Winter driving

[WuzzFuzz]

Rusty's thread about his Mrs. having a flat, and having to get it fixed in the worst of conditions......


BUT the good ole days, when most, well my family didn't anyway, have snow tires...If it was that bad out, then it was put on the chains...

Then, if a person had a flat, which was pretty uncommon in the winter months..The car got jacked up, the chains removed, a spare put on, and most of the time, get out the ole tire pump and put some air in it, then the chains back on and then a person could get under way.

I remember back when we did get snow tires for the first time...they were some old baldy tires that are wore out, then they get re-capped with snow tire caps. Re -capped tires were pretty much a common this with us, as a re-capped tire back then was usually only about $5 to $7.50.

Then for teenagers/me later, we could use the snow tires for a poor boys' racing slicks.....After they got wore down some,they were perfect...Oh, once in a great while one of us teenagers would throw one of those re-caps off..That always caused the driver to put some stains in his britches!!!!

times have changed....somethings better than others.....


And with this bitter bitter weather, that some of us are having anyway....It was either go out and start the car during the night from time to warm it..Those ole 6 volt cars were not the best for starting during the bitter cold months...If that wasn't always possible, then take the battery inside for the night.

To keep the radiator from freezing up, either drain it each time, if the anti-freeze wasn't up to snuff.

One other way to keep then engine warm was to use those old road fire pots, and place them under the engine for the night.....

Dad did, I never did later on..The older car had more room under the engine area, than the later cars did, and I was always afraid I'd end up catching the engine/car on fire with it.

OR park on a hill if possible, and get to going, then let out the clutch to get it started..Hopefully started before the bottom of the hill.!!!

Can Ether even still be bought any more? I haven't seen it on the shelves in the auto stores for quite a long time now...Of course now I don't need it so much. Same for HEET, for the gas...I haven't seen that for a long time either.


Now I'm sure some of you other old coders have had much the same experiences.

WuzzFuzz

 

[Salty RI]

I forgot what it was called, they had something you put on a 6 volt car, it started on 12 and ran on 6.

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[bigwheelzip]

After the fuel line iced up, learned to add gas drying alcohol.

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[WuzzFuzz]

Didn't have one of those Salty, but on the 40 Ford I had which was six volt..I put a 12 volt battery in the trunk, and rant the cable to the starter, with a selenoid (sp) and a separate push starter button....It would start on the 12 volt, and run on the 6 volt.


WuzzFuzz

 

[deadin]

I do remember those re-cap snow tires... The "expensive" ones had walnut shells in the recap, the cheaper ones used sawdust. They worked quite well as long as you didn't hit much dry pavement. (bare pavement could wear out the recaps in nothing flat.) Of course in Northern Idaho in the '50's, once we got snow on the roads, it pretty much stayed for the season......

 

[bigwheelzip]

Trivia: Anyone know what this winter travel scene is?

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[deadin]

Melting the ice off of railroad tracks??

 

[llowry61]

Heating up the track with a switcher on it ?

 

[bigwheelzip]

You guys are good!

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[Rpg]

I still carry chains for all 4 wheels in my 4Runner.

Don’t need them often, but there have been a few times that they kept me out of trouble.

 

[arjay]

Jump starting a 6 volt truck with a 12 volt was interesting!
Only used chains on a little 2 wheel truck I had. Spending a winter commuting from town to a house we were building in the hills convinced me to trade it in on a 4 wheel dr Toyota. That was a neat little truck.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Ice and snow are beautiful unless you have to drive in it. That is a major reason for living south of I-10.

 

[rubiranch]

And with this bitter bitter weather, that some of us are having anyway....It was either go out and start the car during the night from time to warm it.. Those ole 6 volt cars were not the best for starting during the bitter cold months...If that wasn't always possible, then take the battery inside for the night.


WuzzFuzz

My dad used to run an extension cord out to the car put a light bulb under the hood next to the battery to keep from freezing.

Smudge pots, you can buy them in eBay.

 

[rubiranch]

Ice and snow are beautiful unless you have to drive in it. That is a major reason for living south of I-10.

I love driving in adverse weather.
The rain is quiet and peaceful and the snow is just plain fun.

 

[6518John]

I still carry chains for all 4 wheels in my 4Runner.

Don’t need them often, but there have been a few times that they kept me out of trouble.

When one needs chains on a 4Runner, Mother Nature is trying to tell you to stay home and pop a cold one!

 

[Golddollar]

I'm retired and have cardiac issues. I avoid driving in the snow as much as possible.

