My new truck!

[Mr. Natural]

Really? Sand bags even tho' it's 4X4? ....

 

I agree. Even a 4X4, especially a lightweight small truck, needs a little help over the rear axle on the ice.

[Jeff-7]

What Fortcon and MR. Natural said, also helps you get some traction on those surfaces and keeps your rear from whipping around so much if you get into a situation. Light rear ends tend to do that as I found out in my Rx7.

[TommyK]

Congrats! or My condolences. Not sure which. New car means new payments, less money for picks and lipstick. Ah well. Looks nice. How does it look on you? You need to get in the pic.

[WahKeen]

I wonder if I started a new thread with "My new truck!", if I would get as many replies as this girl...

 

 

I bet NOT! :P

[Gilliangirl]

What Fortcon and MR. Natural said, also helps you get some traction on those surfaces and keeps your rear from whipping around so much if you get into a situation. Light rear ends tend to do that as I found out in my Rx7.

You have an RX7? I have two RX7's. Used to have 3. My favourite car. Is yours first, second, or third gen?

[Gilliangirl]

Congrats! or My condolences. Not sure which. New car means new payments, less money for picks and lipstick. Ah well. Looks nice. How does it look on you? You need to get in the pic.

Tommy I finally found a lipstick I love so won't have to buy anymore (famous last words). We were joking today about throwing a bale of hay in the back to *christen* the truck, then take a picture of the horse eating out of the back of the truck. I might still do that

[milod]

Karen... Happy for you.

 

Nice outfit. Yeah about the sandbags. Somebody in Alberta should ought to have the bags designed specifically for using in the back end of a pickup. They're awfully popular where I live. Besides improving "go" traction, they help with steering too, even in 4WD.

 

As an Albertan you already know about stopping being a bit different from going when it's icy. <grin> I ain't gonna lecture on that.

 

In my Jeeps I haven't usually used the extra sandbags 'cuz I carry a pretty heavy winter kit - more than most folks. When you're off to see your equine, you may wanna think about that too.

 

Oh - and don't worry if your idea of how you may wanna trick out the pickup don't match with what others think. Some add a rhino bed, some a big lockable toolbox, some a topper (my preference) and some just a bed cover that will improve gas mileage a bit but makes hauling a lotta hay or other stuff difficult. It's your outfit, make it yours...

 

m

[Gilliangirl]

Karen... Happy for you.

 

Nice outfit. Yeah about the sandbags. Somebody in Alberta should ought to have the bags designed specifically for using in the back end of a pickup. They're awfully popular where I live. Besides improving "go" traction, they help with steering too, even in 4WD.

 

As an Albertan you already know about stopping being a bit different from going when it's icy. <grin> I ain't gonna lecture on that.

 

In my Jeeps I haven't usually used the extra sandbags 'cuz I carry a pretty heavy winter kit - more than most folks. When you're off to see your equine, you may wanna think about that too.

 

Oh - and don't worry if your idea of how you may wanna trick out the pickup don't match with what others think. Some add a rhino bed, some a big lockable toolbox, some a topper (my preference) and some just a bed cover that will improve gas mileage a bit but makes hauling a lotta hay or other stuff difficult. It's your outfit, make it yours...

 

m

Milod what have you got in your winter kit? Blankets and matches et al?

[milod]

Odd you should ask. <grin> I'm working on my annual print piece on the subject.

 

I personally carry heavy snowpants and an extra parka, dry socks, water bottle, several Bic lighters, a couple old "space blankets," a sleeping bag, wool blanket, an old king bedspread and an extra couple of pair of gloves/mittens that are somewhat oversized. Flashlight(s) and extra batteries. Wool "stocking cap," a couple of wool scarves that are pretty much multi-function. Toilet paper. Some sealed granola bars and/or trail mix type stuff. Candles and cans to hold them a bit off the floor. Snow shovel.

 

Ask yourself what you'd take if you knew your outfit would be half-buried in a snowdrift at -30 F or C for a couple days or more. Or if it just plain quit working at that temp on a back road. Meds if you've gotta take some of them regularly. Some common sense probably won't fit in one of those nice plastic bins I use for the kit, but it helps to have along.

 

I used to carry a Coleman stove, too, but that's when Jeeps were bigger. You gotta be a little careful. I know folks who did the camp stove thing with cardboard rolled up in a can and wax poured in to make a good fire. They burned their vehicle's carpet and some of the seat.

 

Think about how long your cell phone battery might last, too, when it's that cold.

 

There's a lot of other "survival" thoughts that make a lotta sense, but... you just asked about the kit. I usually wear long handles but no really binding clothing so I can wiggle a bit. Small "economy" or "sports" cars are deathtraps along those lines 'cuz you can't wiggle much to keep the blood flowing. Then you lose toes and stuff.

 

If you can't change into dry socks or wrap up in a bag, the vehicle's too little for real winter driving. I know folks who have been buried a coupla days in snowdrifts even inside city limits on Interstate loops, btw.

 

I probably carry more stuff than most, not counting law enforcement types, 'cuz I'm probably likely to go out even when I know what's there 'cuz I'm paid to do so. I've given some of my "kit" stuff to law enforcement folks "on scene" of accident-type thing.

 

Still... as I said, how can you last through three or four days at horrid temps and keep all your fingers, toes and ears...

 

Yeah, I sound kinda grouchy about some of this stuff, but... so do most folks I've met who know what a frozen solid DB feels like when they try to drag it out of a vehicle...

 

m

[TommyK]

Most big box home improvement stores, Lowes, Menards and the like, around here carry "Sand in a Tube", long about this time of year. They are essentially a 4" - 6" sausage of sand, made just for weighting up trunks and truck beds. They are usually 25 or so pounds which are easier for the less robust of us to handle than the usual 50 pound contractor bags.

 

One word of caution, I immediately encase these bags in a heavy duty garbage bag, as the sand invariably leaks out. No sense in scratchin' up that purty truck bed.

 

Speaking of which, Karen, are you going to have the bed Rhino-hided? I avoid the the tupperware bowl like tub inserts as these inserts hold moisture, leaves and whatever all else gets betwixed the bowl and bed. Bottom line, the bed will rust quicker than leaving it in it's factory condition.

 

The down side to sand bags is that they are a 'live' load. When you get into a skid or sudden stop, they slide around. This shifting load can make a skid worse as you attempt to correct and all the traction weight distribution parameters change due to a shifting load. Best winter weight additive I ever seen was a semi-truck tire filled with concrete and an eye bolt for lifting it onto the bed. Then, the weight was chained and load-bindered in place. This does, however, require a lift of some sort to load up.

[Gilliangirl]

Odd you should ask. <grin> I'm working on my annual print piece on the subject.

 

I personally carry heavy snowpants and an extra parka, dry socks, water bottle, several Bic lighters, a couple old "space blankets," a sleeping bag, wool blanket, an old king bedspread and an extra couple of pair of gloves/mittens that are somewhat oversized. Flashlight(s) and extra batteries. Wool "stocking cap," a couple of wool scarves that are pretty much multi-function. Toilet paper. Some sealed granola bars and/or trail mix type stuff. Candles and cans to hold them a bit off the floor. Snow shovel.

 

Ask yourself what you'd take if you knew your outfit would be half-buried in a snowdrift at -30 F or C for a couple days or more. Or if it just plain quit working at that temp on a back road. Meds if you've gotta take some of them regularly. Some common sense probably won't fit in one of those nice plastic bins I use for the kit, but it helps to have along.

 

I used to carry a Coleman stove, too, but that's when Jeeps were bigger. You gotta be a little careful. I know folks who did the camp stove thing with cardboard rolled up in a can and wax poured in to make a good fire. They burned their vehicle's carpet and some of the seat.

 

Think about how long your cell phone battery might last, too, when it's that cold.

