Sandbags in the bed of a pickup truck

David A. Webb · 2003-12-11T18:06:14+00:00

The safety minded individual knows you should secure sandbags in thebed of your pickup truck to reduce the risk of them going through thecab in the event of an accident.People like my boss, on the other hand, thinks that securing them isunnecessary, because a sandbag can't possibly go through two layers ofautomotive steel, and do any harm to vehicle occupants.I agree that one single sandbag probably wouldn't be a huge threat.But, the threat increases this time of year when the sand getssaturated with water, and freezes into a solid chunk. The threatincreases even further for my truck, because instead of just one 50pound bag of sand, I have 300 pounds. It is actually in plasticbuckets to keep it dry, and I'm actually going to increase it to 500pounds. Traction can be an issue where I live.I have mine secured in a wooden frame that boxes the bed between thewheel wells. The front and rear sides of the box are chainedtogether, and the whole box is chained to the bed. I'm not sure howmuch farther I can go to keep it from moving.Anyway, as I said, my boss thinks I'm nuts. I'm wondering what people here have seen in their lifetime that hasmanaged to damage, or even penetrate, or injure occupants of pickupsbecause they didn't have it properly secured.I put this in the metalworking forum because most people here aresafety conscious, and we are talking about penetrating automotivesheet metal. I figure it should at least make for an interestingdiscussion.Dave

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Mark Jerde 22 years ago

This is possibly/probably true. The U.S. government tested the strength of radioactive waste containers. One of the tests involved a semi tractor trailer on a railroad track, accelerated to about 400 MPS by JATO rockets and run into a huge concrete wall. I got to see a slow motion tape of the impact. For simplicity, RWOTC stand for "Rear Window of the Cab."

- Just before impact, the bumper and the RWOTC were both doing 400 MPH.

- After impact, the bumper was doing zero MPH but the radiator and the RWOTC were still doing 400 MPH.

- A short time later, the radiator was doing zero MPH but the engine and RWOTC were still doing 400 MPH.

This process continued.

- The bottom edge of the windshield hit the concrete wall. Both it and the RWOTC were still doing 400 MPH.

- Half the cab had crushed itself into the concrete wall. The dummy driver, at 400 MPH, hit the steering wheel and windshield, both of which were doing zero MPH. The RWOTC was still doing 400 MPH.

- When the RWOTC hit the concrete wall, it was doing 400 MPH.

It was an incredible film to watch. You'd think that a truck hitting a wall at that speed would cause the rest of the tractor / trailer to slow down at least a little. But as I recall the film, everything disintegrated as it hit the wall and nothing behind the point of impact slowed down at all. Everything mushroomed against the concrete wall. Even the rear tires of the trailer appeared to be going the full 400 MPH when they hit the wall. They hadn't changed direction at all. They were still heading straight forward.

I'll never forget how the cab compressed like an accordion. The steering wheel had gone to zero MPH when the chest of the dummy hit it at 400 MPH. Shortly after that the RWOTC was flat up against the concrete wall and the tractor rear wheels and the trailer were still heading towards the wall at

400 MPH.

Key to the government's testing, the cylinder of simulated radioactive waste hit the concrete wall at (guess ) 400 MPH. It bounced back but did not break open. The test was successful. The truck driver would have been no more than 1/2" thick after impact, but the radioactive container did not break.

Wow. Had a baseball been taped to the RWOTC, the driver's head would have already been flattened by the time the baseball reached it in a high-enough speed accident.

Grisly, but interesting.

-- Mark

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Mark Jerde 22 years ago

Correction. "400 Miles Per Hour" (MPH)

-- Mark

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Fitch R. Williams 22 years ago

I heard that too. I wanted to buy them for Tiph's truck when she went to South Bend but she was told they don't make them in sizes usable on

3/4 ton pickups. Cars yes, trucks no. Drat!

Wouldn't hurt to ask though. Might have changed in two years.

Fitch

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Gerald Miller 22 years ago

Junior got a good deal on Blizzaks for his baby. After the first snow, he had a new credo -"keep a close watch on the rear view mirror cause that guy behind you won't stop as quick as you can!" Gerry :-)} London, Canada

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Fitch R. Williams 22 years ago

I heard about that, never saw the film though. Didn't they also hit it with a train and dropped it from quite a height? Or was that a different test? Container survived all the testing as I recall.

Fitch

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Eastburn 22 years ago

We were warned by a friend that tissue boxes on the 'back deck' in a car

- can kill the driver or other - prior to headrests that protect now on both sides.

