Im new to the 2wd pickup scene and Ive never tried driving in snow and ice with a 2wd truck. I have a F350 thats 2wd and its not a dually, just a standard cab long bed 1 ton pickup. That being said, Im wondering how much weight I should load over the axle to make it semi safe to drive through this wonderful NE Ohio winter. I was thinking of getting 4-5 80 pound bags of rock salt. I would think that should help a little but Im not sure how much I need. So for those of you who have experience driving 2wd in winter I would appreciate some more input on what you all are doing in winter months when you deal with snow. Thanks in advance!

~Dan

 

Most of the trucks that I have had are two wheel drive, but have a posi axle also known as limited slip. Good tires and good judgement is all you need. That is what I have been getting by with in Canadian winters.

Forget the rock salt I use bags of kitty litter as it offers good traction.

 

We put about 500lbs in the back of the '97 (it's 4x4, but still helps) and I'd imagine you'd need a bit more for a 1 ton. The '02 is my "get outta town quick" truck and all the gear in the bed under the cover adds to about 1000lbs and it goes through the snow great without me havin to lock in 4x4.

I find the "tubesand" they sell at home depot the handiest thing to use.

Adrianspeeder

 

Any weight you put in, put in front or over, but not behind the axle. Also starting in 2nd gear cuts the amount of torque to the drive wheels lessening the tendency to spin the tires.

 

Hey Dan, I think you make the 4th person on here that live in NE Ohio. Me and Mountaineer02v8 live in North Ridgeville, and someone else lives in North Olmsted. How bout this crazy weather? I definately picked a good day today to go down to Amish Country. This is my first winter with my f-150, im gonna try gettin by with only 4x4 and nothing in the bed. But if that doesnt work, I'll try the tube sand idea since the bags say they wont break apart or anything. I dont know how much I would need either though. Each tube sand is 80 pounds I think. So yall say that right in front of the wheel wells is the best placement? Im new to this. Hmmm.

 

Yes, in front and or directly over. Not behind. Behind causes weight to be taken off the front. Less steering control. Also using 2nd works pretty well. In the past I had a GM POS that I tried to do the same thing as with my Fords. Start in 2. Put it in 2nd and it started in 1st, then went to 2nd. Not good.

If you have 4x4, you should not really need any weight, assuming you have an LS rear. I never have, and have driven thru snow that I plowed with my axles and bumpers.

 

I wish I had a clue as to if my truck has posi or lsd but since I didnt buy it new I dont know. The guy that bough this pickup didnt have much extras put on it, just a straight up work truck. So Im really not sure if it came with posi from the factory.

The reason I was going with rock salt bags is we have a water softener for our well so it wouldnt be wasted in this case. After winter pull the bags out and dump them into the softener.

As for NE OH weather, not much you can say. I guess if you dont like the weather stick around for 15 minutes and it will be different. Right now its 61 and drizzling and its supposed to be 28 tomorrow with blizzard like conditions haha. ROCK ON! This little snow squall thats coming is why I was trying to figure this crap out now. I need to hit home depot and buy some 2x6's and salt. I think Im gonna start with 400 pounds and see what that gets me. Thanks for the replies so far.

 

How can I tell if I have a LS rear or not? Theres gotta be a way right?

 

Put a floor jack under the rear pumpkin and jack it up. Put the truck in neutral and spin the right rear tire in a forward direction. If the drivers side tire spins forward also the you have a limited slip. If the drivers side tire spins in the opposite direction then you don't have a limited slip.

 

You should be able to check your axle code on your door jamb decal.

Look for a 2 character code, which will tell you gearing size and if LS or not.
Of course you'll need to know what the code means....which I found in the following thread....

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...ight=axle+code

 

Nail the throttle.

two black stripes= posi
one black stripe=pegleg

 

"PEGLEG"

I love that term CharlieHo

Hope you don't mind if I use it also

Kenny

 

I have a four wheel drive, but my family has always but weight in the back of all the trucks we have owned (ie. logs, sand bags, rocks) and it has always helped out some, a good set of wheels and a careful driver helps too!

 

Fine by me, so long as I get 10% of all proceeds

 

I usually use 3-4 bags of the 80lb tubesands over the rear axel.

Living in Columbia Station, I too have watched Ohio's weird weather today---this AM it was around 60 with T-storms, then soun, then more rain, now snow and some ice pellets.

Tim C.