Greetings from Georgia with snow and 2wd

[79 silverado]

I had a nice entertaining post made up, but then the computer died and I lost it all. Now, feeling rather lazy and enjoying a nice adult beverage after an 8 (yes eight) hour commute over what should have been a 30 minute drive, I offer for your entertainment and viewing pleasure:

My ice covered front end... much to the chagrin of many an AWD crossover owning "East Cobb Snob" as we like to call them around here, watching me rumble by with my 38+ year old 2wd pickup truck while they sit or stand next to their Cadillac or lexus (or occasional 4wd late model pickup on the curb)...



I used my know-how and former new england driving experience to stop in the local home depot as the road turned to solid ice and build some homemade snow chains... (a little ugly as the outside guides were too long and I didn't want to go back in and trim so I just adjusted and tied them into the sides)

[meatwagon83]

greetings from ohio with snow and 2wd

[old Rusty C10]

For years I only drove 2wds in the snow if you know how to drive in the snow its no big deal besides that's why they sell sand in bags.. to give you extra traction

[nekkidhillbilly]

Originally Posted by old Rusty C10

For years I only drove 2wds in the snow if you know how to drive in the snow its no big deal besides that's why they sell sand in bags.. to give you extra traction

until you have to climb mountains in it. i remember many days of coming backward off a hill in a slide in a 2wd. throwing chains was always fun to. have to get out lay in the snow to fix. never again for me. i still drive 99% time in 2wd but its nice to kick it in 4wd when you come to the mountain that no running go will get it up.

[flashed]

I wish I had some of those chains yesterday as I got stranded behind a lot of people that lost traction and caused a massive parking lot on Ga 140 near Waleska .I finally got my truck to a side road and left it and walked home as all the roads here were jammed .Im hoping to go fetch my truck in a little while when the roads are better.

[bojak]

Had to take in 2 of my friends last night. After 9 hours on the road to go 40 miles they finally got to my house but couldn't get home. So being familiar with how to handle these situations, we polished off a bottle of fireball, and I think a jar of shine but it was a little foggy at that point. We celebrated their narrow escape from snowpocalypse or icemageddon. Southerners aren't great with snow and ice but we are really good at passing the time, time to go tubeing behind the 4wheeler.

[bnoon]

OMG, I just picked myself up off of the floor from laughing so hard! What's that, like an inch of snow and you have CHAINS! Oh mah gurd, make it stop! Jeez, I just snorted a snot bubble... hahahahaha made my day.

Props for making them yourself though!

[79 silverado]

Originally Posted by bnoon

OMG, I just picked myself up off of the floor from laughing so hard! What's that, like an inch of snow and you have CHAINS! Oh mah gurd, make it stop! Jeez, I just snorted a snot bubble... hahahahaha made my day.

Props for making them yourself though!

That's what I used to say for the first year or two I lived down here after spending most of my life all over New England. Then it hit me, there are two problems down here that are amplified by the majority of people not knowing how to handle the snow:

1) They have no spreader trucks. This means there is no salt/sand/gravel mixed into the snow/slush on the road.

2) There is a very high population density with TONS of cars. What happens is they churn and mash the snow up so it no longer sticks in the treads/siping of the tires for grip, then because they don't understand how to drive on the slush, they let it FREEZE because nobody is keeping moving.

When you cite to issue number one, what you wind up with is a solid sheet of ice with nothing to grip to on any of the roads. At least up north, you are driving on snow/packed snow with some abrasive sand/salt/gravel mixed in. Here, once the temp drops, its like driving across a skating rink. Then they get to the next problem, which is nothing to treat and help it melt, or keep what does melt from re-freezing.

The hilarious part was that after I made up my chains, there started to be copy cat customers who were grabbing the chain guy and asking him what I bought and could he cut some for them so they could try to make some... I think I bought all of the fasteners to make them come together though!

[greenmtnboy]

Originally Posted by 79 silverado

That's what I used to say for the first year or two I lived down here after spending most of my life all over New England. Then it hit me, there are two problems down here that are amplified by the majority of people not knowing how to handle the snow:

1) They have no spreader trucks. This means there is no salt/sand/gravel mixed into the snow/slush on the road.

