What to use for weight in the winter?

[shuttermutt]

Well, here's what the weather service has planned for me...

Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service

... A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...

SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION LATE TONIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO MONDAY NIGHT. THE SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES. EXPECT SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 16 TO 22 INCHES... WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS BY TUESDAY MORNING. AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ARE ALSO EXPECTED.

I've got Cooper WeatherMaster studded snow tires on all four corners. All I'm lacking is some weight to help those studs do their thing. Anybody have hints on what I can use that won't encourage any more rust than is necessary? I'm thinking three or four cheap plastic tubs filled with sand (serves a dual purpose). Thoughts?

[N2TRUX]

My brother lives in Idaho, so they get lots of cold and snow. He puts a couple of hay bales in the back, and soaks them with the hose. The water freezes and adds weight. It doesn't seem like enough, but hes been doing it for years...

[cdowns]

if i need to i'll just fill the bed with coconuts

[67cst]

my 276 litre propane tank does the trick! haha its a heavy bastard especailly when its full

[dinnut]

bags of sand will work. the big ones. a couple of them.

[Nova_Cobra64]

We have a bunch of crushed white landscaping rock laying around. That is what I used when I still drove my beater.

[Canadian694x4]

A guy I work with made little boxes that fit ahead and behind the wheel wells in the box but still leaves you 4x8 foot space to pile your $hit (basically making the cargo area of a stepside box) then filling them with sand...and if that isn't good enought where I work we have 1 and half inch thick patio stones that are 24"x24" and you can lay them down in the bottom of that 4x8 space for tons of added weight...

[67gmcss]

take a big inner-tube (even from like a tractor or something) and cut a 3,4,or 5 ft. section of it.....fill it with sand and use zip-ties on each end.....won't scratch, can be moved around, and can be as heavy as you can lift....make a couple of littler ones and put over each tire or whever you need....throw it in your garage during the summer months to scotch your vehicle with. hope this helps....

[72bigblock]

i have a 55 gal. gas tank in the bed and a 55gal drum of used oil. goes any where. chris

[old Rusty C10]

i throw in six bags of sand all winter and int he summer time i just throw em in the back of my yard

[Palf70Step]

I used to use the concrete parking bumpers (Shortbed). Three or four of them strecth end to end in the bed and distribute the weigth evenly over the back. About 400 lbs that way.

My dad came up with a weird one in his ranger years ago. 8-12 inch thick chunk of steel about 2 to 2-1/2 feet square. I have no idea what it wieght, but two of us couldn't move it. He use to use a fork lift at work to lift it in and out of the back of his ranger...

I was scared to death what would happen if that thing ever slid forward in that bed. Never did though.

[lux hauler]

http://www.quikrete.com/catalog/Tubesand.html
I keep four of these in the bed of my Ranger.....works real well with my studded tires.
When winter is over, I stack 'em in the garage....to keep the sun from beating on them and aging the bags.
They usually last 2 or 3 years before the bags start to fall apart.

[shuttermutt]

Hey, looks like we've got a bunch of good ideas here. I like the innertube idea, but the problem would be finding one. I'm still leaning towards plastic tubs filled with sand and placed just in front of the wheel wells. I figure each tub would hold about 5-6 cubic feet of sand. If you estimate a single cubic foot of sand at about 70# then each tub is worth a conservative 350#. Put three of those in there for a somewhere over 1000# and I doubt I'd have to worry about it.

[shuttermutt]

Hey lux... how much do those tubes of sand cost? That'd be pretty slick, too!

[Baradium]

You know, if you carry enough spares etc, it'll work for that too. Get a tool box and fill it with stuff, that'll add some weight and help you out too!

In the back of my scout I have 5 30MM ammo cans, 2 7.62MM ammo cans, 1 5.62? MM ammo can and a 30-06 ammo can filled with stuff (one 30MM is a dedicated first aid, one is dedicated to flight stuff, the rest are pretty well spare parts, coveralls, 8ton tow rope and stuff like that... the 4 ton come along is outside of the cans). I also have two good sized tool boxes of tools.

Oh, and I have the 2.5 ton floor jack. The high lift jack rides on the front bumper.

I think that about covers everything.

Among the items I have are any fluid I could need, from oil to coolant, timing light, multimeter, timing wrench, chocks, fuel hose, electric fuel pump in case of mechanical failure... the list goes on for a while.

Before you guys think I'm completely crazy, most of the year I have no access to a garage so if I have to work on the scout I'm working out of the scout, so it makes sense to keep the stuff inside the scout.

Now back to the crazy stuff, I've started carrying a sleeping bag with me too and I've always had a gallon of gatorade, but now I'm adding much more water to the list. There's also a tiny emergency stove and a military surplus folding shovel.

