What happens when you take a powerstroke and a duramax and put them behind a dodge...

[Cowboy Medic]

..... on a snowy road???



You get a guy in a power stroke who wants to show how good his truck is and so he passes you doing approximately 65 on a 55 highway that with the snow and ice you shouldn't be doing more than 40. Then the duramax must think that oh ho, we can beat that so he goes flying by even faster. Then the dodge guy thinks, I am staying away from these idiots and slows down even more. Then the duramax guy goes to pull in front of the ford and loses control and the duramax goes into one ditch, the ford goes in the other. Meanwhile the dumb dodge guy who "couldn't keep up" stops and checks on them, conscience just wouldn't let me keep driving. Both are ok, but they are gonna need a few weeks in the body shop, both are drivable, but I don't think either has much straight sheet metal on one side and a significant amount of front end damage to both. So I call on my cell phone and get a tow truck out there, of course it is a powerstroke as well. I don't think the guy knew what he was doing cause he hooked up his cable and very quickly pulled himself into the ditch, hitting the duramax and destroying the tailgate and box sides. I hooked up a tow strap and pulled him back out and then pulled the first ford out ( I had some chains I threw on my tires during this). At this point the duramax was no longer drivable so they sent a rollback for him. So now here I sit at home, warm and comfortable with my slow dodge safely in the garage and warm as well. Meanwhile those other two are definitely gonna get somewhere faster than me..... The body shop. Sure am glad I couldn't keep up. And yes I do empathize because I have been in accidents too, however I didn't get in mine by driving dangerously in already dangerous conditions and putting others lives needlessly at risk. Too many years working on an ambulance and cleaining up those kinds of messes. People need to think before they act. Of course like I told someone else just last night, stupid people are job security for EMS.



Drive safe. Drive smart.



Jon

 

[Doc Tinker]

It always amazes me how many accidents there are during the first snow. Everyone seems to forget how to drive in snow after a few months.



I take it easy on snow and ice, because I don't like wasting time waiting for a wrecker.



Doc

 

[Jeff Clark]

Everyone knows what happens when it ices up in Texas. I was at school one day in Feb. when an ice storm hit. I was heading down a four lane highway (2 each side) doing about 35 in 4wd. A guy passed me in a 2wd Chevy 1/2 ton doing between 50 and 60. I watched him lose control, cross the median, and otherwise went along for a ride for about a half mile. It was a long trip before he regained control. He pulled over (to clean his pants out I guess) and I just cruised on by at 35.

 

[dpuckett]

Here's another

When my ex and I were moving out to Colorado in March 99, we met that snow storm halfway across Kansas. Not too bad, if you went cautiously. We were in an Escort and a Chevy Celebrity, loaded with what we could pack into them. Going on I70 about 35-40 mph; Escort shuddered real bad on the snow above that. Had a white van come FLYING around us at 65+. Watched it go up the hill and around the curve out of sight. When we got there about 5 minutes later, there at the bottom of a 100 ft embankment was the white van, on its side, with what looked like 10 people out running around it; looked like you'd kicked an anthill. California plates, probably first snow.



When i lived in Colorado, we'd have wrecks in the snow all the time from people going too fast in their lightweight 4x4s- mostly out of staters). IF it snows about 8" or more, and IF there is a rut worn from trucks, and IF the snow has not turned to ice, I'll drive 45- 50 in 4x4, wiht PLENTY of distance around me. Otherwise, my limits are 35 on snow, 10-15 on a sheet of ice. I'm with Doc Tinker, I'd rather stay warm in my pickup, going a little slower, than stand in the cold wind waiting on a wrecker to pull himself into my pickup. My first drive on actual snow was real nice- I HAD TRACTION!!Oo. Growing up in southeast MO, you have either mud/ slick asphalt, or you had a sheet of ice. It snows, melts when the temp gets to 40, then refreezes.

 

[BNH4221]

for a differing point of view...

Don't you just hate the idiots that come out when it snows and do 15 MPH? Of course, they pull out right in front of you and force you to do their speed.

Makes me just want to ram them off into the woods.



Steve

Jess waitin for de white stuff... .

 

[Cowboy Medic]

Yeah I can agree, they can be just as dangerous. If you aren't comfortable and capable then you should not be driving either. That is another time where some common sense says if you are causing a problem then get out of the situation.

