Topic: Winter driving

[Gadzooks]

My SAS toyota with a custom bed seems to be a little light in the rear end. The shortened bed and lack of overhang are really hampering my winter driving. So here are my options. Throw on some 37, 12.50 MTR's, sand bag the back and hope it improves. Change my diff gears back to stock, pick up some 33' A/T's and run it like that, looking ridiculous. Or weight it and sipe my TSL/SX's and see what that does??? any suggestions? chains and studs are illegal here. My current gearing is 5:29's which make for excellent highway gears with my 36's. But my ass end swings out beside me when I brake, so I gotta do something about it.

[jonathan82toy]

Slow Down 

[ROCKO]

put some weight in the back of the truck that should help out alot.....

[BLACKDOG]

slow down and sand bag the bed.

[Gadzooks [OP]]

What bed???

[Rockcrawlintoy]

people around here put sandbags in the bed. u can do that too. just strap them to the flatbed. i have a bobbed bed and its not that bad in the winter

[Hawk Thor]

Siping does alot for grip and keeping the tires clear of snow. You should also clean your tires, put some oilcleaner on the tread and pressure wash it to dissolve any tar and oil that stick to your tire. You can then spray some oilcleaner on the tread maybe twice a month and just drive the truck.

You can get old balancing weights from tire shops, theyŽll probably giveŽem to you. Put those in a bucket or ammo box and secure them in your bed, preferably right up against the tailgate. My boss has a 2 motoroil jugs full of weights, one on each side. His 2500 Cummins handles nicely. This takes less room than a sandbag and there is no risk of having a torn sandbag in the bed.

I have studded and siped 33x12.5 R15 MT-Rs, SFA and alot of crap in the bed. Mine does great in snow and ice. I always have some oilcleaner in a refillable spraycan, so I can clean anytime I think I need it.

[Gadzooks [OP]]

Alrighty, this is good info. How much weight do you think is too much weight before I start replacing wheel bearings? What about limiting my proportioning valve to be more front brakes then back? good idea? or no?

My TSL/SX's seem pretty bad. I've got a line on MTR's 37's or truxus 35's, anyone running either of these in the snow??

[lilbuddy]

37" MT/Rs suckkkkkkkkkkkkk on ice. They are terrible. I bet theyd be good if they were siped.

I say just keep your foot in the throttle everwhere you go. Thats what I do 

[Rockcrawlintoy]

yeah the MTRs are the worst in the snow and ice on roads. i HATED mine so bad. try and find some 35'' ATs and use those

[lilbuddy]

yeah the MTRs are the worst in the snow and ice on roads. i HATED mine so bad. try and find some 35'' ATs and use those

But they do well aired down in snow... But when its a hard packed down snow which you find on roads, they do not do well.

[Rockcrawlintoy]

yeah off road they are pretty decent. i was rarely stopped when i used the, one that snow is packed and hard watch out

[BLACKDOG]

Alrighty, this is good info. How much weight do you think is too much weight before I start replacing wheel bearings? What about limiting my proportioning valve to be more front brakes then back? good idea? or no?

My TSL/SX's seem pretty bad. I've got a line on MTR's 37's or truxus 35's, anyone running either of these in the snow??

for a toy, I'd say 100lbs is probably good.  200 at the max.  I put 500# in my F250, and it drives nicely with that weight. 

[N.S.Runner]

Bolt some thick steel plate to the floor or underside of the bed.

[Gadzooks [OP]]

Alrighty, MTR's are out. M/T's vs Truxus vs A/T's. I like the thick steel bolt down idea, takes up less space than sand bags thats for sure.

[Rockcrawlintoy]

the truxus are an MT. i vote AT for sure. i wanted to get some for my truck but the procomps i have now were too good to pass up

[Cheesemaker]

The more siping in the tread the better traction for wet, icy, & snow traction.  Look at the TRXUS m/t, they do really good on hwy and off. 

[kneedownnate]

Have you considered pulling a leaf or two out to soften up the rear?

[Snowtoy]

I run 33" BFG AT's on my '90 X-cab and prefer them over my '91 X-cab flatbed w/35" Xterrains on wet snowy pavement, then again my '90 weighs 1000lbs more than the '91

Since weight is easier to come by then new tores, I woudl start with 1-200lbs of sand, while you look for a used set of 35 AT's, the BFG's are actually snow/ice rated.

[LOL @ IFS]

If your ass end swings out when you brake, that means your rears may be locking before your fronts...  Is your prop. valve adjusted correctly?

[*ROKTOY*]

X2 to above.