Originally posted by packman
what about the characteristics of the trailer? does it want to push, fishtail, etc. even before any emergency moves like hard braking?
It depends on a few factors:
1) Track of the trailer, do the trailer tires follow in the ruts left by the truck?
2) Snow consistancy, 4" of wet heavy stuff is more challenging than 4" of dry light snow.
3) Trailer weight, as mentioned above, the higher the trailer weight to truck weight ratio, the greater chances are of little things becomming big things.
4) 4 x 4, if it looks like I might encounter snow, the lever goes into 4 hi. I engage the front axle as needed, any slickness on the road = needed. It is much more helpful to have the front axle pulling when towing that when not. I had a couple "exciting" moments pulling the same trailer with a 2 wheel drive versus 4 wheel drive truck.
5) Dually! It doesn't take much to swing the back of a nondually compared to a dually. I had a friend screaming over the radio to "KEEP IT ON THE ROAD!!!" before I saw that the trailer had lost an axle and swung across the passing lane. The truck never tried to swing or pull, it was in 4x4 and we were traveling about 50 mph on snow covered roads.
The best advise is to follow the advise above. Slow down, NO CRUISE CONTROL, keep the radio volume low enough to hear what the engine is doing and pay attention to the road conditions, they can change a lot in a few miles.
Last edited: