Interstate Fishtailing at 65 MPH in Snow

[treillw]

Was heading out hunting yesterday morning in the dark. Driving on the interstate, going 60 or 65mph. There was a dusting of snow on the highway, like hundreds of times before - the tire tracks were clear, with snow in the passing lane and between the wheel lines. I drove for 10 or 15 minutes without incident on the interstate, after coming off the perpetually icy side roads from my house to civilization. I'm driving on a straight section of road and out of nowhere, the back end of the truck starts coming around on me. I swear that I'm going to fly off the road. I counter-steered and corrected the fish tail. Then it whipped back in the other direction - I was able to correct that one too. Holy crap, that was close was going through my head for two seconds after I got everything back under control and then the back end started to come around on me again. I went through the same counter-steering cycle and got it back under control. The second time wasn't as severe because I was going slower (probably 50 - didn't even have time to consciously slow down after the first instance) - it was still plenty to freak you out. It happened a third time half a mile down the road and I was probably going 40mph - this time it just made me mad.

Never experienced anything like this before - just starting to fishtail out of the blue going straight on the highway. Really freaked me out. I drove for a good bit with the four-ways on at low speed after that thinking somebody was going to crash there.

After I had a few minutes to recover from the adrenaline dump, I looked and had the truck in RWD. I had it set to AWD (not 4wd) just minutes before, but turned it off because the road had cleared up in civilization. The thought to turn it back into AWD on the interstate did not cross my mind in my sleep deprived state.

Anybody have this happen to them?

What caused it? Just hitting black ice? Would having it in AWD have helped my situation?

Hopefully those of you who have had similar experiences fared as well as I did - I'm lucky to not be in the hospital or truck shopping.

The dirt road to my house is a sheet of ice for 3 miles. I'm very used to the back end slipping around on the truck on this road - hit some washboards or potholes and it's enough to kick it loose. The trucks electronic system recognizes it right away, applies the brakes and stops the slide immediately. It even happens on the dirt road when moving at a decent speed (~30mph) over washboards/bumps in turns. 2007 Chevy Silverado.

Thanks!

 

[5MilesBack]

We had that happen in March 2019 in my F-350 with my wife and two daughters with us, driving on I-80 in Western WY. A storm had come through and there was a sheet of ice still with snowpack on the highway in both lanes. The truck was doing pretty well doing 50-60mph while semi's were blowing past us doing 70+. On a straight flat stretch the back end just decided to go a different direction. I corrected and it swung hard the other way, corrected again and it swung hard the other way and I finally was able to guide the truck into the 8" deep snow on the median side to get it all straightened out, then back onto the road again.

I took the next exit to lock in the hubs and the minivan that had been behind us pulls along side to see if we're all OK. They told us they were all freaking out watching us swing back and forth and were praying like crazy. My wife concurred......LOL. Thankfully I've had lots of practice with that kind of stuff over the years, with most of it being intentional. When my daughters were learning to drive I'd take them over to a large empty parking lot covered in snow, and make them do donuts and slides and corrections etc, so they'd know what to do and what it all felt like. I still do that every time I get a new vehicle......just to see how it handles and corrects on the slick stuff. I really prefer a manual transmission for snow and slick handling. That's one reason why we own four of them. They just handle better IMO.

Once I locked the hubs in, I had to drop it into 4hi a few times over the next 100 miles or so to quickly straighten the back end out, but no more hair-raising issues with the 4wd ready to go. It always seems to quickly bring the back end right back to where it should be as soon as I drop it in.

 

[Marbles]

Sounds like being in RWD was the issue, likely hit some ice. AWD would have likely avoided it.

I'm guessing you were on the gas, does not have to be a lot, especially if you don't have winter tires. I have had similar happen to me holding my speed going up a grade with high quality snow tires with studs. The answer is to come off the accelerator and put it in 4WD. If going straight, I do not attempt to steer out of it, physics will keep you going in the same direction and pull you back to straight if you remove the force causing the fishtail (power to the rear axle).

 

[Fatcamp]

If there is snow on the road I'm in 4wd.

Over the years seen and heard of this scenario, and had it happen. Always caused by slick road and speed.

 

[Clark33]

Happened to me on I82, was heading back from Idaho to WA, right as I crossed Umatilla bridge back into WA. Was in my old F250, it had snowed but roads appeared clear, hit some black ice going 60 on a straight stretch. Same thing, back end kept coming around no matter what I did. Got close to the median which was full of snow and counter steered so my ass end would dip into the median and used the snow to stop me. Luckily no other big rigs or vehicles near me.

Limped home in 4wd, weirdest feeling though, almost didn’t feel real at first, like I was just suddenly floating. I was young and had grown up driving in snow but that was a first, learned from it though.

 

[Jethro]

Road was more slippery than you thought and you were driving too fast for conditions. Exasperated by the fact that you weren’t in 4 wheel drive. Would not have happened in 4x4

 

[treillw]

Sounds like being in RWD was the issue, likely hit some ice. AWD would have likely avoided it.

