i'm looking at buying a '99 F-150 reg cab, 6 cyl, 5 spd, 4X2, side step. the problem that i am having is that i'm getting mixed reviews from ppl about driving the sidestep in the winter time. Alot of the ppl i know that have the side step love them. but i've heard from salesppl and others that because of the small wheel base that in the winter time you have to put up to 1000 IBS in the box for added weight. is this true?? for anyone in here that owns a sidestep or has previously owned a sidestep, your comments would be appreciated.

 

I think 01 XLT Sport has a step side...(ie. flareside). Try posting a thread to him and see what he says about it. I drive a styleside regular bed, which is a little heavier than the flareside. So you will problaby have to put some weight back there to keep traction. How much? I don't know. But I'm sure someone can help you out on that one. I've heard of some people putting 50-100 lb. bags of sand over their rear wheels but not 1000 lbs.

 

LOL yeah, don't put 1,000lbs or you'll be getting 10miles/gallon. Personally, I don't like putting added weight in the back b/c the fuel economy suffers and also acceleration worsens. I just drive much more carefully when it rains or sleets. After a while, you just get used to the fishtailing and learn to adjust the steering/gas to compensate and go straight again. All included in the fun of driving trucks.

I still remember the time I was cruising in the rain at an average 45mph and the rear wheels spun out on a section of the road paved with slick bricks. (signalling an entrance to an affluent neighborhood) This wasn't the usual fishtailing but the truck started going sideways and started to lean. I thought I was done for that day but fortunately I was able to compensate just enough to get back straight again so that no rollover happened. I think someone was watching over me that day..

 

Welcome to F150online. As Peacemaker mentioned I have a 01 Flareside (stepside). They are a little lighter then the regular beds because the flareside are made of a composite rather then sheet metal on the outside. The inside and bed it self are metal.

My truck is a V6 5-speed with the 3.55 Limited Slip rear-end. It also has the BFG tires. The BFG’s and the limited slip make it an excellent truck to drive in any weather especially winter.

I live in New Hampshire and this will be the third winter with it. The last two winters we had a ton of snow, many days with icy conditions on the roads and I would only have some weight in the back on occasions. Those occasions is if I knew the roads would be icy or a nice snow storm was coming.

The most weight I have ever put in the back is 1 – 70 lb bag and 2 – 50 lb bags of sand (total 170 lbs of sand) that is plenty enough weight for great traction. The limited slip helps a great deal, but I can say the most important factor for good traction is the “tires” themselves. If you have some cheap brand bought on special it won’t matter if you have limited slip and 800 lbs of sand you traction may suck.

As far as some salesman telling you that you need 1000 lbs of sand is completely crazy. The best place for the weight is right over or behind the rear axel. I use the indentions in the bed liner (you can fit a 2”X4” length of wood) I use a 2”X6” and place the sand bags so they are behind the rear axels.

I have never been stuck nor had any traction problems with this truck and to be honest this is the first time I have ever heard any one mentioned there is a difference in traction based on the bed style of a truck.

I had a 1997 F150 that did “not” have limited slip and as long as I had the above mentioned weight in the bed I never had issues.

Don’t let the bed style hold you back on the type of truck you purchase. You may want to take into consideration if one truck has limited slip rear-end and the other does not. In that case I would go with the limited slip because it offers a little better traction in wet and/or icy conditions. However, it really comes down to a good set of all weather tires…

 

i had a 1997 v-6 4X4 reg.cab short box step side 5 speed. i curently own a 2003 v-6 4X4 long box reg.cab auto. personally i think the 97 handled bette in the snow than the 03 does.

 

This is my 1st winter with my '03 F150 reg cab, long bed, 2wd and no limited slip.

I've got a Leer 100XL fiberglass cap on it and about 300 lbs of sand over the axle.

I'm running a dedicated set of snows all the way around on it - 235/70-16 Bridgestone DM-Z3 Blizzaks. I've only been in 2 heavy/snow covered road situations so far, but It's been great traction wise.

I even tried to lock up the brakes on a slick downhill and all it did was stop short of the sign - no abs action, nothing - just stopped.

I've always hated all season anything, and so I always get 2 sets of wheels and tires for winter/summer. The snows are about as much as my $500 insurance deductable.

Maybe I'm missing something with the BFG's, but dedicated snows are really nice.