Well we a snow storm here today and the ranger was terrible in snow.. factor in i've only been driving the standard for 4 days.. i dont have any weight in the bed.. etc etc.. the tires are 90% brand new.. they are cooper discoverer at's, will the extra weight in the back make much difference?

 

Yes weight in the back will make lots of difference. Help keep traction in the rear and keep from sliding around.

 

Yes Ryan is correct, put some sand bags maybe like a total of 100lbs, and they won't slide around either.
I actually use water softner salt 40 lb bags, then when winter is over i use the salt for the softner system in my house.

 

like said above.. get a little weight back there, and it'll do fine. i love my truck in the snow.

we're getting a foot of snow tomorrow into sunday morning, cant wait!!!!!!

 

yea they are calling for 10-15 inches tonight.. I'll get some bags tommorrow and fill them with road sand from the municipal depot so 100 pounds enough?

 

I never added any weight so I cannot comment on that, but I am using the michelin ltx m/s tires and to make a long story short, my two wheel drive ranger is much better in the snow than my 4 wheel drive F-350 diesel. I used to have a 2wd '94 s-10 with the same ltx m/s tires and it was also very good in the snow. I never tried adding weight because I'm cheap and don't want the extra fuel milleage that will come with the extra weight.

 

Yea, we're supposed to get that snow here too

I bought some tube sand bags from home depot. Two on each side centered above the wheels. They were dirt cheap

 

hell i just shovel the snow from the driveway into my bed. i level it to the top of my bed rail covers and i'm good to go. a snow tonneau cover. i can definitely feel the difference.

 

rj 100lbs wont make a diffrence in your milage... its like having a 12y/o kid riding with you basicly....

 

I put about 150lbs to 200lbs in my truck 2 wheel drive ranger(when I had one). I drove through over a foot of fresh snow with no problems and all I had some cheap tires on it too.

 

I normally go with 3-4 60# bags

 

the one time i have driven in the snow i didnt like it so much... im not gonna be driving much this weekend

 

yes they are dirt cheap i can vouch for that one since i work there, they are like 5 bucks. i have 4wd so i normally dont add any weight. i usually leave the snow thats in the bed

 

Ha, I hear you man, I hear you! I too was shocked how badly my '99 XL 4x2 handled in the snow the first time I had it out in some moderately deep stuff.
Ditto.. or at least I did until I bought a 4x4! I find the weight is far less important w/ 4WD at your disposal. 4WD really helps at slow speeds. And if you loose control at high speed you're screwed regardless of how much weight you have in the truck.

Things to remember:
- Slow the fawk down!
- Extra weight will make a world of difference if you're in a 2WD ride
- Keep the truck pointed straight as much as you can, the poop hits the fan when you get the rear tires out of line w/ the front tires
- Downshift very very gently (or not at all!).. whatever you do, do not pop the clutch!
- Gentle, easy movements w/ the throtle. Same w/ the brake if you can avoid it.

 

well guys i was out tonight in the snow.. and it was terrible.. it was slippery anyway .. but without the weight it would just spin and spin and get stuck in like a few inches of white powdery stuff.. first thing Sat morning.. trip to home depot!!

 

another thing to remember is weight is your best friend, till you have to stop fast. ALWAYS secure your load..... we had a skid of sand slide from one side of dads truck to the other, and that put us sideways..... and that truck is a tank thruogh the snow....

 

With about 300lbs in the bed of my 94 4x2, I went just about anywhere I wanted without any problems. Since I bought the 03 4x4, the most snow we've had at once has been about 3" (plenty of ice though...argh !!!). We're expecting about 5" here today, and about 10-12" in the mountains. I have to take my daughter back to college today (UVA), so I'll get a chance to see how it does in the 10" range.

 

update.. I bought (2) 100 pound bags of rock salt..works awesome.. the difference is night and day.. now i just have to secure them in there so they dont be sliding around :)

 

Just filled my bed with snow, shovelled it in walked on it to compact it. Any idea how much weight i added?

 

*Currently rocking the snow tonneau cover*

Judging from how tired I was when I was done, I'd say it's more than enough lol.

 

im gonna top mine up tonight too.. pack it in good

 

a lot

 

i didnt bother with any weight or for this storm, and barely used 4x4, and did just fine. yeah, there were corners and stops from time to time that had me spinning... but i still got threw them. lol, i got a little carried away with the slidding and put myself sideways a few times.. luckily noone is driving around in the middle of the night like i was.

 

My truck is pretty bad (or good if you like sliding around) on ice, decent in snow. Up here it's been warm during the day and cold during night so night and morning my neighborhood steets are pretty much like an ice rink, you could skate around my block no joke.

 

The amount of snow delivered with an inch of rain can vary depending upon the size of the snow flakes...
Snow can weigh more or less depending upon the water content of snow which is dependant upon the wind speed and air temperature when the snow is formed.... You can get 4 inches of snow from as little as a 1/8" of rain...
Water weighs approximately 8 lbs per gallon....
You need to figure out the size of the truck bed; approximately (8'x4'x3'), the amount of snow in the bed which is 96 cubic feet, multiply that by the weight of a cubic foot of snow 2-5 lbs (varies upon water content) which means the weight can range from approximately 200 lbs to as much as 480 lbs.
So you have A LOT of weight in the bed by filling it with snow....

OR 4x4