I like the tool box idea because you add weight but it's also very usable stuff. If you need to haul extra weight around, why not make it so you can take your truck apart if you need to? Can help others more if you'd like and can help yourself more if you need to.

Don't forget a ciggarette lighter air compressor if you don't have onboard air.

You could also get one of those tool boxes that also serves as an aux fuel tank, you can even mount sending units in those things.

You know what the crazy part is? I can always think of more stuff I could use!

Wanna try naming some stuff that I might need that you don't think I'll have on hand to see if you can give me anymore ideas?


One of the things I know I don't need is my air raid siren, but that doesn't take up all that much room and it's cool to have on hand... if I ever get the spare time to join a volunteer fire dept I could even install it...

Sorry for the rambling post...

[shuttermutt]

You know, reading Baradium's list got me to thinking, "Man, great idea, but what happens when some jerk gets sticky fingers? I couldn't leave all that in the back of my truck. I'll just keep my toolbag in the cab and not worry about it."

Then I realized that I hardly ever lock my truck and the bag's too big to fit under the seat. In two seconds somebody could make off with over $100 in tools and I even supply the carrying case for them. Damn!

Now I'm thinking about building a flat steel or aluminum box that will fit under the seat and can be tethered to something solid with a padlock and some aircraft cable. Heck, even a bicycle lock on my bag might slow 'em down a second or two.

Fortunately, the crime rate isn't too severe here in Arooooostook County. Still, if you make it easy for 'em, somebody's gonna take advantage of it. Hmmm... you know what'd be slick? A slide-out tool drawer that comes from underneath each seat. You could even put individual barrel locks on there with relative ease. I think I'll start drawing it up tomorrow!

Or, I could steal that under-the-hood toolbox idea that somebody posted a couple of weeks ago. That'd be pretty slick and the tools would be right there where I need 'em when I need 'em. Hmmm...

[GM72K10]

Get a punch of old drywall or paint plastic buckets. The paint ones are 5 gallons, drywall 4.5 gallons. If you go to a construction site dumpster, at least around here, you can get them for nothing. Go to the brickyard, 9 buckets full is about 500 lbs. Put in concrete or bar sand, concrete is the real coarse sand. Keep the old lids on them so they don't fill with water or snow.
Plus, no idiot is going to want to steal a 65 lb bucket of sand!

[fast14]

Especially in the ice and snow!! lol

[lux hauler]

Originally posted by shuttermutt
Hey lux... how much do those tubes of sand cost? That'd be pretty slick, too!

I wanna say $7 each.....but I can't remember for sure. The ones I have now I bought two or three years ago. Got 'em at Sears Hardware.

[lukecp]

I always throw firewood in the back of mine until it starts squatting. It is easy to move, won't dent the bed, and no one in their right mind would steal it.

Of course we supplement gas heat at home with firewood (saves alot on the gas bill), but if you don't have any spare wood, sand would proably work pretty good.

[Smokin72on20s]

at my local home depot you can buy the 60lb quikrete sand bags for $3.50 each.

[lux hauler]

I have a rubber mat in my truck now so the bags don't slide around but......before the rubber mat, in another truck with regular, plactic bags of sand, I took off too fast from a stop light, one of the frozen blocks of sand slid back and smacked the tailgate.......bowed the 'gate.
Make sure, whatever you use, doesn't move around and tear up the bed.

[orange72350]

how bout a 500 pound snowmobile? when ya break down, slide the sled out and hit the snow. haha. works for me, plus it looks good and is accessable when ya want it.

[Baradium]

You need to secure the tool box guys! Don't get the cheapo tool boxes, there are some nices ones that actually *are* secure.

Don't just screw them into the bed rails, use real bolts with washers or at least big screws. If you get a full depth one, you can use bolts through the bed floor too. A good tool box will not be easily broken into... the idea is to make it harder to break into then the truck itself! And all they have to do to do that is break a window...

If you are going to build a box anyway, you could make it bigger and put it in the bed.. then you can *know* you built it securely and that the stuff won't go anywhere. And you are back to having the added weight be useful.

-Ryan

[1969 GMC]

Originally posted by yellow72custom
I always throw firewood in the back of mine until it starts squatting. It is easy to move, won't dent the bed, and no one in their right mind would steal it.

haha...maybe they wouldnt steal it where you live. but once when i was younger, i went with a friend to a christmas tree lot in his dad's little 2wd ranger, and he had the bed almost full of firewood. we were out of sight of the ranger for maybe 1/2 hr tops, and when we got back, most of the wood was gone.

If I ever get around to it, I'm going to get 5- 80 pound bags of softener salt, and come spring time put them in the water softener. I don't really think I'll need it though, the GMC is very surefooted goin slow in 4lo. My friend uses some large pieces of plate steel that you can't move by yourself, and another uses sandbags.