2WD truck in snow country

I have a friend who has a 90 F150. He lives in the hills so there are no plows. He uses 5 60LB bags of sand. These bags are in 3 foot long tubes not made of paper but from woven nylon. He lays them by the gate, not over the axle. He also has a large cap that adds weight. Toss on 4 mud tires and there aren't many places he can't go.

I own a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Short Bed 2WD it's nearly in mint condition I'm the only owner. It has street tires for a quite and comfortable ride. It never goes out in the snow. Also own a 1985 Jeep CJ7 Laredo that is nearly stock, 6cyl bigger rims and mud/snow tires. That's my winter vehicle and it's never been stuck.

Over 30 years ago, when I lived in snow country, I used to buy 50lb bags of salt. Put them in the back of my van, and had no problems. Used the salt to help when I did get stuck, or if someone else needed it. I liked the salt better than the sand, because it worked better for me.

That's fine as long as the salt doesn't leak into your bed or you have you bed coated like a Rhino bed. Otherwise you'll start corrosion and ruing the back end of your truck.

A lot of people around here put a tube of sand over each rear wheel. I bought those one year and the sun and weather ate up the plastic and they split. I *think* these paper bags of concrete mix will absorb moisture from the snow and set-up (I know it wont set up very strong) and I can use them again next year. I stacked 2 on each side of the bed behind the tire wells. If I get in a wreck, they shouldn't come flying thru the back window like concrete block might. If I get stuck, but not too stuck, I can put the gate down and stack them on that to take more weight off the front and put it on the back.

That's the theory anyway. :-) If I had a little more faith in it, I'd slice the bags open, mix in some water, and duct-tape them back up.

When I had an old rust-bucket Chevy C20, I carried about 3000 lb of firewood around with me in the winter. (well, it started out about

-Bob

I think you get a little more weight if the tubes are back behind the axle as far as they can go. It's a leverage thing. Just think of it as if the truck had a long enough bed you could push down and life the front off the ground like a teeter totter.

That's why I put the weight behind the rear axle. The bags are stacked lengthwise against the sides all the way at the back against the tailgate (because they are out of the way stacked that direction.) I could move them a little farther back by putting them crosswise. Or by lowering the gate and stacking them on it but I'm not sure that's a good idea -- what if a support cable broke while I was on the highway. ==(8-O

-Bob

Yeah no need to put them on the tail gate. Parallel to the tailgate is as far back as you need for safety's sake. If you feel you need more add some more bags. I have a friend who collects trash in a F450 Ford. I think he uses around 500LB. He's out in the sticks so he has to deal with a lot of snow and ice and hilly terrain. I mentioned to him that he should move his weight back and he said it does make a little difference when he's empty.

I should probably let some air out of the tires too for a better footprint. Currently running 60 in the front and 55 in the back. (215/85/16D's) Maybe drop it to 45 lbs all around.

-Bob