I Have Spent My Whole Life Being Told By People From The Northeast..

[blades]

They banned the studded tires in WI years ago, so the tow industry is well supported.

 

[billb3]

More SUVs and minivans slide off the road here in Ma and NH than "jacked up" pick-ups.
I've driven down too many of those ditches with my "jacked-up" 4WD truck to rescue people from their flipped over minivans, my own experience has been pulling female drivers from minivans.

Ice shows up almost anywhere when it is raining here in NE at temps as high as 40 degrees.

I've been driving up 495 to Maine in 5PM rush hour traffic to go skiing just past Lawrence when, while slowly passing a tractor trailer with plenty of faster vehicles passing me, I've looked at the speedo registering 0MPH. For almost 3/4 mile. Brand new car, brand new tires. All the while hoping absolutely no one else on the road around me panicked and did something stupid.

I've had AWD and don't like it on ice, no control over tires engaging/disengaging frightens me.
Give me 4WD (which generally is disengaged at highway speeds and on non-snowy surfaces) <----- for the clueless.

 

[tfdchief]

I have worked so many accidents on the highway and almost been killed by the idiots who couldn't seem to understand why there were accidents every mile

 

[fbelec]

Steer into the skid

alot of people screw that saying up. they think if your rear is sliding out and coming up on your left and the nose is facing right then they turn the wheel to the right and windup doing a 360.

 

[tfdchief]

alot of people screw that saying up. they think if your rear is sliding out and coming up on your left and the nose is facing right then they turn the wheel to the right and windup doing a 360.

Yep, My Dad taught me that lesson on a go-cart when I was only 9.

 

[fbelec]

at 9 that must have been fun. there is a lot that can be said about stores being closed on sunday so that one could use the parking lot for a skid pan to learn how the car reacts thats how i taught myself.

 

[jharkin]

alot of people screw that saying up. they think if your rear is sliding out and coming up on your left and the nose is facing right then they turn the wheel to the right and windup doing a 360.

Yea that old saying is not really one size fits all (front end skid vs. rear end spin) and especially doesn't always work in the age of FWD, AWD and RWD cars all available, not to mention traction control or not and limited slip or open diff.

Take a rear end spin for example. In a RWD you need to let off the gas and turn into the spin to stop the rear wheels spinning and get them gripping and get hte car moving in a straight line; then you steer back to your desired course. OTOH with FWD you can actually countersteer the spin and get on the gas to use the front wheels to drag the car back on course.

 

[Beer Belly]

Can't stand front wheel drive in the snow.....I won't drive the Wifes car at all, even if there is just a dusting.....I'll take my truck, and leave it in two wheel drive....just don't like the feel of the front end dancing around

 

[flyingcow]

what about ice truckers? I was told semis were good on ice.

Yes, if it's as flat as a lake.

I avg 10,000 miles a month in a trailer truck. I drive between Portland Maine and Fort Fairfield Maine. The ice is not always flat.

 

[Retired Guy]

6 to 8 feet in a few days may happen in Pulaski, but I sure wouldn't say it is common..72 to 96 inches is a good portion of a year's snow for that region. That said, I have far too many times driven the stretch from Syracuse to the 1000 Islands in lousy weather. Right around freezing, and the wind off the lake, that area is treacherous. I see pickup trucks in the ditch all the time. One day, the closer I got to Watertown, the further away I got from it timewise. Over 4 hours Syracuse to Watertown. But I got there, unlike many others on the road.

Multiple hundreds car pile ups on 401 in Ontario between Gananoque and Brockville and other areas as well are not unheard of. Again, thanks to lake effect snow, ice and wind.

I grew up with 4 wheel and AWD and Quadratrack. We were always told as children, you can't stop any faster.

My present car is a suburban AWD, and it is amazing. I come down a slope to a stop sign convinced I will go right through it, and the car stops. Has several systems that assist the handling, and is immeasurably better than the 4 WD suburbans I've had.

I remember it taking three days to go from Watertown to Oswego one winter. Oswego had 110 inches in a three day storm.

