Snow Towing

[WD40]

Truck is '06 CC, 4x4, long bed, dually, tow boss.

I think this all started with a F-350 4 x 4 Long Bed Dually CrewCab Tow-Boss.
So here goes. Some companies wanted us to drive as long as the roads were open. You don't have to worry about that down here in the south, because no one can drive in it here and the roads will be blocked soon. So you pull over and wait it out. In Arkansas, Texas and LA. the saying is, If God put it there then He can take it up.
Driving a 4 x 4 truck like you are driving I would put chains on the front and on the out side rears of the truck. I would also put them on the back axle of the trailer for stopping power and to keep the trailer straight when making a stop. Your truck most likely has the pos-a-track rear end also so that will push you when you are making turns on ice. So take your time and you should be OK.
Good Luck and tell us how you made the trip.

 

[95_stroker]

I'm no stranger to snow driving, but this is my first diesel, and also my first time towing in the snow (if we even hit snow).

take a look under most of the semi trailers in the winter time, those things swinging around down there are tire chains. They might not use 'em much, but they use em, at least here in Ca in the "mountain towns" like Mammoth and Big Bear.

Word to the wise here, and dont take this as an insult, you are not experienced enough to trailer in the snow if in fact it requires chaining. The semi's have chains for their trailers because they have 80K on 18 wheels, your going to have at the most 16K on 9 wheels. You wont need to chain the trailer, your truck is a crew cab long bed 4x4, it dont get any more stable than that in the light duty arena. Move your load a hair forward to insure proper tounge wieght and that truck will hold the trailer on the road.

Again, since you've never towed in the snow before I wouldnt use this trip as your class room, do yourself and the other drivers on the road a favor, pull off and just wait it out.


Good luck and be safe on the trip, let us know how it turns out.

 

[BamaSixGun]

Word to the wise here, and dont take this as an insult, you are not experienced enough to trailer in the snow if in fact it requires chaining. The semi's have chains for their trailers because they have 80K on 18 wheels, your going to have at the most 16K on 9 wheels. You wont need to chain the trailer, your truck is a crew cab long bed 4x4, it dont get any more stable than that in the light duty arena. Move your load a hair forward to insure proper tounge wieght and that truck will hold the trailer on the road.

Again, since you've never towed in the snow before I wouldnt use this trip as your class room, do yourself and the other drivers on the road a favor, pull off and just wait it out.


Good luck and be safe on the trip, let us know how it turns out.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

I figure I might as well throw in my .02

Before I got out of the business, I used to tow a mobile hearing testing trailer all across the country, year around, in all sorts of weather. Here are a few observations I made over the course of 10 years and 350,000+ with a 7K-8K trailer behind my arse.

1. Truck traction is better with the trailer than going without. Reason, the tongue weight on the rear is added weight over the rear axle which noticably improves traction.

2. Snow is not as bad as ice. You can have a lot of snow and still have good traction. Only once did I have a mishap. and that involved a combination of ice, a bridge and a sudden gust of crosswind.

3. If you can keep the truck straight and under control, the trailer will follow. The trailer may get uncomfortably sideways at times, but it will follow the truck.

4. If you have electric brakes, a way of correcting a fishtailing trailer is manually activating the electric brake controller. In that situation, applying the truck's brakes can sometimes make the situation worse.

5. And lastly and most importantly, don't hesitate to use 4wd when things start getting dicey. Reason: see #3 above. Pursuant to that goal, make sure your 4wd system in good functioning condition, especially the front lockout hubs. The factory ESOF are notorious for failing and causing problems. If you haven't yet tossed them in favor fully manual hubs, at least keep the ESOF hubs in the manual mode in situations where you may be in and out of 4wd several times.

Two tips I'd like to pass along that I've learned U.P. here in the land of endless "lake effect":

A. Higher tire pressure will yield better traction in slippery conditions than will lower pressure.

B. Adjust the pressure in your tires to where they are all of the same rolling diameter. Doing so will reduce drive-line binding while in 4wd and will in turn reduce rolling resistance and improve MPG. Just putting the same PSI in all tires won't do it. Variing depth of the remaining tire tread and differences in axle weight between the front and rear axles will cause differences in the overall rolling diameter of the tire.

The way I go about it is to accurately measure the distance between the bare pavement and the edge of the rim (assuming you have the same rims on all 4 corners). Then adjust the air pressure in all four tires bringing them to the same measured distance between the edge of the rim and the ground. (Make sure that the tire with the lowest pressure is still inflated to a safe level.) If all the tires are inflated to the same rim to ground height, then they will all have almost exactly the same rolling diameter. You will notice a distinct improvement in the way the truck rolls, especially in parking lots.

 

[Crumm]

If the going does get rough enough to need chains on the trailer one tire is usually enough. If you need two chains then stagger them example: one on the left front tire and one on the right rear tire. In the snow chains are rarely needed on a trailer but on solid ice they are handy to keep the trailer behind you.

 

[Yellowsub1962]

Word to the wise here, and dont take this as an insult, you are not experienced enough to trailer in the snow if in fact it requires chaining. The semi's have chains for their trailers because they have 80K on 18 wheels, your going to have at the most 16K on 9 wheels. You wont need to chain the trailer, your truck is a crew cab long bed 4x4, it dont get any more stable than that in the light duty arena. Move your load a hair forward to insure proper tounge wieght and that truck will hold the trailer on the road.

Again, since you've never towed in the snow before I wouldnt use this trip as your class room, do yourself and the other drivers on the road a favor, pull off and just wait it out.


Good luck and be safe on the trip, let us know how it turns out.

so how does one get experience without doing something?

Depending on the type of snow and road surface, your analogy about less weight on more tires is all the more reason to have chains. there's less contact patch per tire meaning there's more chance for a tire to slip. (PS - there's 10 tires )

I will have the proper tongue weight way before we ever get snow, as I'm starting the tow from Vegas.

Thanks again for the input,
PSD

 

[Yellowsub1962]

Tail_Gunner - I am pretty fluent in airing down and rolling diameters. I run lockers in two of my other trucks and actually measure out the distance on the floor and get the rears exact on the Willys, which I drive on the street. The '06 does have the posi (as someone mentioned above), so I'm anticipating the pushing in the corners. I can probably keep this in check by manually applying the trailer brakes and eliminating the "pivot point".

Tail_Gunner and Crumm - I appreciate the real world experience and tips. Thats the kind of info I was looking for. It looks like I'm on the right track. I will let everyone know how the trip goes.

 

[95_stroker]

so how does one get experience without doing something?

Depending on the type of snow and road surface, your analogy about less weight on more tires is all the more reason to have chains. there's less contact patch per tire meaning there's more chance for a tire to slip. (PS - there's 10 tires )

I will have the proper tongue weight way before we ever get snow, as I'm starting the tow from Vegas.

Thanks again for the input,
PSD

As I said, none of my post was intended to be an insult, so far I there have been a handful of guys saying just wait it out, that was my advice also. Thanks for pointing out the typo as well.

Good luck and drive safely.

 

[DozerDoug]

About all I can add is load the trailer correctly and DO NOT use a weight distributing type hitch. Just use the ball. I've pulled several guys out of the ditch that had their equilizer bar set tight. I actually puts less weight on the drivers and can cause rear wheel slippage. loading and balancing the trailer correctly will work better then one of those hitches for slick road driving.

 

[Maxtor]

trailer chains

An OLD timer, even older then me, from Ice country near Klamath Falls Oregon said that putting on trailer chains did help with breaking and better control in icy conditions. He said that he always does it on two wheels. The only ice we see in Redding California is in our drinks.