Bed weight

TxTremor

Tremor Fiend
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Hey guys, when I lived to Colorado we would put sand bags in the bed of the truck to get weight over the rear end for winter traction. Does anyone add any kind of weight to their truck in the winter for traction? Curious if there any any other ideas other than the sand bags. Thanks
 
I remember when I was young, we would put weight like sand bags in the back of our rear-wheel drive Bimmers. But in a heavy-ass super duty truck? I don’t think it’s gonna make such a big difference, particularly on the drive systems the Tremor has out of factory. It’s not like the back of the truck is “light” and taking in a lot of torque. Anyway, have you driven in snow already and felt wobblyness or did the back break out easily?
 
I have not had this truck out yet but did have a snow/ice storm the last few day and it got me thinking. In past trucks I did think it helped the truck with traction on snow/ice to get that weight over the rear pushing down. They are heavy trucks but the weight is not evenly distributed over the axles so it always made sense to add a little weight to the rear to help even out. Most noticeable when accelerating as you could feel the rear break loose easier without the added weight.
 
Snow or ice would one go with 4 high? As for weight in the bed during wet weather, for me it would depend on how much its slipping and if I could control it via a lighter throttle.
 
Snow or ice would one go with 4 high? As for weight in the bed during wet weather, for me it would depend on how much its slipping and if I could control it via a lighter throttle.
I use 4 hi on the highway in snow and ice. 4 lo would be better for low speed applications, thinking off-road mud type. I have never used 4 lo on the road as I have read that could damage it. Maybe with all the traction control devices today the weight isn’t as much help as it used to be.
 
I use 4 hi on the highway in snow and ice. 4 lo would be better for low speed applications, thinking off-road mud type. I have never used 4 lo on the road as I have read that could damage it. Maybe with all the traction control devices today the weight isn’t as much help as it used to be.
??? You state to use 4 lo in low speed street driving then state not to use 4 low on the street as it could damage. Which is it. Why would 4 high be bad in ice and snow on streets from 35 to 45mph?
 
Maybe with all the traction control devices today the weight isn’t as much help as it used to be.
I came from an F150 Lariat with the extra 4A option.

After the big snow storm we got the beginning of this week (14" of snow in 24 hour period) and driving around testing out the different drive modes I'm fairly impressed with the "Slippery" option. Even in 2WD it seemed to work better if not more so than the 2013 F150 4A option. With the old F150 it seemed the traction nanny kicked in sooner at the sacrifice of forward momentum which just felt like you were being bogged down. Running the "Slippery" in 2WD on the Tremor I never felt like it was bogging down, but digging in to get me moving on hard pack/ice starts from complete stop. I went through the same stop/go intersection later running normal in 2WD and I was literally stuck not moving at all while the back end would spin out.

The "Slippery" drive mode in 4Hi definitely works better as well, but not really needed for patched ice mixed with dry spots.

The "Deep Snow/Sand" mode in 4Hi is amazing (traction control off). I don't know if it's the combination of that + better snow tires than what I'm use to, but I could drive through drifts like they weren't even there.
 
??? You state to use 4 lo in low speed street driving then state not to use 4 low on the street as it could damage. Which is it. Why would 4 high be bad in ice and snow on streets from 35 to 45mph?
You might have misread my post, I said 4 LO for low speed off road type driving. I said I have never used 4 LO on roads as I have read that 4 LO on hard packed surfaces could cause damage, I am no expert just what I have researched. On paved roads or hard packed surfaces I always use 4 HI for all speeds.
 
I came from an F150 Lariat with the extra 4A option.

After the big snow storm we got the beginning of this week (14" of snow in 24 hour period) and driving around testing out the different drive modes I'm fairly impressed with the "Slippery" option. Even in 2WD it seemed to work better if not more so than the 2013 F150 4A option. With the old F150 it seemed the traction nanny kicked in sooner at the sacrifice of forward momentum which just felt like you were being bogged down. Running the "Slippery" in 2WD on the Tremor I never felt like it was bogging down, but digging in to get me moving on hard pack/ice starts from complete stop. I went through the same stop/go intersection later running normal in 2WD and I was literally stuck not moving at all while the back end would spin out.

The "Slippery" drive mode in 4Hi definitely works better as well, but not really needed for patched ice mixed with dry spots.

The "Deep Snow/Sand" mode in 4Hi is amazing (traction control off). I don't know if it's the combination of that + better snow tires than what I'm use to, but I could drive through drifts like they weren't even there.
Thanks for the reply I’ll have to try it out next time we have some snow/ice around. My last two trucks were 4 wheel drive but didn’t have all the modes this one does, sounds like they make a difference though.
 
Hey guys, when I lived to Colorado we would put sand bags in the bed of the truck to get weight over the rear end for winter traction. Does anyone add any kind of weight to their truck in the winter for traction? Curious if there any any other ideas other than the sand bags. Thanks
In Montana we do not add anything.
 
Hey guys, when I lived to Colorado we would put sand bags in the bed of the truck to get weight over the rear end for winter traction. Does anyone add any kind of weight to their truck in the winter for traction? Curious if there any any other ideas other than the sand bags. Thanks

I did 20 years ago with my 1/2 ton - every Utah winter. I don't know if I would do it with my 1 ton (also I now don't live in climate that gets much snow - and when it does snow here these snowflakes out here will shut down the city for weeks so I would have no place to go anyways).
 
You might have misread my post, I said 4 LO for low speed off road type driving. I said I have never used 4 LO on roads as I have read that 4 LO on hard packed surfaces could cause damage, I am no expert just what I have researched. On paved roads or hard packed surfaces I always use 4 HI for all speeds.
No, I asked about 4 hi instead of weight in the back during slippery situations. You stated that is good on the highway. Then stated 4 low at lower speeds while adding off road at the end. It may not have been what you wanted to say though.

Would 4 hi work on the street 35mph or their about in ice and snow better than weight in the back is still my question?
 
........Would 4 hi work on the street 35mph or their about in ice and snow better than weight in the back is still my question?

IMO, 4 hi would work on the icy/snowy street at the speed you mentioned (<35mph). Again, IMO, the straight-aways are not the potential problem, rather the corners/turns. ⬅ In those situations, I would pay close attention to the front tires and make sure they have the ability to 'slip' like they're designed to do. In mud, sand, ice, & snow the front tires 'slip' in turns, but on hard ground, the front tires will 'bite' in a turn (and makes the front end 'clunk'). This should be avoided, if possible.
The 'clunk' is the binding of the front driveshaft and the rear driveshaft when in 4wd. Turning in 4wd causes the front and rear driveshafts to be turning at different speeds. Soft/slick/loose ground makes for good turning in 4wd.

As far as the weight on the rear axle goes, I am still a believer in it. When I was a kid, we would throw a thousand pounds of cow feed into the back of the 2wd p/up and drive it up and down hills that some people say isn't possible. We only did this when the 4wd was not available, and we [try to] keep our roads in good shape with the bulldozer. One example of this is when my Granddad & I ran out of gas in the bottom of the canyon. I walked out, loaded the 2wd with weight (and extra gas), and went back for my Granddad.
Yes, traction control has come a long way, but 500# is still 500#, respectfully.
 
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In driving a 2wd ranger for most of my early driving years I can attest empty beds can leave no traction on wet days. From a stop was the place I felt this the most.
 
If you know how to drive, 4-hi is all you need in snowy conditions. I did a year in northern PA with my last F250 and it was an absolute beast in the snow. I’m sure this truck will be even better.
 
We used to on our trucks 20-30 years ago. Now the roads are treated much better with salt and other corrosives that eat salt and your vehicle.
 
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