 

[steelslaver]

I have chains for all 4 corners of my Ford Truck and all 4 wheels on my Polaris Ranger, on the Ranger I had to space out the front wheel a bit so the chains would clear the steering links. The Power Stroke can be hard to start when it gets down below zero, so I have one of those small round propane heaters in the tool box. Place that under the oil pan for a while and a plastic tarp over the hood and down to the ground when I camp out below zero. The cars both have chains, the Mercury has stud snow tires, each also has a couple bags of coarse sand in the trunk and a big sleeping bag. My truck, the cars and the Polaris also each have some cans of the fuel used on warming trays, Just open them up and light them and set them on an small pan on the floor board. Right now it is -23 (not counting wind chill) here and going to get colder tonight. You get stranded around here it can kill you in a hurry.

I remember back in the day of stick shifts and gear oil that when it was around 30 below you would have to give it extra throttle to get going because the gear oil in tranny and third member would be so stiff. I left the bar at about minus 40 and discovered the car wouldn't steer on the icy parking lot. LOL front wheels wouldn't turn just slide, finally got them to a bit of graveled patch and went back and forth bit to loosen them up enough that I could drive it. My sisters were coming home from midnight Mass on Christmas and the rear axle on my parents Buick snapped. Foze the end s of a couple fingers once changing a flat cause I only had some light gloves. At one time or the other I have frozen the ends of all my fingers. Talk about pain, when they thaw out, several days later the skin peals off.

 

[storyman]

I run 2 sets of tires and wheels on both of the outfits. Summer tires and winter tires. Summer tires are whatever they come from the factory with and winter tires are Bridgestone Blizzaks. Both outfits are 4 wheel drive. As a side note, I would rather drive a blizzard in the winter in Wyoming than put up with large city traffic in the summer time.

 

[steelslaver]

I run 2 sets of tires and wheels on both of the outfits. Summer tires and winter tires. Summer tires are whatever they come from the factory with and winter tires are Bridgestone Blizzaks. Both outfits are 4 wheel drive. As a side note, I would rather drive a blizzard in the winter in Wyoming than put up with large city traffic in the summer time.

Ya, and if something does go wrong in this country IF someone does come along they will stop and help you out.

 

[6518John]

I have chains for all 4 corners of my Ford Truck and all 4 wheels on my Polaris Ranger, on the Ranger I had to space out the front wheel a bit so the chains would clear the steering links. The Power Stroke can be hard to start when it gets down below zero, so I have one of those small round propane heaters in the tool box. Place that under the oil pan for a while and a plastic tarp over the hood and down to the ground when I camp out below zero. The cars both have chains, the Mercury has stud snow tires, each also has a couple bags of coarse sand in the trunk and a big sleeping bag. My truck, the cars and the Polaris also each have some cans of the fuel used on warming trays, Just open them up and light them and set them on an small pan on the floor board. Right now it is -23 (not counting wind chill) here and going to get colder tonight. You get stranded around here it can kill you in a hurry.

I remember back in the day of stick shifts and gear oil that when it was around 30 below you would have to give it extra throttle to get going because the gear oil in tranny and third member would be so stiff. I left the bar at about minus 40 and discovered the car wouldn't steer on the icy parking lot. LOL front wheels wouldn't turn just slide, finally got them to a bit of graveled patch and went back and forth bit to loosen them up enough that I could drive it. My sisters were coming home from midnight Mass on Christmas and the rear axle on my parents Buick snapped. Foze the end s of a couple fingers once changing a flat cause I only had some light gloves. At one time or the other I have frozen the ends of all my fingers. Talk about pain, when they thaw out, several days later the skin peals off.

You win. (Whatever the contest is, you win).

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I love driving in adverse weather.
The rain is quiet and peaceful and the snow is just plain fun.

Live in Akron, Ohio for ten years and tell me that.

 

[Rudi]

Being retired I don't do much winter driving, not like when I had a CDL. Got good at winter driving. To me, others who have no clue about it are the very dangerous ones.

 

[pawngal]

No mention of engine block heaters? At least I think that's the correct name. Had them on many vehicles over the years. Plug in to heavy extension cord and magic, easy to start and a warm vehicle.

 

[swsig]

You win. (Whatever the contest is, you win).

You think steelslaver had a hard time? When I was in college, we had parking lots so steep, that we had to lie in the snow and chain down our cars to keep them from sliding down hill into other cars. Then it was a mile-long uphill walk (both ways) in knee-deep snow to get to and from classes. I tell you, winters could be really brutal at good old San Diego State.

 

[Kurusu]

All I can say is. I'm real glad to live where I live. I don't even find snow very pretty.

Winters are mild in my part of the Country, we seldom go under 25, and when we do the skys are clear so there is no snow at all. When it's overcast the temperatures go up(around 50), so we only got rain.

