pulling a hill

I myself have driven rigs only one winter. And I had to chain up a couple of times during that period. I will say this--I think a guy who tries to chain up is doing the right thing over the one who sits and waits on the snowplow to scrape and sand. Being caught on the side of the ribbon during a storm isn't the place to be, so you'd be smart to know how to get yourself out of that predicament.

I never spun out like this in a rig. But I've spun out a time or three in my cars. Those vehicles had open differentials, so GENTLY applying the brake helped get me out of those situations. I just had to apply more go pedal to overcome the extra resistance. This may work with 18 wheels if you don't have the power div.

 

Sorry, I should have said Diff-Lock since it doesn't activate unless you flip a switch. I'm a car guy.

 

I think I've mentioned somewhere in here that I will sit and wait rather than chain up. Let me make it clear that I'm talking about waiting for it to clear up in a truck stop, rest area or at a shipper/receiver.

There is a big difference in getting caught out in a storm and having to chain up to get to where it is safe, and chaining up so you can get on the road at O Dark 30 when it's snowin like a bit*h.

 

If you're waiting it out in the truckstop or rest area, then absolutely maintain a 'hands-off' attitude towards the chains.

I wonder how the 'good ol' boys' back in the supposed 'good ol' days' handled chaining? I never bothered to ask my uncle about it.

 

Even Howard Zinn's history books?

I'll check "The People's History of the United States 1492-2000" again and see what he says about truck chains.

Thanks for the tip.

 

The answer to your questions rest heavily on the road surface you encountered at the time.
Was it ice, a few inches of snow or a combo of both?
Chains on a single drive aren't worth much on ice alone.
If there was some snow to bite into you may have had an easier time.

You leave me with a couple questions to ask.
Did you put the chains on the drives or the tag axle?
Did you only chain one side of the drive axle?
Did your truck have a power splitter/locking differential & did you use it?
If you had chained the wrong axle & didnt have or use the diff lock, you gained little by adding the chains.

As previously stated, a bit of a run at the hill would have helped quite a bit.

Also as stated, instead of hi rpms, you probably wanted to use a lower rpm or higher gear.
Hi rpms puts you in a hi power range which allows the wheels to break free very easily.
You would have a hard time "feeling" the slip until it was too late to easily recover.

The weights you mentioned are not really what I consider good for snow/ice hill climbing.
Who knows how that first trailer was loaded?
How much weight did you actually have on the drives?

It's possible you goofed by stopping at the bottom.
But... in the end, who really knows for sure?
No one was there to see the real road conditions & how you & your truck handled it.

Sometimes, there's no right way other than to find a place to wait out the plows/sanders.

I really hate to find that out halfway up a hill.

 

The chaining plus the spring suspensions plus the cabovers plus the ironing-board sleepers plus the doghouses plus no-standing to dress....

Why did they do it? Oh yeah, I remember now. Those were the days one could make good money driving rigs.

 

Somehow I don't believe the "set" that Brick was talking about was referring to truck chains!

ROFLMAO!