I'm guessing you were on the gas, does not have to be a lot, especially if you don't have winter tires. I have had similar happen to me holding my speed going up a grade with high quality snow tires with studs. The answer is to come off the accelerator and put it in 4WD. If going straight, I do not attempt to steer out of it, physics will keep you going in the same direction and pull you back to straight if you remove the force causing the fishtail (power to the rear axle).

I was off the gas instantly and threading the needle to pump the brakes as much as I could.

I was on the gas when it happened - just maintaining cruising speed. BFG K02 tires with decent tread left.

There is no way that I would be able to locate the 4wd button going sideways down the interstate at 65 mph in the dark at 6am.

How does putting it in 4wd after you're already fish tailing top the fishtail? I certainly can see it stopping it from happening in the first place, but not so much the other way around. Accelerating while fishtailing to make the 4wd function seems like a very bad idea to me. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

If I kept going straight in the fishtail, I would have been somewhere out on the prairie.

 

[Rich M]

We used to see a lot of folks in the ditches. Havebthe stories about folks busting past having a canniption cause we weren’t doing 80 and then there they are in the ditch…

If you are spinning or sliding just going too fast. Why didnt you slow down?

 

[Car7x]

Little wiggles all the time in MN and MT. But the worst is seeing the ass end of your gooseneck loaded with critters in the side mirror trying to get ahead of the truck...

 

[wyosteve]

In RWD sometimes just the crown of the road can cause an imbalance in traction on the ice.

 

[packer58]

Ice definitely has varying degrees of slickness for sure, speed is or should be relative to the conditions your driving in ........ 65 mph plus on ice is just to fast IMO and iv'e driven on plenty of it ..

 

[treillw]

We used to see a lot of folks in the ditches. Havebthe stories about folks busting past having a canniption cause we weren’t doing 80 and then there they are in the ditch…

If you are spinning or sliding just going too fast. Why didnt you slow down?

I did.

 

[jayhawk]

Sounds like just too fast with some snow/ice on the road. I know people sh$t on Subarus all the time, but I'll tell you that those and other SUVs handle waaay better than my pickup on snowy roads. Even with sandbags in the bed.

Glad everybody is safe!

 

[treillw]

Ice definitely has varying degrees of slickness for sure, speed is or should be relative to the conditions your driving in ........ 65 mph plus on ice is just to fast IMO and iv'e driven on plenty of it ..

If I knew it was ice, I wouldn't have been going that fast.

It was an area that had ice. Driven thousands of miles on similar looking roads without this happening.

The entire road wasn't icy.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Very tricky here in the South.
Doing 70, in 2WD because the conditions are fine.
Then you come to a bridge that is iced over and you
dont know until youre crossing it sideways.
And then you hit the dry pavement on the other side - sideways.
Major pucker factor.

 

[98XJRC]

I’ve had it happen before on the highway but typically always related to black ice and being in rwd. Like you’ve said weird feeling when it’s happening as you don’t notice it at first.

Most jacked up situation I had was as a 17 year old. We had an ice storm come through when I was visiting a girlfriend. It came time to head home and most of the roads in the area ended up getting shut down due to being iced over and the FD closing them. I came around one bend barely moving and the road had a slope to it from right to left. My car just kept sliding into the oncoming lane. Wheel cranked the entire way to attempt to correct and no throttle given. I slid down into an oncoming vehicle hitting them behind the drivers side rear wheel. Impact was probably 5 mph so little damage was done to both of us. The gentleman who I hit even stated there was nothing I could have done to avoid him. He could see my wheels cranked and it just kept sliding. That was in a little front wheel drive car. So giving it gas would have only exacerbated the issue.

 

[packer58]

If I knew it was ice, I wouldn't have been going that fast.

It was an area that had ice. Driven thousands of miles on similar looking roads without this happening.

The entire road wasn't icy.

I hear what your saying for sure, just sounds like you got caught up in changing conditions and didn't realize it was ice until you started slipping.

 

[treillw]

I hear what your saying for sure, just sounds like you got caught up in changing conditions and didn't realize it was ice until you started slipping.

I frequently do brake checks to see how much traction there is - wife gets mad at me.

It would be nice if there was some way to differentiate the bad sections of road from the other tens of thousands that look the same.

 

[Billy Goat]

Very tricky here in the South.
Doing 70, in 2WD because the conditions are fine.
Then you come to a bridge that is iced over and you
dont know until youre crossing it sideways.
And then you hit the dry pavement on the other side - sideways.
Major pucker factor.

As a kid I couldn't figure out the signs that said bridges ice before road, I thought they collected water on the end of the bridge before the pavement started and it would ice. Thought that was a stupid design, they should put drains in. Didn't understand that freestanding structure, that had air circulation and no ground contact literally froze before the roads.

Once I could drive I got that shit figured out pretty quick.




Been sideways a lot in the stuff, always sucks. Tractors to me are the scariest, going down hill and they break loose, you up in the air pretty good and everything is hard. Those tires don't have sipes cut in them. Pavement and ice, hold onto your butts.

 

[William Sublette]