2) There is a very high population density with TONS of cars. What happens is they churn and mash the snow up so it no longer sticks in the treads/siping of the tires for grip, then because they don't understand how to drive on the slush, they let it FREEZE because nobody is keeping moving.

When you cite to issue number one, what you wind up with is a solid sheet of ice with nothing to grip to on any of the roads. At least up north, you are driving on snow/packed snow with some abrasive sand/salt/gravel mixed in. Here, once the temp drops, its like driving across a skating rink. Then they get to the next problem, which is nothing to treat and help it melt, or keep what does melt from re-freezing. !

EXACTLY what I have been telling both my friends back in VT and the indignant Southerners who I offend. One guy said "It's worse here...we have ICE!" I said "last time I checked the stuff falling out of the sky is snow, it turns to ice because of the #1 problem...the PEOPLE.

[Woogeroo]

Originally Posted by bnoon

OMG, I just picked myself up off of the floor from laughing so hard! What's that, like an inch of snow and you have CHAINS! Oh mah gurd, make it stop! Jeez, I just snorted a snot bubble... hahahahaha made my day.

Props for making them yourself though!

Try it some time with no snow tires... we have little to no infrastructure dealing with snow since it only happens every 3-4 years to where it snows and sticks on the roads and causes an issue... plus, folks around here can't drive in the rain, much less ice. Our general philosophy is 'stay put', cuz it'll melt in a day or so.

However, the geniuses what's in charge didn't want to believe the weather people... so they waited until everyone was at work and in school, before they hit the panic button. The general rule of thumb for us that grew up around here is : if it freezes the night before and the temps are below freezing before the snow hits... stay put. Cuz it's gonna be an icy slip n' slide.

Another issue is 'Atlanta' is city of around 430,000 some odd thousand people... but the Metro Area of Atlanta is 5 million plus... all with different city/county governments and school systems strung out over hundreds and hundreds of square miles... and they don't get along or communicate.

Suburban Sprawl run amok.

It's a mess.

----

79 silverado,

dang good thinkin' there.

-W

[79 silverado]

Originally Posted by bojak

So being familiar with how to handle these situations, we polished off a bottle of fireball, and I think a jar of shine but it was a little foggy at that point. We celebrated their narrow escape from snowpocalypse or icemageddon. Southerners aren't great with snow and ice but we are really good at passing the time, time to go tubeing behind the 4wheeler.

This is where its at. Hrmm... I also have an unopened bottle of fireball in the cabinet, sounding tasty...

[79 silverado]

Originally Posted by flashed

I wish I had some of those chains yesterday as I got stranded behind a lot of people that lost traction and caused a massive parking lot on Ga 140 near Waleska .I finally got my truck to a side road and left it and walked home as all the roads here were jammed .Im hoping to go fetch my truck in a little while when the roads are better.

I think I spent from about 2:45 to about 6:30 on 120 waiting for people to get out of the way.... finally I gave up and went into home depot, made the aforementioned chains, and took back streets and roads which were an inch plus of solid ice. Only vehicle that was able to go anywhere on them too, a couple jeeps and such tried to follow me but they didn't seem to stay on the roads long from where they started tailing me before sliding off and down the shoulders

[bigblock73]

Those of us who live in snow 4-5 months out of the year shaking our heads in disbelief of how such little snow can a use such headaches for those not used to it.

From MinneSNOWta

[TheBlueBomber]

Greetings from North Cackalacky!

[flashed]

We definitely are not equipped to deal with all this snow and ice like you northern folks are and our DOT decided to not spread salt and gravel because they thought this storm was going to miss us .Instead of spreading something before it happened they decided to wait until traffic was at a stand still and traffic was blocked and the trucks could not get through. Its a mess out there ,and its not just us southern drivers either ,We have tractor trailers all over the interstates that are stuck and Im sure they are not all local to us.

[faribran]

some may LAFF at us here in the DEEP SOUTH, be we really are not prepared for all the ice and white stuff... LOL

[68Timber]

As said, it's not snow, its ice, and southern states have little to no snow removal equipment because it is so rarely needed, and because thaws almost always follow within 36 hrs or less if you do get the snow/ice here.

[Rich84]

Must be global warming..

