I know it's a little early to be thinking about all of this, but i thought I'd get a headstart... I just moved to Iowa from Texas and I wanted some advice from folks about what I might need to do different (fluids, fuel, tires, etc) for the different winter weather that I'll be experiencing this year.

 

Do you have 2wd or 4wd?
Only thing I do living in Illinois in the winter is plug her in, and use power service (white bottle) in the winter, and grey bottle for summer.
If its 2wd get about #400-#500 in the bed and a good set of Allterrains like Bfgs of Nitto terragrapplers or Pro comp ATs.
Other than that,
Do lots of donuts in the snow, and side slides!!!!!!

 

Get a heavy coat --some ear muffs or Elmer Fudd hat--some warm boots--warm gloves and a friendly girl freind or wife.

 

I live in Minnesota and I carry about 500 in the bed. I have a 4X4, but dont always need it just a little weight. I have never plugged mine in, just let it warm up for about 10 min or so before I start driving. I also put the E-brake on and let it idle in gear (auto tranny), seems to help the tranny a little. I do not know about IA., but way up north in October they start selling blended fuel in all the stations around here.

 

hi
i have been in cedar rapids in the winter .

i would install some rotella synthetic 5w40 oil in the engine for the winter , i run it all year , for easyer starting .
non syn oils will turn into honey in the cold weather !
keep items in your truck to help yourself or others that get stranded in the cold , blanket , jumper cables ect !

 

I've got a leaky queen size water bed for emergency fill up. probably around 11-12 hundred pounds. The biggest thing is a set of chains. These go for about 75 bucks. If you get them make a practice install when the weather is nice out not -10deg and 2 feet of snow is on the ground. It still only takes 10 minutes but it will be the coldest 10 min you ever have felt. haha These will get you through most of the bad stuff if you are carefull.

Definitely get the tires. With 2wd you'll need them. 1/2 baldies don't get it up here. Get high snow rated tires or a spare set just for the winter. It helps to run the tires down on pressure a little. I run about 40-45 inthe winter.

Get some winter fronts for the truck. They don't make heat in the winter. I put mine on the first of Oct or when the temp is consistantly below 60 deg. Make them if you have to. Mine are made from 1/4" Lexan and bolt thru the grill with stainless bolts.

Make sure you coolant tests -30 or better. Get a tester at Auto Zone for a dollar.

The 15-40 oil is ok down to about -10 if the batteries are good.

Make sure the batteries are very good. Southern batteries are NFG. I lived both down south and grew up here in Minn. If you get 3 yr on 5yr batteries you are doing good and pushing your luck. haha

If you haven't done starter contacts in 50k, better do them now before you have to do a starter at -10 in the middle of nowhere. 35 bucks

It helps to have a couple 5 gallon pails of sand in the back...tied down . A short spade shovel is good too.


A good recovery strap. 20-25 foot 10-15k at least.

You need a spare fuel filter. Any tools required should be in the back seat too. Be carefull where you get fuel. IA is B2 now I think also. winter fuel starts about 1st of Oct. It changes grade about 3 levels over the next 2 months.

Get a qt or 2 of 911 diesel red bottle. Read how to use it. And use white Power service for additive..

If you can plug in do it when ever you can. especially when it is below 0. I have a 3500 w gen just for this when I can't plug in, but it is sometimes harder to get the gen running than the truck. I use 5-20 or 0-20 oil for the gen.

It's nice to have a tonneau cover so the bed stays dry and clean.

You need winter clothes that stay in the truck. Couple sweatshirts, pair of jeans, good leather insulated gloves, stocking hat, (tobogan to the southern guys), at least 2 pair of heavy socks, boots, a bath towel, sleeping bag is nice but a heavy blanket will do.

It doesn't hurt to have a 3# coffee can with some candy bars crackers etc. A couple bottles of water. Open them and drink off a couple swallows so if they freeze they won't burst.

