Too late to get chains, what can i pour down for traction?

Years ago, we used to get an old truck tube, cut it in 2 pieces and fill each with a 50/50 sand/salt mix (Tie the ends closed first grasshopper). Salt melts the ice so the sand sticks to it.

 

Up thus way it's so cold that when you pee outside, you have to keep backing up as the ice forms so fast.

 

I always carried sand!
Kitty litter turns into clay when wet and yes it does freeze when wet like sand will but sand will break apart like that bag of ice when you slam it to the ground!

I was waiting for that bleach recommendation! ROFLMAO!

Lets put it all into context:

Sand in that tube of sand that people use to add weight to the car is what I've been strapping to the back of the sleeper/cat walk for years! It's fine and it spreads well and doesn't turn to nasty clay for when you've gotten unstuck and leave a mess for someone to have to walk through! You can spread it out on ice that night and it'll still be sand the next morning and if tracked into the cab sweeps up easily but kitty litter is now wet and turns into what it was before it was molded into litter. CLAY and clay makes a beautiful mess on the floor of the truck. They both cost about the same! Put kitty litter in that paper bag it came in on the cat walk and after the first rain what do you have left? The straps that helt it to the catwalk as the bag and litter is in a line behind the trailer hundreds of miles behind you unless you put it in a 5 gallon bucket the same you can do with the sand. You also get less volume but more sand than litter and sand spreads better than litter!

Now the fun stuff called bleach!

BLEACH! What some drivers will tell someone stuck in a parking lot because he wants some free entertainment!

First:

Bleach used to be used on the drag strip to make tires "soft" and heat up and grip better before it was banned and water started to be used.

Bleach is SOAP!

What happens to SOAP when it gets wet?

It gets SLIPPERY!

Snow and ice is what?.....

WATER in a frozen form!

What happens to snow and ice when you start to spin a tire on it at a fast speed?

It heats up.

What happens to snow and ice when it heats up above 32*?

It MELTS turning into water.

What happens to the bleach when it gets wet?

It get SLIPPERY and now the tire is spinning on SOAP like a Laurel and Hardy comedy!

That truck is going NOWHERE because the tire or tires are spinning in a pool of ice water and not going to ga anywhere!

It does NOT heat up the tire but the tire will heat up without the bleach when it melts through the snow and ice and gets to the asphalt . Besides a hot tire only melts snow and ice and makes it harder to get a grip! LOL

Yeah, Bleach is used to make whites whiter not get trucks out of snow or ice! If someone tells you to go this route say thanks but you're not doing a load of laundry get sand first or then kitty litter.

OR

Break out the entrenching tool or D handled flat nosed shovel you have under the bunk for winter time use top dig your truck out! I keep a flat nosed shovel as it does a lot better when digging snow off of asphalt than a pointed one does! If you have an entrenching tool then cut the point off to make it a flat nosed shovel!

OK I've posted all of this before but I'll keep going with a little more advice and as I'm now in a forced retirement and I have the freaking time!

It's snowing or snowed or did some kind of frozen precipitation and the parking lot is covered.

This is for the truck stop!

As you all know they do try to keep the isles scraped at some stops but it's a money loser for them so maybe they might spread some salt.

It doesn't matter as those slots will be covered with pack ice or you'll back in onto fresh snow and turn it into pack ise!

When you approach the truck stop you're be facing several problems. One will be frozen brake shoes to your drums! As barney Phife would say "nip that in the bud!"

As it said in the class f driving booklet, you know the one to get your learners or your driver's license to drive dads car you need to dry your brakes when wet for better usage. The same is going to apply here! As you approach the truck stop apply a FEW pounds of brake pressure while still applying the fuel so you don't stop. YES you will get a LITTLE wear from this but you are NOT going to wear your brakes out! You want to heat the brakes and drums up so that ANY water will dry off! Do this several times and you'll be ok!

Next find that slot you're going to pull into. Back in or pull in and then set for a minute or two then lull forward about 4 inches or the length of the tires foot print and sit there for a minute or two then back up again. Do this several times until the tire has cool down enough so that it doesn't melt it's way deep into a hole.

