OT: Driving on ice

That's great, Tom. I love it!

Chris

"Tom Gardner" wrote in news:i5E7j.6808$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com:

That's not what I've witnessed in Ohio.

You misspelled "Kentucky"...

In CO, the SUVs do an axial 180, maybe a 540, end up rubber side up. Had some nifty pictures from I25 just a day ago, 5 upside down in the median within 100 yards of each other. Similar thoughts, "I've got

4wd, I CAN GO ANYWHERE!" "Anywhere" includes off a cliff, not to be found until spring thaw, maybe a couple of years later. Bears are happy, though, lunch is waiting in the can when they wake up!

Stan

Ohio? Come on, those are the single most common Last Words in the state of Texas.

I think it was Pat McManus who said the most common words after those are "anybody see a place to hook the winch?"

Has your state DOT figured out that salt trucks are not a substitute for snow plows yet?

Wes

The pisser is, in educated hands a 4WD is capable of quite a bit. Its all those pesky uneducated ones (at least 98%).

Dave

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On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:49:09 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Wes quickly quoth:

Then you'd have all those uneddikated folks putting 6,000 Airstreams behind their Yugos and Geos. Be careful what you wish for, Wes.

-- Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it. -- Anonymous

Larry has always HAD something to "pull on"!

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:48:57 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "Tom Gardner" quickly quoth:

You betcha! And I thank the gods for ambidexterity, too, Tawm.

-- Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do, then do it. -- Anonymous

"All 4WD does is get you farther from help"

In educated hands a VW Beetle was capable of quite a bit, on frozen lakes and snowmobile trails. In uneducated ones you were off the road backwards before you realized it was slippery.

If the situation allows I watch the front wheels when the driver ahead of me slides. In more urbanized Massachusetts hardly anyone knows how to keep them rolling.. I think they buy SUVs hoping to compensate for their lack of driving skills; some have even told me so.

I grew up further north where we could play in the woods and learn how to drift a car or motorcycle around a sandy or icy corner and you see a lot more drivers recover from skids.

Jim Wilkins

I use 4WD, have for 40 years when needed. On snow and ice, it's handy at low speeds for turning, climbing grades. It does NOT prevent skidding, and everybody has 4Wbrakes, so no advantage there. If you are going too fast when you hit the ice, 4WD doesn't do a damn thing. Anybody that has spent any time using 4WD in mud or snow should be familiar with skids, correcting skids, or using a controlled skid (hang the rear end out and give it some gas) to help maneuver.

I learned on the extremely greasy clay of the Texas gulf coast. I actually had a Jeep start sliding sideways after I had stopped and gotten out. I had to jump back in, start up, and straddle it across the outside levee on the rice field to keep it out of the big drainage ditch.

No hausfrau that runs exclusively on pavement is going to gain much advantage from 4WD. It takes practice in slippery conditions to know the uses and limitations.

Pete Keillor

Speaking of 4wd - Years ago I had a new '76 Dodge Ramcharger SE and I had a Frink plow mounted to it. My brother was into slalom, and had a nicely done up Plymouth Cricket (not the british one, the Plymouth version of the Dodge Colt in Canada that year) he used to compete with. One weekend I went with him to the regionals with the Ramcharger, and on a lark decided to enter it. Sitting on a set of 4 snowtires, with the plow frame weighting the front end down, I proceded to beat everything in my class except one . My displacement and wheelbase had me running against CORVETTES and the winner's best run was a scant 1/100 second better than my best - which was run in 4wd low range!!! That beast was into third gear 2/3 of the way down each short straight, and wound up just in time for me to nail the brakes to slide it into the corner and floor it to sling-shot it out onto the next straight. Lots of squealing rubber but very little drama in the turns - and QUICK!!!! The guys I beat were impressed and a little embarassed.

Words of wisdom.

Harold

If you allow that to happen by not respecting certain limits, yes.

As someone who often ventured into the boonies alone, and never had to get help to get my pickup unstuck, I can say its the driver recognizing limits and respecting them that makes the difference.

Dave