Martin

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clare 22 years ago

They go on about Nov 15 and come off about the end of March. They do not wear well on warm pavement.

Blizzaks and Graspics seem to be about equal in performance. The Winter Kings are not far behind, - Michelin Alpins are good on hardpack and ice, but lousy in the deep sloppy stuff. Hakapelitas are excellent too if you can get them. Back in my rally driving days Metzellers and Haks were king for winter rallying - the Metzeller Blue tread was hygroscopic and really gripped the ice well.

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clare 22 years ago

Definitely DO make them for light trucks. W695s and DMZ2s. The WS50 is the standard passenger car tire.LM22s are the performance profile tires.

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clare 22 years ago

and remember, you buy FOUR for one vehicle. You NEVER put on only 2, particularly on Front Drive vehicles. The handling is so radically different from any other (even regular snow) tire that the MUST be installed in sets. These new-breed "High Traction" snow tires are almost as effective as the old studded tires - without the dangers associated with carbide studs. Youngest daughter had Blizzaks on her '94 Colt last year - and could go regardless of how bad the weather / roads were. Her friends would often leave their larger, heavier, in most people's eyes "more capable" cars sit in bad weather and go with her. I never worried if she was going to get stuck - only if she would make it home without being hit. (Small cars have advantages in that repect too ---- but that's another story.) It actually had better traction in snow than the old summer tires had on damp or hot pavement. There was no question when she got the Neon - it was getting a good set of high traction dedicated snow tires for the winter.

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Mark Jerde 22 years ago

I seem to recall that too, but all I ever saw was the JATO truck. The doggone rear licence plate hit the wall at 400 MPH!

If you ever find a link to the others, please post! Or email!

The interaction of large, fast moving masses is very interesting. The timescale is long, but two spiral galaxies running into each other and sloshing back and forth and back and forth until a cluster galexy is formed is an interesting process. The 70 years of human life doesn't let one appreciate it in real time, though.... ;-)

-- Mark

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Orrin Iseminger 22 years ago

They are still legal in Washington. They do enormous damage to the highways, though. The concrete surface of Interstate 90 through Spokane is *deeply* rutted from studs.

Orrin

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Glenn Lyford 22 years ago

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--Glenn Lyford

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Fitch R. Williams 22 years ago

Probably can - but I don't think you can cause that just by hitting the brakes. I could be wrong, but nothing I own stops that fast. It takes a lot of feet to stop from 60 mph. If you collide with something, that is a totally different story. The tissue box could hit you at a relative velocity at least as high as the initial velocity at the beginning of the collision. That could hurt.

fitch

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Fitch R. Williams 22 years ago

Cool. What size and weight rating are those? I will need 6 of them in load range D for my 3500 Dodge after I move to PA if I can get them the right size. Chains don't seem like a good idea on a dually. Blizzacks might be just the right tire.

Thanks Fitch

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John Stevenson 22 years ago

Think on the bright side, at least you will have something handy to mop the blood up with.

___

Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

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clare 22 years ago

Up to 12 pli IIRC. Do a google search on Blizzak W695

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Sunworshiper 22 years ago

That and a bunch of stuffed animals to snuggle with until the meat wagon shows up. And the little doggy nodding as if saying I told you not to keep that cardboard box back there with us.

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David A. Webb 22 years ago

Now how the heck did you remember that? That was Halloween of 2002.

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Dave

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David A. Webb 22 years ago

As luck would have it...

It started snowing here today while I was at Lowe's.

When I headed over to Wal-Mart, a guy stopped in front of me.

I was probably only going 5mph, but couldn't stop. Too slippery. I took my foot off the brake, and tried to steer to the curb, but I still slid forward. I had turned enough that I tagged the corner of his bumper at about 1mph.

He was driving a Park Avenue, and I was in my truck.

His bumper was smooshed a little, but I'm sure it will all have to be replaced to make it right. I'm guessing $300 minimum.

Now that I think about it, I still haven't looked at my bumper. Not much need, as it is an '85 F150 with a chromed steel bumper. Not plastic like my Saturn.

I gave him my name, address, phone, and told him to send me the bill.

Obviously the sand didn't help. But at least it was secure and didn't slide forward in the bed. 8-)

Dave

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jim rozen 22 years ago

Just remember (not sure if this was covered) that the compound on blizzaks happens to be very, very soft. So much so that they actually make them dual-compounded IIRC, the first part is very soft and 'works' in snow, but if driven for any length of time on clean pavement, will wear rapidly. There is a harder compound rubber underneath.

Never buy blizzaks 'used only one season...'

Jim

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