[legendman]

2 inches? LOL

[meatwagon83]

there has been snow on the ground here since november we have been gettin 3-5 inches weekly and are about to get more

[nekkidhillbilly]

at least its gonna warm up you in oh getting about the same as us.

[Zoomad75]

This cracks me up to no end. We got at most an inch the night before last. I had a couple of parts to pick up for our body shop at different salvage yards before heading into the shop. I proceeded to drive my 2WD S10 across to the east side of town (10 miles), get one part and then head back west. I dropped my boy off at his buddie's house for school (on a 2 hour delay) and headed out for the next yard. Made my normal 45 mile commute in the snow with the side trip to the 2nd yard while only adding about 25 minutes to my normal ride from where I dropped my son off. Plows hadn't been really hitting it hard on hwy 50 nor was there any mag chloride or gravel thrown down. I took off in 2nd or 3rd gear (manual trannys are great in snow!) most of the time and just putted my way in. Never got stuck or slid out of control. It was pretty slick in some areas.

I grew up driving my '69 Nova in the snow out here. Never got stuck in it. I drove a '78 Malibu back in my Detroit days in the wintertime. My boss at GM couldn't figure out how I got to work without 4wd. Slow and easy, that's it.

Now I've had the pleasure to wake up to 5 inches of snow in Springfield Missouri. The dealer I was scheduled to visit that day closed down since nobody could make it in. I had a flight out the next day out of the Kansas City airport and decided we might as well head in that direction due to the weather and road conditions. I've never seen it so slick that Semi trucks couldn't make it up highway on ramps. I drove slow and easy all the way back to KC. I've never seen more people drive like maniacs on packed snow and ice as I did that day. Spinning out of control in corners, following too close and nailing the car in front when stopping. At one point I saw 3 cars in a couple of miles just spin out of control (on straight road no less!) without any reason I could see other than too much speed. I motored right on past never loosing control, laughing my tail off.


I feel bad you southern folks aren't used to this but I can't deny the humor it brings to us that are used to regular snow.

[nekkidhillbilly]

Originally Posted by Zoomad75

This cracks me up to no end. We got at most an inch the night before last. I had a couple of parts to pick up for our body shop at different salvage yards before heading into the shop. I proceeded to drive my 2WD S10 across to the east side of town (10 miles), get one part and then head back west. I dropped my boy off at his buddie's house for school (on a 2 hour delay) and headed out for the next yard. Made my normal 45 mile commute in the snow with the side trip to the 2nd yard while only adding about 25 minutes to my normal ride from where I dropped my son off. Plows hadn't been really hitting it hard on hwy 50 nor was there any mag chloride or gravel thrown down. I took off in 2nd or 3rd gear (manual trannys are great in snow!) most of the time and just putted my way in. Never got stuck or slid out of control. It was pretty slick in some areas.

I grew up driving my '69 Nova in the snow out here. Never got stuck in it. I drove a '78 Malibu back in my Detroit days in the wintertime. My boss at GM couldn't figure out how I got to work without 4wd. Slow and easy, that's it.

Now I've had the pleasure to wake up to 5 inches of snow in Springfield Missouri. The dealer I was scheduled to visit that day closed down since nobody could make it in. I had a flight out the next day out of the Kansas City airport and decided we might as well head in that direction due to the weather and road conditions. I've never seen it so slick that Semi trucks couldn't make it up highway on ramps. I drove slow and easy all the way back to KC. I've never seen more people drive like maniacs on packed snow and ice as I did that day. Spinning out of control in corners, following too close and nailing the car in front when stopping. At one point I saw 3 cars in a couple of miles just spin out of control (on straight road no less!) without any reason I could see other than too much speed. I motored right on past never loosing control, laughing my tail off.


I feel bad you southern folks aren't used to this but I can't deny the humor it brings to us that are used to regular snow.

i get quite a bit of snow every year. you will not make it out of my driveway in a 2wd. ive almost put it in the creek in a 4wd. it makes a big difference when you have large hills to climb with curves and no place to get a running go at the hill.

[Straight six]

This is what we deal with me and the wife's car last year first ones to shovel out we both almost stroked out lol..

[Rich84]

Originally Posted by Straight six

Attachment 1208147
This is what we deal with me and the wife's car last year first ones to shovel out we both almost stroked out lol..

I had to get a bucket loader for the driveway for that one.