Driving on Ice

[rustyg]

I know we got some pro's here at driving on Ice, how about some tips. Also, what would be a good set up, lockers up front would seem to give good direction.

[Longhorn Man]

There is actually a write up in the FAQ bieleve it or not.
I say just go slow and never stab the gas ot slam on the brakes...so far it was worked for me, but the advice given over there all makes sence to me.

[rustyg]

Thanks Longhorn!

[Mudder]

A locker in the front is not a good idea on ice.

[special-K]

Don`t drive.Other than that,be careful!If you start sliding trying to stop,head for(try)the shoulder.You`re better off on the stone shoulder,grass,or even snow.Also,I`d rather hit a stationary object than have a head-on.Usually,you won`t find ice on the road,when you do,nobody`s driving,or shouldn`t.What`s tricky is "black ice".It`s so thin,it`s black.Usually is frozen run-off from the day`s melting.

[mrein3]

Do you mean tips on driving on ice covered roads?
Or driving on ice covered lakes?

[71swb4x4]

I would second that a locker up front on ice is bad news.

[Benrs86]

the biggest problem i see when riding with friends is that when they start sliding they slam on the brakes even harder. living in south dakota you learn fast how to do it. if your sliding put it in neutral and let off the brakes, go straight, then slowly use breaks. if its front wheel drive and your sliding past your turn let off the brakes and you are usually guaranteed to make the corner. good luck, Ben

[rustyg]

thinking more about it, limited slips are probably better for traction, front or rear.

[Blue Beard]

When I was young we went out to a vacant cow field....put it into a slide and learn how to control the slide.

Gently at first until we understand what's happening

[Russell]

If you are not able to find a field vacant of cows, a large empty parking lot will suffice

As listed above, if it seems you are gonna miss your turn, just let go of the brake, 75% of the time, your front wheels will hook and you'll whip around, then you just need to be able to catch the resulting fish tail.

Kudos to the guy who mentioned to throw her into neutral at the first signs of sliding while stopping! He hit the nail right on the head. You'd be amazed just how much of a difference this makes. In my truck, I can slam on the brakes as hard as I want while in drive, the front wheels will always lock up, but the rear wheels will keep turning, thats becuase they have the power of the engine idling still pushing them, fighting against the braking power. If you toss her in neutral it takes that power out of the system, and suddenly the rear end will lock up too. Now, while this demonstrates the difference it makes, you don't ever want to lock up while you are trying to stop, if you lock up, immediately let go of the brake, and put it back down slowly after tossing it into neutral. You will stop faster by doing this than if you just lock all four up, you've got more momentum than you'd think.

Also, when accelerating, take it easy! Flooring it simply melts the snow / ice under your tire, making things extremely slippery for both yourself, and the people who try and stop in your ice mark afterwards. Give yourself lots of time to get up on the road, and just feather the pedal just enough to get you going. If you are having problems trying to keep it from sliding, try putting the park brake on just a bit, then go, and after you've gotten going, let the park brake loose. By doing this you are resisting the tires from turning and they'll be less likely to break loose.

If you are driving with an open diff, you are a bit safer as far as sliding is concerned. If you loose traction, it will only be in one wheel, making the possiblity of your rear end whipping around much smaller. A posi will want to whip around the second you loose traction. You'd be amazed at just how little force it takes to whip the truck right around, a gust of wind will do. I was pushing a guy in a parking lot last year, he wasn't very smart and just floored it making ice. I was able to push the car around with ease using just my pinky when he was spinning the rear wheels.

Best way to drive on ice? Don't! If you can find another path that doesn't have any ice on it, take that one instead, or simply don't go out at all. There is a highway around here that I know gets VERY slippery with black ice every year, I stay off it unless I have to take it. Black ice can be very deceptive, it may look like the road is just wet, but will be so slippery that you can loose control once you hit a certain speed. For example, I was driving down that highway on the way to the wrecking yard a few weeks ago, and was accelerating as easy as possible down it, I hit about 60 mph (limit of 70 mph) and without warning my truck just started spinning in the rear, sent me into a rather scary slide, all just from the power that the truck puts into the rear wheels when travelling that fast. I just barely caught it before I hit the ditch, and while it was rather fun, I wasn't looking forward to the results if I hit the ditch sideways going 50 + mph!

[Longhorn Man]

While yes, putting in neutral helps quite a bit...it sounds to me like you need your back brakes adjusted up a little.

[Russell]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

While yes, putting in neutral helps quite a bit...it sounds to me like you need your back brakes adjusted up a little.

Could be... I replaced the brakes last year, and haven't put that much milage on since :p I'll be putting a new rear end under soon, and be moving the brakes from my current rear end over, so I'll check em then

[Gordo]

I strongly agree with slipping it into neutral when your heading down a hill and you feel the vehicle start to lose it. Steer thru it and lay off the brakes. You may pick up speed but you have more control, it's a trade off. If it looks like your not going to make your turn and the situation allows, turn straight into the curb rather than hitting the curb side ways. Hitting it side ways may cause you to roll over.