 

[fbelec]

ouch

 

[altmartion]

I remember it taking three days to go from Watertown to Oswego one winter. Oswego had 110 inches in a three day storm.

they are saying Tuesday is supposed to be nasty. it always snows when i schedule a work 50 miles away. always. it never fails. lol. i remember 5 years ago we had a real bad one. my wife due date was the next day and they could not plow the road i lived on. so i freaked out and started shoveling the road by myself. i went through 4 shovels. i bought all the store had and that was the only store open. we now have a bobcat. lol. i really want a backhoe. i miss my old one bad. i have been looking just nothing great yet.

 

[dmmoss51]

The problem is not the going... it's the stopping. AWD makes it easier to go just as hard to stop.

What I see people sruggle with the most - more than speed itself - is not giving enough time and distance to stop.

You can maintain a high speed on ice if the road is straight and no one is in front of you (object in motion stays in motion)

It's when you have to suddenly stop or turn when you have an issue because once again an object in motion stays in motion.

So leave your self plenty of stopping distance and slow down for curves etc plenty early and you will be fine.

The problem we see is when Dallas gets an ice storm... they don't have the practice or experience or knowledge to simply back off a little.

BTW most of Ice Road truckers is watching the near misses and trucks sliding off the road.

 

[dmmoss51]

i don't live in Pulaski, i lve in altmar. Pulaski doesn't get near the snow we get here in the snowbelt. my restaurant is in Pulaski and very very close to the lake. the storms seem to blow right over it. by the time it gets to my house it is usually nasty. my inlaws fishing lodge/ campground is 2 miles from me and they can get 6 inches more than i. weird. lol. the worst part is my wife won't even drive in the snow. geez!

With lake effect you definetly get locally heavier and lighter because it creates bands of snow... if you're in the band you get snow if you're out of the band you don't get it. I can count on double the snow at home than at work most days and it's only 6 miles apart.

 

[altmartion]

i don't care for abs. i find it harder to control.

 

[fbelec]

they are saying Tuesday is supposed to be nasty. it always snows when i schedule a work 50 miles away. always. it never fails. lol. i remember 5 years ago we had a real bad one. my wife due date was the next day and they could not plow the road i lived on. so i freaked out and started shoveling the road by myself. i went through 4 shovels. i bought all the store had and that was the only store open. we now have a bobcat. lol. i really want a backhoe. i miss my old one bad. i have been looking just nothing great yet.

you my friend have a really strong back. was it all for nothing?

 

[fbelec]

i don't care for abs. i find it harder to control.

i don't either. or electronic traction control on a two wheel drive.

 

[altmartion]

you my friend have a really strong back. was it all for nothing?

yup, all for nothing. I was so worried it would be that day. I don't have a strong back at all, in fact I have a very bad back, been fighting it since 04. surgery made it worse. I do have ocd to help me push through it though. lol

 

[fbelec]

that stinks. but i do understand. if something did happen and you didn't shovel the head would hurt way more than the back.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

After rolling over in a dump truck on an icy road many years ago, i have developed a bullet proof solution for driving on ice and snow covered roads. I STAY THE HELL HOME IN BAD WEATHER. Works every time.

 

[altmartion]

that stinks. but i do understand. if something did happen and you didn't shovel the head would hurt way more than the back.

my back was the least I was worried about. lol

 

[altmartion]

After rolling over in a dump truck on an icy road many years ago, i have developed a bullet proof solution for driving on ice and snow covered roads. I STAY THE HELL HOME IN BAD WEATHER. Works every time.

yep, it goes back to that common sense thing I was talking about and you have it. lol

 

[woodgeek]

OK. A little slippery here yesterday with <3" of snow on warm ground. I was out on the roads briefly....

I saw 1 and heard reports of several other **flipped cars**. How bad are you judging the road conditions to flip a sedan on an open road?? Did we have magic road condition known to cause sedans to spontaneously flip over?? Anyone want to explain that to me.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

After telling the wife we have to go home early from a shopping trip cuz the weather was scheduled to get nasty (not easy for her) she said while looking at the sky "well i dont think its going to do that"
I said "what..... you can tell looking at the sky",check your Iphone may be more reliable. We ended up driving home in the snow. Next time im staying home. Im sure others have this problem.

 

[woodgeek]

Im sure others have this problem.

In my household it is me looking at the sky....