Need advice - driving on icy I-25 and lost control multiple times

[silverbullet555]

I'm sure by now you've gotten all sorts of advice. I'm not familiar with those tires, but you're not going to buy new ones.

Ice is a pain and scary at times. Snow not so much.

We all have different opinions, but will all likely agree with put as much weight as you can in the bed. Home Depot and Lowes sell sand tubes for the purpose if you need more.

Keep your foot of the brakes and gas as much as possible.

4wd will not help you stop. The brakes work the same no matter what. I do think it is helpful to drive in 4wd on slippery conditions if it is consistently icy. If the ice is intermittent, depending on your truck's 4wd system it could be less beneficial or damaging as it binds up when there is no ice.

Take it easy, 25 MPH. Keep an eye out. The pucker factor can be immense and it is no fun to drive in. Very stressful and tiring.

 

[Wrench]

Hearing guys say to drive 25mph is nails on a chalkboard to guys that live in the mountains.

IF YOU DO THIS, pull over as soon as you have a rig behind you. Your ability and comfort zone is not the same as the others.

Drive within you and your vehicles capabilities....but don't become a hazard to others by pacing, speeding up in passing, ones or stacking traffic and not pulling over.

New tires will be a game changer and 4wd is there for a reason.....just kick it out when doing sharp turns on good traction surface.

 

[jmez]

I ended up driving the last 50 miles or so at 40mph in 4WD and didn’t have any other issues.

There is your answer. Don't overdrive the conditions and use 4WD. The "locals" that are used to it all end up in the ditch at some point when they overdrive the conditions. Bridges and overpasses are always the worst. When it is icy/bad roads as soon as my front tires hit an overpass I just lift my foot off the accelerator until I'm across, then ease back into it on the other side.

I watched some asshat in a big dually nearly crater a lady yesterday morning on an overpass. She and I were driving 50, I can see him coming from a ways in the passing lane ripping along about 80. Went by me, going by her on an overpass and there went his backend. Came about 2 inches from hitting her right in the drivers door.
Check your rearview mirror often. You are going to have a lot of idiots driving like it is still summer. They stay in the passing lane. When you can see that one is coming up quicker than everyone else just stay in your lane until they have passed. If you are coming up on a slower vehicle don't move out to pass them if you can see someone is roaring up the passing lane.

 

[jmez]

The other tip is, if you feel your back end slip at all, immediately take your foot off of the gas pedal and don't try to steer out of it. 9 times out of 10 you will immediately straighten back out. When you have to start turning the wheel your in trouble.

 

[Eightyseven57]

As a guy who’s spent much of his time driving bigs rigs in northern Canada and pilot truck when not driving rigs. Best thing you can do is throw some nokian tires on your truck. The next thing to do is take your truck somewhere where you can comfortably lose control icy parking lot ect and practice losing and regaining control so you know what your vehicle feels like when it’s starting to lose control and you can be comfortable regaining control. As others have said 4wd is a good tool but best thing to remember is your acceleration will be better than your braking so remember that. Blizzak tires are the best but only for the first 20% of the tires life then they drop behind nokians. Best of luck to you there is no substitute for experience

 

[TheCougar]

Short of buying snow tires, I did everything I could. Tires are deflated to 30ish, I put 400 pounds of sand in the bed, I talked to some truckers and got a road condition report, and I went to a tire shop and tried to buy new AT tires, but the owner told me not to bother. Only snow tires would help, and I’m not going that far.


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[philos]

I was in Wyoming few years back when I-80 froze super quick. I kept my truck in 4wd and drove slower than most. Funny thing-and true-I watched numerous vehicles pass me and many of them were in the ditches, median or wrecked few miles down the road. Not sure of exact number but it was over 12 that passed me and wrecked within a few miles and most were west coast and even a couple were locals.

I live in SC but have driven in ice and/or snow here, in NC mountains, New York, Wyoming and Nebraska a few times.

Someone mentioned earlier in the postings to stay in your comfort zone. That is very sound advice. Driving on ice and driving on snow are very different. Don't let anyone tell you to speed up if you already know you are temporarily loosing control. If others have a problem with the slow speed they can pass.-and likely wreck soon thereafter Airing down is good and all but I will always drive slow enough to be in control. If they are behind you and don't like it--too bad. They don't pay your insurance.

 

[cbat]

If you do buy new tires have them sipped. Makes a lot of difference handling the ice. We have lots of icy snowpacked roads here,

 

[wapitibob]

My family logged for decades and we learned to drive in the winter or the crew didn't get to work. Tires make a big difference, as does weight but you need real weight. 400# isn't really enough. 4x drive makes a difference but we always had locking hubs. The new auto 4x can put you in the ditch real quick. And, 40 mph can be way too fast at times, especially when there's a crown to the road.

 

[TheCougar]

40 miles from Billings and the roads are cleared up. Knock on wood, I think it’s smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Roads were 80% wet but good, 10% patchy snow, and 10% snow and ice. I used 4WD for the worst 10% and drove I. My comfort zone, which was around 40-50mph. Tackling that in the daylight was a lot more manageable as I could see what was coming and adjust.

Thanks for all the advice and input. Now I feel like filling my tags is the easy part!

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[Akwoodchuck]

AWD /auto is for driving on ice, 4WD is for crawling out of the ditch....90% of your problem is in your tires, the rest is in your speed. I'll drive 20 in a 60 all the way to work if conditions warrant it.....and pass cars in the ditch the whole way....

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Driving in those conditions is all about PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE. 4 high and go slow and you'll make it there and back no problem. Don't yard on your brakes either, lots of small, light and fast brake taps will keep you in control but if you bury the brake pedal at all you will lose it. Keep plenty of distance in between you and other vehicles on the road and stay within your abilities. PATIENCE.

 

[tim tarras]

I use to have had 2 sets of Michelins on my truck and always had problems with them in snow/ice here in WI. No matter what I did they just were not good tires in those conditions. The best thing I did was go to the 3 Peak symbol tires. They have held the road so much better that i am going to be putting them on the car for this coming winter. It's not how fast you get there; getting there in one piece is what matters.

 

[wapitibob]

Have fun on your hunts.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Glad to hear you made it to Billings! Good luck hunting.

 

[300wmxcr2]

Always remember that 4 wheel drive will only give you more control driving , it does nothing for stopping. People think that once you put it in 4 x 4 you can drive faster. See these guys waay too often stuck in the median between 4 lanes highways after they try to avoid slower traffic.

At the higher speed you still need to be able to stop. You speed needs to be determined by stopping distance, dictated by road conditions.


Live in norther Ontario so drive in the snow a wee bit.