 

[arjay]

All I can say is. I'm real glad to live where I live. I don't even find snow very pretty.

Winters are mild in my part of the Country, we seldom go under 25, and when we do the skys are clear so there is no snow at all. When it's overcast the temperatures go up(around 50), so we only got rain.

Snows fun as long as you have the clothing,equipment and some experience with it

 

[steelslaver]

There are a variety of engine heaters, block heaters where a soft plug in the block casting is replaced with electric heating element, tank heaters where the heater hoses are cut and a small "tank" unit with an electrical element is added, which heats the coolant and circulates through the motor via convection, there is a similar unit that can be place in the lower radiator hose, there are also magnetic units that stick to the oil pan and heated dip sticks, both of which don't do much but warm up the oil so the rig cranks over easier. My Power Stroke Diesel has a block heater, I have a Y connector hooked to it and a small trickle charger which is hooked to the batteries and a 50' cord that wraps up on my winch mount. It will fire right up even today and it is now 25 below. The trickle charger keeps the batteries topped up and warm and that really helps, some guys even have little warmers for their batteries.

Loggers often have a set of quick connectors on their crew truck heater hoses. Get to the job and run a set of jumper hoses to a piece of equipment and that circulates hot antifreeze in the equipment motor, they fire that piece up and it goes to another piece as1 does the truck. Soon everything is running. Some equipment and trucks have a propane fired unit that heats the antifreeze.

Some off the buses now have "automatic" chains. A bunch of lengths of chains on the end of a shaft, when engaged the shaft lowers and as it is powered by the drive assembly it matches the axle speed and twirls the chains so they go under the front of the rear tires and spin out the back, one piece of chain after the other is placed under the tire moves with it between tread and ice and then exits to come around for another pass. Genius and expensive. Several of the local school buses here are so equipped. Like I said it is currently minus 25 here. The schools, stores and everything will continue just like they would at 70.

This has been a real mild winter. Right at the end of October there was a snow storm and it dropped down below zero. I was camped in a tent up in the Little Belt Mountains. Went through a bunch of firewood but was comfy. Cut down a couple trees about 18" at the butt, chain them to the truck, drag them down the road and right up close to the tent and saw them up There were three of us, the youngest was 69 and the oldest was 74. We had a great time.

Mel (74) got stuck in his dually Ford. Rather than chain it up I ran a chain in between his duals and hooked it to a slot in the outside rim. than ran it and another chain back to a tree behind us. When his wheels spun in reverse theY wrapped the chain in between the duals and then sucked the truck back. Then, went forward and that loosed the chain off the tree and as he drove forward it unrolled the chain. Trick I learned from a logger buddy. He did it with both rear semi duals back to the stands on his loaded trailer and sucked his truck straight back under the fifty wheel on almost pure ice.

Mel says he is going to buy a winch and set it up like mine which plugs into a front of rear hitch receiver. The 12 volt outlets also allow me to use my big jumper cables from the front or rear of my truck. One end of my cables has plugs and the other end clamps. 30' of 4 conductor 2 gauge SO cord. 2 used for neg 2 for ***.

I bet plenty of the working guys from here and Wyoming, Idaho and the Dakotas have frozen their fingers a couple times. When it gets down around minus 30 handling metal sucks.

 

[tops]

I still carry chains for all 4 wheels in my 4Runner.

Don’t need them often, but there have been a few times that they kept me out of trouble.

I did when I was younger. I still have a 4X4 but I don't carry chains. I'm not even sure I'm able too put on chains and I don't have the need nor desire to go when it's that rough. Larry

 

[STORM2]

Dallas awakened to micrometer thin ice this am. Our vehicle traffic moves via hundreds of elevated bridges/road segments. Our forecast is for several days of intermittent mixed frozen precipitation. The roads are already backed up. Everything that has flashing lights is in the mix. Many folks are obligated to challenge the odds and end up bending their vehicles. This will result in many ripple down events. Services at open businesses will be limited because folks are at home or wreck sites. Emergency service response will take protracted times. Rental cars/trucks will be depleted, body shops will be backed up for a month. Power will fail when the transmission lines fall with ice weight. Generators will be impossible to find. All kind of mayhem will occur. I’m sure glad I’m retired, not driving, de icing the airplane, packing snow boots and/or extreme weather gear then explaining why we can’t fly. Been there done all that. I think I’ll do some filing, straighten up the bench and watch a movie. My generator is ready. Getting older does have some advantages. If we do get multiple inches of snow maybe I’ll put on my Mustang suit and build a snowman with the neighbor kids.

 

[pawngal]

My son lives in Branson, MO. Everybody has been slip sliding up and down the hills for the past 2 days. To quote his text last night "It's a mess down here"