 

[willyslover]

... . OR refuse to put on chains when they have non snow tires or even all seasons... . then get stuck on off camber hills and then several stack up like cord wood on the hill... then get all ****** off and flip you off when you pass them all up maintaining a steady speed and momentum on around the stack up LOL happens all the time here as there is a ski area above me... . they EXPECT you to stop and get stuck also,



Or the locals who want to get that last 10K miles off their smooth tires going into snow season... .

 

[JyRO]

and another one...

I was approaching a 4 way stop sign on a 2 lane road. Another 2 lane crossed it at the 4 way stop. I'm driving responsibly, with not much traffic out. At this intersection (maybe many 4 ways are this way) its a little slicker within the area of the stop. Kind of like the heat from cars melt the snow and then it refreezes when they're not there. That's all I can think of.



Anyway, as I'm gingerly slowing to stop, I see another vehicle approaching the intersection from my left, but I thought they were going much too fast to stop for the intersection being its slick. So I stopped a little short of the normal place just for safety, and decide to make sure this car doesn't F it up.



Well, SHE did. She locked her brakes down with her front wheels cut all the way right (she had planned on turning onto the road I was on) and slid all the way through the intersection. Now get this ... this idiot lady waved and looked at me as she's sliding out of control through the intersection. Best I can figure, what must've been running through her mind was, "Thanks for not being a dumba$$ like me, or I would've collided with you. " I'm just glad she didn't regain traction in the intersection, and wind up cutting hard right and then ramming me. Some people...



I do like the original poster, and Doc. I just take it slow and easy, and enjoy the heat the heating system is putting in the cab.



- JyRO

 

[Briar Hopper]

You guys got snow already???!!! It's still 65 degrees here in the South !

 

[ProMac1K]

Re: and another one...

Originally posted by JyRO

Now get this ... this idiot lady waved and looked at me as she's sliding out of control through the intersection. Best I can figure, what must've been running through her mind was, "Thanks for not being a dumba$$ like me, or I would've collided with you. "- JyRO

LMFAO



I almost lost my brew when I read that and tried picturing it.



I happened to picture some mid-aged hippie lady all bundled up in a older Ford Taurus just gliding through the intersection giving you a thumbs up. Or maybe it was a number one. ???? N/M



:-laf :-laf :-laf



I've got to find a way to get more traction. These Big Foot Dual-Groove A/T's in the back just aren't cutting it by themselves in our 8". Truck spins around just as easy as my old 94 S10 ZR2 did, but at least it is intentionally. That S10 would just sit there and spin even if you didn't want it to. Thinking about adding some weight, and maybe go to some more aggressive tires or a whole new wheel/tire combo with only 4 tires instead of 6. Maybe that would help. I must say I am impressed with this trucks capabilities. When I bought it I thought it would just flat out suck in snow. But I love plowing through cuts of snow with it. Can barely even feel it. Also I can just sit there and walk through anything in 4Lo with no throttle. I Love It!!!

 

[Bill Lins]

Originally posted by Dl5treez

I was plowing snow this morning

In Margaritaville??? :--)

 

[Jeff H]

This year I bolted metal Plates to to bed for some traction. Enough to drop the bed an inch. Truck has too much weight on the front to push around in the winter.

 

[JohnE]

I always say "The worst snow flakes are the idiots behind the wheel!"



When someone blasts past me and later ends up in the ditch, I usually honk and wave at them.



My winter weight is a 4x8 raft of 6" timbers that I borrow from brother-in-law. He got three of them for free somewhere.



No snow up here. Shaping up to be another winter as the past three where the southern half gets it all.

 

[BNH4221]

Oh, and while we are at it...

I TRULY despise the people who cannot be bothered to clean off their cars. Looking thru a 2" x 2" peephole out the front window with 3 feet of snow on the rest of the car. Can't see the brake lights or directionals (as if they would ever use them).

Lazy, inconsiderate B*****ds. Should be a shoot on sight law for them.



I use 5 gallon joint compound pails full of sand/salt mixture snug up against the front of the bed. Use a 2x6 to hold it all in place. Good for weight and can use the sand/salt as traction if I need it.