 

There's a lot of other "survival" thoughts that make a lotta sense, but... you just asked about the kit. I usually wear long handles but no really binding clothing so I can wiggle a bit. Small "economy" or "sports" cars are deathtraps along those lines 'cuz you can't wiggle much to keep the blood flowing. Then you lose toes and stuff.

 

If you can't change into dry socks or wrap up in a bag, the vehicle's too little for real winter driving. I know folks who have been buried a coupla days in snowdrifts even inside city limits on Interstate loops, btw.

 

I probably carry more stuff than most, not counting law enforcement types, 'cuz I'm probably likely to go out even when I know what's there 'cuz I'm paid to do so. I've given some of my "kit" stuff to law enforcement folks "on scene" of accident-type thing.

 

Still... as I said, how can you last through three or four days at horrid temps and keep all your fingers, toes and ears...

 

Yeah, I sound kinda grouchy about some of this stuff, but... so do most folks I've met who know what a frozen solid DB feels like when they try to drag it out of a vehicle...

 

m

Milod, thanks for the info. I've got roadside assistance with this new truck, but if they can't get to me it's not much good! And I am going way out into the country where the nearest house is miles away. Just trees and gravel roads. Will pack up the truck carefully for those potentially dicey trips. I sure don't want to be one of those DBs LOL

[Gilliangirl]

 

 

Speaking of which, Karen, are you going to have the bed Rhino-hided? I avoid the the tupperware bowl like tub inserts as these inserts hold moisture, leaves and whatever all else gets betwixed the bowl and bed. Bottom line, the bed will rust quicker than leaving it in it's factory condition.

 

Yikes! I was going to have the tupperware put in the back but I sure won't now. What's Rhino-hide? Will check it out online. Thanks Tommy!

[milod]

Karen...

 

Yeah, I just got back from some talking with local emergency folk.

 

Two years ago I had some idiot "news" person in New York almost demanding that I go get a photo a family stuck in a vehicle some 50 miles northwest of where I was blizzarded in at work.

 

It turns out, btw, that the urban type family wouln't respond to the emergency dispatchers but somehow got ahold of some big city media. Hmmm.

 

Anyway, this lady in NY didn't like it when I told her the only to get to the stranded vehicle asap would be to wait until the 30-50 mph winds went down and then rent an airplane with skis.

 

The stranding was in country where I'd seen ranchers with a sled in the back of their pickup as a lifeboat - but only if the winds dropped.

 

Sheriff sez he figures you should have stuff to last around 72 hours. That should be enough for a rescue, but... hey, you and I know what "miles away" means on the Northern Plains.

 

EDIT: Oh - I'm not sure but what I'd not prefer to be the db than to lose significant body parts like hands and arms, feet and legs, nose, ears...

 

m

[TommyK]

Yikes! I was going to have the tupperware put in the back but I sure won't now. What's Rhino-hide? Will check it out online. Thanks Tommy!

 

It's a spray on / roll on, rubber like coating. Usually it is either black or gray in color. Wears like iron. I'm not sure I got the name right. To be any good it should be 1/8 - 1/4" thick when they get done with it. Most new car dealerships either have it or can tell you where to get it applied.

 

Here is one brand of the stuff: http://www.linex.com/linex_6.shtml

and another: http://www.grizzlygrip.com/

[Hall]

Great find, Karen. I know you have been on a long true quest in this matter. I'm very happy for you. Fine truck. Hey! Nice home in the backround also; and with sparkling clean windows.

 

 

Steve

[Jeff-7]

You have an RX7? I have two RX7's. Used to have 3. My favourite car. Is yours first, second, or third gen?

Sorry been busy and hadn't checked back in on this in a while. 3rd Gen. Black '93 Touring. Swapped out the original twin turbos for a big single and a few odds and ends like dp/mp combo intake new fuel comp etc. Sold it 2 years ago to a kid in Topeka, hope he hasn't wrapped it around a tree I would like to buy it back if he hasn't riced it out once I finish my final school loan.