Winter driving do's and don'ts

I'll take snow in Montana over snow in Arizona everyday of the week.

 

It's been done a number of times with my 83 cabover. The drive wheels rotating forward in place holds her. When the light is green on that steep hill, add fuel release trolley and off she goes. Not fast but moving upgrade to the next light hopefully green.

 

This is seriously one of the best posts I’ve ever read here. I need to do everything on this list ASAP

 

Montana educated me on speed limit in winter. The local gas haulers would boom by at 65 or whatever in a inch of light snow. The intent was to blow the snow off the lane it's in with the front bumper compressing air. Others can then zip along and help clear more of it. Theoratically. A few inches more it's no good to do that.

If I was all alone and had the entire interstate as happened before on say I-70 in a storm at 4 am and know it very well, down to the last wrinkle then I'll give it a go. But that is one reason I did not jump on you too much, Ive seen it done but did not believe in it enough to have the courage to do it myself.

 

It's not so bad. Compared to some of the horrible things shouted at me through the pax window on the one to the left of me.

One time between Cabbage and Odgen I was moving along at 15 or so in interlock at 33 degrees fluctuating between 31 and 33. Radio started asking if it is freezing. I started talking back to the convoy with me as number one and apparently many did not have a temperature gauge like I had.

I started making excuses and apology for 15 mph driving when I counted off about 45 trucks with me. And they all said don't worry about it we are newbies and we want out of Utah in this mess.

We finally reached a area where there was not much snow left having escaped the front temporarily and I took a rest area for a good nap. Everyone was doing a great job by then.

Ive been in a lifetime of convoys, but that particular one if you had many truckers in teamwork, that would be that day in that area of the USA. Motivating.

When things get too bad, I ask myself wtf am I still out here. Ima find a place with food and park.

 

Interesting I have done so those things just from my own experiences in bad winters.

 

Only problem with that is you going to drive all night in a storm to find daylight and it is still snowing and all the truck stops are full because it is to slick and if you can find a spot to stick it, you will be in the rear of the lot. Many just will not move until good roads and parking becomes a huge problem.

 

^^^ THIS ^^^!!!!!!

It's surprising, but use of the power divider isn't taught in driving schools. The technical term is Interaxle Differential Lock. If you drive a truck with two drive axles, power is only applied to to one of the axles UNLESS you engage the power divider. Once it is engaged you now have power to both axles.

Look at your dash switches. You will normally have three switches in a row:

1. Deflate the tractor air bags (used for getting under a trailer, etc)

2. Unlock the fifth wheel slide (for moving the fifth wheel forward or backward)

3. Lock the power divider. Usually this will have a picture of the axles of the truck with an "X" between the drive axles.

Some trucks will have an additional switch with "X's" on both axles. That is the Differential Lock, otherwise known as Full Lockers. Some might have separate switches to lock either the front or the rear differential. This will give maximum traction, BUT you can't steer worth a #### AND you should never drive faster than low range.

For most power divider and full lockers you can engage or disengage at any time, just DON'T DO IT IF YOU ARE SPINNING OUT!!! You can grenade the differentials in a hurry or otherwise damage the drive train.

I engage the power divider any time conditions get slick, on snow, ice, mud, and dirt. To either engage or disengage, I simply EASE OFF the throttle, engage or disengage, then EASE back into the throttle.

Practice driving in slick conditions. Find a wide open parking lot after it snows. Start practice bobtail. From a standing start try gunning it in 4th gear with and without the power divider engaged. Without it you will notice one set of doubles will spin out, usually the right rear, and this will cause the truck to fishtail or yaw to the right. With the power divider engaged you should take off nice and straight.

Now get up to 1500 rpm's in 4th with full Jake's on and let off the throttle, with and without the power divider engaged. You will notice that without the power divider you will start going sideways. This is why it is so important to use the power divider coming down a slick hill, even if you don't use Jake's (I do) because holding back only by engine compression STILL puts a bit of braking on your drives and sometimes it only takes a little bit to break you loose and start a jacknife. That's the time to coast or add a TEENY bit of throttle.

Practice next with an empty trailer. Don't get too wild, unless you want to install safety straps to prevent damage in a jacknife like they do in skid pad training. The point is to get comfortable with slickness and learn how to feather that throttle and the limits of traction.

Coming down a steep curve you might need to let off the brakes to get the steer tires to turn. You will apply brakes to slow, with the truck wanting to go straight because the steer tires might lock up, then release the brakes so the steer tires roll and turn. You can control your descent by cycling through this repeatedly.

 

Love it when someone is stuck in a pothole and they do not engage the divider to get out and spin the tires off, or reach over and engage the switch while spinning, makes the hair on the back of the neck raise a bit. That noise as self destruction goes on is not pleasant.

 

Watch out for 4 wheelers too stupid/lazy to clear snow off their tail lights.