Steve

No white stuff yet

 

[rbattelle]

I think most doofuses with 4wd think "I've got 4wd, so I can drive at normal speeds no matter the road conditions! I'm invincible!". Like others, I tend to keep it between 35 and 45 when conditions are bad, and try to keep my distance from other morons. But it never fails, people in little 4wd SUVs crawl up my tailgate and get angry at me for being safe.

 

[Cowboy Medic]

2wd or 4wd you still got the same number of brakes. Can't seem to get the logic to sink into most people though. A few years ago we had a wreck I worked where a young girl pulled out in front of a semi, she figured he could stop will all those extra tires he should have more brakes.



EMS has taught me two things



1. Generally people are stupid



2. If you're gonna be stupid, you'd better be tough.

 

[JyRO]

My figgerin' bout 4WD...

When I'm driving the CTD 4WD in the fluffy or icy stuff, I figure that the only thing 4WD is good for is to keep me from getting stuck. Like, starting from a dead stop up a slick surface. It happens. Or if I were to run-off, if someone forced me to or any other reason, at least I may have a chance of getting out with 4WD.



4WD does not enable me to be any safer at higher speed in the slick stuff. Nor does it help me stop faster, or corner faster. To unstick me, or keep me from getting stuck is all its good for. And maybe to pull someone out ... maybe. That depends on how open their mouth is when they breathe. This philosophy has kept this GA. native out of trouble in hazardous winter conditions for 4 years (so far).



One time, on my way to work in really slick stuff, I came up to this hill where everybody was stop and go up the hill. I don't really know why, normally there's no slow down in the area, but somebody must've turned off on the way up causing people to check up behind them causing this chain of events. I happen to be behind a 2WD old ratty Chevy pick-up with NG tires (it looked like). When he even started up the hill, from a stop, he'd go backward. This was not even at the steepest part. I just turned around and went a different route, rather than letting him leave a rusty old Chevy bumper imprint in the front of my Ram. 'Sides, that traffic wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Best to play it safe sometimes.



- JyRO

 

[Cowboy Medic]

cornering especially, with those wheels in front spinning and the rear pushing you can actually lose traction easier and not turn when you want to. Learned that the hard way one day, thankfully noone around as it was a deserted country road, I wound up on the shoulder and once I let off the go pedal and then restarted I was fine. I think it is actually good to get out and learn how your vehicle handles, so that you know what it is gonna do in a given situation. Just do it away from others just in case. Especially others with cameras who can tell stories later

 

[Doc Tinker]

How fast do you guys drive when you're plowing through 3' of snow? I went down a country road with a 2wd dually tow truck once, blazing a trail through snow that was up to the hood. If I wasn't doing 40, I would never have gotten to my co-workers house to drag his lazy butt in to work My buddy couldn't believe it when I pulled up to his house. And he was in total disbelief on the way back out. We couldn't see anything but the tree line, with all the snow blowing over the hood.



That same truck went though two and a half feet of plow packed snow, while towing a Dodge van, in the median on the e-way, when gramps decided to change lanes while I was trying to pass him. I mashed down the gas, hit the snow bank and passed him anyway. The old truck was unstoppable!





Doc

 

[mcoleman]

You must not have ever tried stopping in 4X4 compared to stopping in 4X2 if you think there is no difference between the 2. 4X4 locks the whole drivetrain up when you apply the brakes versus locking the front wheels up and sliding. Here in the ice belt I couldn't live without using my 4 wheel drive to stop my truck. I get tired of hearing the idiots that drive 2 wheel drives telling me that I can't stop any quicker than they can. No I don't drive fast on ice and snow at all but I do know that my stopping abilities increase 2 fold when I use 4X4 all the time. It makes a night and day difference when trying to stop 7300 pounds on water coated ice. And I still get POed at people flying by me on the road running 55 mph on glaze ice with 2wd vehicles. And I will not pull anyone out unless I know them. To big of chance of some stranger sueing you for damage to his vehicle. Last year I had to pull my neighbor who lives about a mile from me out of the ditch. he was trying to turn his 10 wheeler around that he drives daily delivering windows and doors from his Dad's company. He slid straight into the ditch with it leaving the tailend sticking out. Low loc and a little spinning to get down to the dirt under the snow and he was on his way again with a very dirty truck.