Braking in snow and ice

I dunno - on solid ice you simply have no control, period. I don't care what you do - johnson bar/foot brake, engine in gear out of gear, I've tried all of it on roads covered with 3 inches of ice and found that none of it really did much of anything. Perhaps I'm confusing driving on a solid layer of ice and black ice conditions, but ice is ice.

As far as the "old" days are concerned, I just remember that most trucks didn't have engine brakes, you had to figure out how to get down a hill without smoking/burning up your brakes with a full load. It wasn't a whole lot of fun, but everyone had to do it - I used to put the trailer brake on very light and leave it on all the way down.

 

Most trucks do not have them, all the schneider and maverick trucks I have seen have them, mounted on the dash, it is a trailer only brake. I still have not enough experiance with it in bad weather but it helps to straigten the truck if it starts to slide at the back. It is to the right of the wheel at the top of the dash. drive55cat

 

snow and ice is fun

 

I kinda always felt sorry for drivers that were just learning and never grew up driving in the stuff.

6under hit the nail on the head... if it's freezing on the mirrors, the road is likely slick.

And as a former long-time Michigander, I can tell you that the worst feeling you'll ever get is when you're tooling along on a wet road in cold weather at a good speed... and the tires suddenly get real quiet. That'll make your butt pucker real quick!

 

yep yep... when it gets quiet... ohhhh boy...

another tip for wet soon to be icy roads roads... when the guy in front of you quits throwing spray off his tires... there a reason for that.

 

I am not afraid of driving on snow and ice, i am afraid of the trucks passing me doing 65 down a steep grade. If they have to make an emergency stop, they are going to be hurting real bad man.

I have 6 years driving a CMV in the NY Mass /east coast, this is my first year in a semi. I never F&%9k around when conditions get slick.

 

trick is too drive accordingliy to conditions. if they are bad, slow down. it's as simple as that. i don't allow trucks to hang around me when the weather is bad. i simply slow down and let them go and be as unsafe as they want to be. if an unsafe truck around gets in trouble and wrecks he is gonna take all the trucks around him out also.

 

Not to be contrary here but I have seen several posters mention using the trolley brake to straighten out a trailer that is sliding.

I have always been of the understanding that the problem is a lack of traction "usually" due to tires that are already locked up (as in braking too hard) and the only way to re-establsih traction is to get the tires turning again so the tread can 'bite' into the roadway (or in this case the snow or ice).

I have had some skids where I simply steered the truck back in front of the trailer to regain traction without touching any brakes nor the throttle.

I am aware there are many different types of skids and in the case of an over acceleration skid where the tractor "spins out" letting off the throttle is the solution and again getting the unit back in line.

I am interested to know how using a trolley brake could in fact avoid a jack knife.

 

Breaking on ice was the part that I was answering.
To slow the entire rig down, you pull lightly on the johnson bar, not alot just alittle and break with the pedal slowly, trying to avoid locking up your wheels.
This was my response to the snow and ice question.

Johnson Bar will not stop a rig from jackknifing. It will create one if you pull to hard.

 

I grew up in Iowa and didn't have a problem with driving in it. When I moved to NE Tennessee, driving in rain is different, much less snow and ice. It makes me more nervous here than it did in the midwest. I always lose weight in the winter because in these conditions, I get *s* pains more often. lol