[68C15]

lockers or any other form of posi is bad for ice. what we do around here is find a big lake to practice on.
start moving by not even touching the gas, let it get going at idle.
one word of advice if you do in fact try the lake thing, make sure the ice is thick enough EVERYWHERE. leave the door unlatched & window rolled down.
so you say it sounds like I have had a problem in the past? you are right! Jan 4, 1989 on the NE corner of Lake Madison. my first nice car & first one I had financed. I hit a weak spot & the front tires broke the ice. I left car running while I QUICKLY jumped out of car onto roof & then scampered away from car on my hands & knees. that was a very scarry thing!
come to think about it, stay away from the lakes. instead go to the mall after midnight on Sunday when there is no one around to hit.

[71Seth]

all good advice. i grew up driving in the feilds around the house. smore slicked over mud than snow but it taught me alot about slids and counterstearing. this is a great thing to do for your kids i feel. i got a lot of driving in before i was 16 thanks to dad. And my kids will be the same i hope. basicly smooth is the secret to being safe. no sudden moves. high rpm spinning normally only melts the snow/ice and that thin film of water is what makes this stuff so damn slick. also agree on the locker, bad for the front of anything unless you want to go in a stright line all the time or are off road such as rock cralling. there a locker cant be beat.
just my .02 seth

[longhorn71]

studed tires are a big help.Winter tires are better then all season tires.winter tires are softer when cold,thus they have better traction.Tire chains are made for ice.They are easy to put on,just make sure they are in decent shape.If you break a cross link on them.They well smash a bed side very quick.
Yes the best way to drive on ice is to stay home.Well this is not always gonna happen.I am sure if i told my boss "the roads are icey so i will not be in today"for a month or so I would not be working very long.The key to staying safe on icey roads is SLOW DOWN.4wd help on ice but they brake and handle the same way.Do not think that just because you have a 4wd you are safer.If you are in 4 high on the hi-way It does not mean you should go faster.
If and when you lose control .always look to were you want to go.If you have to take the dicth,enter it as stright as possible,to avoid a roll over.If the hi-way looks wet in the winter and you know it is blow the freezing point or even just above it,expect ice.With a standared vehicle up or down shift the less RPM then in the summer time to aviod spinning tires.Going up hill back out of the throttle a little as you near the top of the hill to avoid spinning out,and to avoid a harder down shift in an automatic trans.
one more thought.WAYS have:tow rope,sand or kitty litter,booster cables,candle,warm clothing for every body in the vehicle,shovel,gas line anti-freeze and a cell phone.If you do spend some time in the dicth make sure the tail pipe is not blocked to prevent carbon mononoxcide posioning.I live 20 mins out of town so I aways keep my gas tank at leased 1/2 full.

[Budweis]

i believe in alot of us citys snow chains are illegal arent they?

[cduster]

Chains and studs are illegal, depending on where you are. The studs are too hard on pavement. Ever see a car with studs driving on clear pavement at night? Throws out lots of sparks.

Dan

[rustyg]

I lived in New Mexico for awhile in the early 90's, my road was about 3 miles long, not much on it. I used to idle out of my driveway and slowly speed up to 60-65 after a couple minutes. One day as I neared the stop sign at the end wich is a "T'' I hit the brakes and I slid, I let off hit em again and slid more, with not much time I looked and saw no cross traffic was coming, I slid sideways cross the highway through the ditch, barbed wire fence and ended up about 100' in the field, in my lowered chevy truck. ground was frozen so I pulled out with ease, bent the t-posts back so the owners cattle didnt get out and went on my way with a lesson learned, take it real e-z on the ice, and carry extra boxers

[CowChick]

I never touch the breaks on ice, even if your car spins- if your gonna hit what your sliding towards breaks aint gonna do any good. I've been more successful trying to drive, with just a little gas, out of a slide hoping to hit dry ground. There is alot of black ice on the grade into town right now, even in the afternoon it stays pretty shady. The road is maintained with a little gravel, that has its pro's and con's. Going slow every night so far I've hit ice and slid coming home...slid over a foot almost into the snow bank last night but no matter how slow or straight you go you will be out of control on black ice. Not much you can do about it, course I dont have studded and I dont drive chains unless its a white out storm, driving older street tires. My dad slid in his little toyota tonight and he is driving studded's. I think this is my 5th winter driving here during winter but I've lived here for 15 years. So far I've never slid enough to hit anything and i've gone pretty much anywhere you can in a low prophile car. When winter hits my mood when I drive changes COMPLETELY cause I'm known by the local cops as a habitual speeder, lol, but winter hits and I'm extremely cautious. Seen lots of horrible accidents since we've lived here and dont care to be any of those people...EVER.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Yeah, Black Ice suxs. I just usaully get in trouble because I stomp on the stupid pedal just a little to much when I am trying to get going from a stop. Which just digs my studded snow tires into the pavement. But I agree 100%, don't slam on the brakes and go into a wicked skid, if this starts to happen gear down and feather the brakes. But yeah I used to "borrow" my moms car before I got my liscense and I would practice fishtailing and doing donuts and I would highly reccommend going to an empty parking lot and practicing this with your kids or just by yourself. Because you will have much better control if you practice going in and out of skids.
-Peace

[jimfulco]

Just gotta remember to not try any sudden changes.

[Blue68]

zamboni

[67ChevyRedneck]

If you drive a manual, NEVER EVER DOWNSHIFT to slow down....learned that one goin sideways down a hill....never had that problem again. I did save the truck from hittin anything. Go slow, easy on the gas, easy on the brakes, and coordination is a plus.