I like to add a little insurance and I'll back up a little further and then take can of sand and where my drive tires are spread a little sand where I'll be putting my tires when I pull it back into the depression I've made. Even if the tires were cold the weight if the truck will make the truck sink into the snow or ice so go ahead and make that depression the back out of it and sand it AND several feet in front of them for good measure! You can do this in front of your steers so you can turn instead of sliding! It will also make the area in front of the truck a little safer for some moron who thinks speeding in the parking lot is cool and he might get traction before he hits your truck!

That sand will NOT do like kitty liter and turn into clay which is about as useless as mud for traction! Kitty litter is great for soaking up oil but actually when you look at it unless it's fresh and you use it as soon as you lay it down worthless! As I said it turns into MUD and sticks to your shoes or anyone else who tramps in it and then gets onto the floor of the cab and is a PAIN IN THE BUTTOCHS to get out whereas sand just sweeps up BUT also knocks off when you stamp omn the running board!

I've used my sand to sand get off ramps due to ice as I really didn't want to wait for a wrecker which also helped a few other drivers as they came up on it as it was still working long after that kitty litter stopped! I've never had problems getting out of a parking spot and didn't leave a mess for someone else!

NOW if you have none of these fixes then go to the curb did down in the snow and get some dirt and use it before it turns into mud!
Have a safe winter!

 

entrenching tool/shovel ?????????????????

your gonna have to show pictures, so they know WTF you be talkin 'bout !!!

 

I disagree with using Kitty litter if there is any moisture at all then it will make it worse. Bleach does work it acts on the tires, not so sure how good it is for the tires.
If you can not afford chains do not drive, very few people have much sympathy for people stuck without chains.
I was taught not to park it if you can not drive out of the area!

 

All Bleach does is soften the tire thereby making it more flexible for traction.....by the time your wheels went around twice, it's all gone.

 

Apologies to those who have already mentioned this, I haven't read all posts.

P-P, use what your state uses --> rock salt. It's dirt cheap (less than $10 will last years) and available by the bag at home improvement centers (Lowe's, etc) or Wally World for ice melting and water softeners. Don't get the pellets for softeners because you want coarse granules. Salt works by turning ice/snow into salt brine which lowers the freezing point of water. I know you know that from high school.

I'd toss the rock salt in a covered 5 gal plastic bucket and fashion a plastic scoop with your pocket knife from a gallon jug. Keep it in your sleeper berth under the bunk. When you just need to get moving on slick surfaces, toss a scoop in front of the drives, relax with your cup of coffee and let the salt work. In 15 minutes the salt will burn down to the pavement, make brine in the process and you'll be on your way.

As other have mentioned, there are other things that will work but just not as well (or cheaply) as rock salt. This works great in even lower temps, your state probably uses it, but it is a little more costly and I think it is overkill.

Suggestion, forget buying your own chains if your company doesn't put a set in your truck. I bought them long ago because I had to carry them to be legal where I ran, but I used them just once to get out of a frozen parking lot before I carried salt.

I realize that some are on tight schedules where they just have to go but OTR guys can wait a little bit. By time we chain, run at slow speed and take the chains off, we could have waited for the state guys to clear the roads and run at more normal speeds. I see no point in running on glare ice to deliver a load of generic freight 4 hours earlier.

 

Bingo, great for drag racing but there are bettter ways to handle slick surfaces.

 

Why would you use salt?
Are you claiming that parking slot for the duration of the winter?
Why use salt?
It takes a while for salt to do it's work and by then sand would have gotten you and the next guy that parked there out and the kitty litter has turned into clay AND frozen! You want out NOW not in 15 to 30 minutes while salt does it's job!

Salt is a big waste of your money as you know that the truck stop or who ownes the dock isn't going to pay you to salt their area down!

All you want is traction, not clear asphalt! Sand or rocks from a gravel driveway will do what you need done! Why melt the snow or ice for everyone else?

The sand is more than enough comunity service on your part!

 

Where to get sand cheap/or free?