snow and ice here and been ok. My cars were basically disposable.
    I have a question, bearing in mind what I mentioned above, where does one put chains on a four wheel drive when one MUST go somewhere and there is ice covered with snow on the ground? How do I use chains on a 4x4 pickup? A Ford Ranger if it makes a difference. Do I put them on the front and use 4 high? Do I put them on the back and use 4 high or 2 wd? Do I put them on all four wheels and use 4 high? Do I invest in a Sherman tank?
    Last time I had to pick up my daughter when it snowed and the school was cancelled. They had to quit running busses due to ice and busses in ditches. Her school is about 5 miles away so I used my 54 Ford NAA tractor with a box I built on the back and went and got her and some of her friends. They thought it was great fun, Going by $500,000 houses with a rust and dirt covered tractor got us some looks. Warmed up for a bit at the school before heading home. Would freeze my red neck ass off if I had to go further.
    For heavens sake, add some weight to the back of your truck. They are notorious for not having adequate traction on slick surfaces. Some cinder blocks, sandbags, or whatever you have laying around that has weight.
     
    The rear diff is limited slip.
    The fron is locked when in any 4 wheel drive.
     
    I throw buckets of sand in the bed, just inside the tailgate and bekind the axel. I also strap them in place. I figgure if the weight isnt enough I can scatter the sand for some traction.
     
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    2008 Ranger and the front definately locks. I bought it used with some up grades coutesy of Uncle Sam and the COE.
     
    The rear diff is limited slip.
    The fron is locked when in any 4 wheel drive.

    Virtually all part-time 4WD vehicles have an open front diff. There are exceptions (Raptor with the optional front limited slip; Wrangler Rubicon with the e-locker, etc.) but they are exceptions to the rule.
     
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    For heavens sake, add some weight to the back of your truck. They are notorious for not having adequate traction on slick surfaces. Some cinder blocks, sandbags, or whatever you have laying around that has weight.

    Just think about what you put in the bed and how it's secured. Receiving a cement block to the head via the rear window is not going to make an accident any more fun.
     
    Yesterday was an eye opener.
    I got caught by circumstances I had not experienced in quite some time.
    it didnt get up to zero and I drove my Jetta TDI to work. Treated fuel, and that wasn’t the problem I don’t think. However I have a 4 year old battery. I didn’t leave work until after 7 and there were very few ppl still around. I ended up needing a jump and found myself walking then working under the hood with nothing but a parka over jeans and tennis shoes. Wind chill estimates were about -30f. By the time the car got started my legs were numb, ears were numb, my hands hurt, my ankles were in pain.
    Used to be I wouldn’t leave the house if there was a chance of bad weather without carharts, face mask stocking cap, insulated boots, wool mittens, water, candle, and energy bar. All I had last night was jumper cables and a cell phone, essentially.
    It all turned out ok, but I was pretty uncomfortable.
    It is -4 again, and snowing with wind chill around -20. Girl has archery meet in four hours. We won’t be unprepared this time.
     
    • Wow
    Reactions: OldSalty2
    if you're driving a FWD or AWD in snow, you need your foot on the gas not the brake to turn.
    Yeah, you stop the car with the pedal on the right, right?
     
    Virtually all part-time 4WD vehicles have an open front diff. There are exceptions (Raptor with the optional front limited slip; Wrangler Rubicon with the e-locker, etc.) but they are exceptions to the rule.
    Land cruiser option as well.
     
    Yesterday was an eye opener.
    I got caught by circumstances I had not experienced in quite some time.
    it didnt get up to zero and I drove my Jetta TDI to work. Treated fuel, and that wasn’t the problem I don’t think. However I have a 4 year old battery. I didn’t leave work until after 7 and there were very few ppl still around. I ended up needing a jump and found myself walking then working under the hood with nothing but a parka over jeans and tennis shoes. Wind chill estimates were about -30f. By the time the car got started my legs were numb, ears were numb, my hands hurt, my ankles were in pain.
    Used to be I wouldn’t leave the house if there was a chance of bad weather without carharts, face mask stocking cap, insulated boots, wool mittens, water, candle, and energy bar. All I had last night was jumper cables and a cell phone, essentially.
    It all turned out ok, but I was pretty uncomfortable.
    It is -4 again, and snowing with wind chill around -20. Girl has archery meet in four hours. We won’t be unprepared this time.

    I do not run anything but AGM batteries in my diesel vehicles. They last long enough to more than offset the additional cost, and the performance helps those cold-blooded engines start better.
     
    I cannot emphasize enough what a difference winter tires makes. I was never a believer until stationed in Germany where it was mandatory after November. Now, back in America, both dailies have a set, and the truck has a set of chains.

    But my all-seasons are just fine... No. No, they are not.


    Most would be blown away how much safer you are in bad conditions when you have good winters. It's also strange to me to see people here in KY driving as fast as I felt comfortable on winters the other night, but then again I came across 4 accidents in a 40 minute drive.
    I second and third this. I daily drove a mustang gt in Colorado for several years. The first winter I was here I bought a good set of snow tires and took that car through some shit that a mustang gt had no business going through

    My car now and our current spare car are awd and have decent all-season tires on them that make a big difference as well.

    Remember kids, even if your vehicle has all of the technology, staying safe in poor road conditions is still about the contact patch with the road
     
    I encourage those who are inexperienced snow/ice drivers to find an empty parking lot to "play around".

    You will see how your car handles in bad conditions. Do a few donuts. Slam the brakes a few times and see what happens. Get the feeling for turns, accelerating, braking etc.

    Both fun and educational.

    Just dont hit anything or get busted lol.

    Carry some blankets in your vehicle, some extra socks and clothing too. Around here thats just par, but you just never know. I also carry tow straps, flares and some other shit as well.
     
    The fear mongering of the news knows no bonds. Maybe we need to shoot all of our oil at the sun to get it kick started again.
     
    People make such a fuss out of a little bit of cold and some slightly slippery roads.

    Been around -15C here for the past month, haven't had any noticeable snow recently, inch or so over the past week. Have about 4 foot atm.

    Just have decent tyres and don't be a dumb ass.
    Admittedly a significant portion of the population here go into complete panic from September to April, much to my chagrin...
     
    mostly applies to wet slush and not ice, if you are going around a corner and start to slide in slush and have a heavier longer wheelbase vehicle giving it more gas can help if you do it right
     
    The fear mongering of the news knows no bonds. Maybe we need to shoot all of our oil at the sun to get it kick started again.

    Nah man it aint fear mongering. Sun cycles are actual science and humans have been observing for a very long time. There is strong correlation to solar activity and temperature on earth. It just so happens the sun is in a down cycle of output...as reflected by sun spot activity. Id argue the fear is that the earth is getting warmer...but going into a deep freeze for a few years would cause much much more havoc.
     
    Oh and watch those pets. Our furry friends get cold too!

    And to the jackasses that chain doggo outside in this shit, you are a fucktard.
    Two of mine are laying in front of the fire right now, the other is curled up in bed.
     
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    Oh and watch those pets. Our furry friends get cold too!

    And to the jackasses that chain doggo outside in this shit, you are a fucktard.
    Agreed, except my wolfdogs really prefer to be outside unless its raining. Snow, they love it.
     

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