The reason I added all the food and clothes stuff even though they are important, I've twice been stranded overnight in the vehicle during IA storms. Never in Minn. haha

Stay away from Clear Lake Ia during storms, very hot or very cold weather. IA's bermuda triangle. haha I've been stuck in that town 4 times now. twice in the summer heat and twice in the cold winter.

If this isn't enough info, I'm sure someone else can write another book. haha

 

I'm up in N.Y. I'm sure winters are very similar. I just plug in on extremely cold nights. I do plan on getting a oil pan heater this next winter. Its a magnetic heater that attaches to your oil pan. This of course, warms up the oil for quick rotation of oil. I yet to have to start to look for it.

 

bentwings, do you turn the 1100# water bed into an icecube?

The oil pan heaters sound good, but you'll probably need a handful of them to do much good. The max. wattage you can find is about 300. You can leave it plugged in all night and maybe keep the oil "just" about the temp. you'd have if you didn't own it!

I've used the oil/magnetic heaters on tractors and I now have them stored in a metal cabinet as a reminder to use the 1500W heater for the cooling system. It'll allow the tractor to start quickly after 1 hr. of heat as opposed to all night of magnetic "trying".

 

Southern guy here with a dumb question - what is a starter contact?

 

essentially the same as "brushes" in an elec motor. they are solid brass and not much of a job to change.

 

get a cetane boost for your tank it helps with cold starts and improves cetane points.

4wd is nice also and maybe a couple of straps for other people stranded in the road.

 

I live in a place that almost reliably gets to -40 (F/C, doesn't matter at that temperature... it's the same).

We have more diesels up here than anywhere I've seen in the states (largely owing to diesel being cheaper than gas). I've never used a fuel additive in the truck, and made it through 4 winters so far.

Do the following:
-plug it in (the block heater, as some people don't know what these are... it is a heater that fits into a coolant chamber in your block, puts out about 300 W [variable wattage available, pick the highest one if you're installing one]) - you will have to do this for quite a few hours.
-Run synthetics. Especially in your engine. I run full synthetic all year round.
-In the fall, don't hold onto fuel for a long time, and fuel at a high volume station. You don't need to get obsessive, but the different blends of fuel will move faster at a higher volume fuel station.
-Keep tank full (helps prevent moisture condensation, apparently... however, running it lower before fueling will help change fuel blends more quickly)
-Keep batteries properly maintained/filled
-My PO put an oil pan heater on... it probably helps. It is glued/expoxied on, and not magnetic.
-When rather cold, bump the idle and allow it to run in neutral for a while. - This helps the engine heat up and moves oil in the transmission, helping it heat up.
-When you do take off, drive easily - the fluids in your t-case and axles are still cold.
-Clean your air filter when snow starts flying - may as well run with a clean one, once winter starts, very little dirt/debris goes into your air intake.
-DO NOT run on a marginal starter.

With reference to the electrical/starting systems: When it is very cold, the engine takes about 4 times the power to crank over, yet the batteries can only put out about 1/4 of the power they can at 72F (22C) - if anything is marginal, you will definitely not be able to start if you need to at -30,-40 (pray you don't have to).

I've only once had to start my truck when my block was at a solid -33 to -35C (~-30F), she took 5-10 minutes to "warm up" to where I felt comfortable moving her, and I smoked out a community... but my cummins started when many gas vehicles had already called it quits.

AND... if you want to go crazy, you can buy diesel fired engine coolant heaters, complete with timers and controls that integrate with the fan heater control to heat your engine and defrost/heat your cab. They're only a couple thousand $... they are pretty standard for oil field equipment going up north here. Even some places here will just idle trucks all night (Coca Cola, for eg), while many pickup owners will do the same in even more northerly places like Ft. McMurray.

 

Wash it,wash it,wash it.Do not let road salt stay on your truck,it will start rusting away before your eyes.Use the self serve car washes where they have the pressure wand and you can get underneath.Good luck.

 

Got that right. I hit the wash a couple time a week in the winter.

 

Dont forget to swap in a low temp. windshield washer fluid, I was driving through Wyoming this past winter and realized this the hard way!!!!