concrete blocks work good also, but is kind of a pain to load and unload.

 

They also sell "tube sand" that is made specificly for putting around your wheel wells. And if you do have an "ice issue" you can always use the sand for traction.

Me, I use nothing. 4x4 is good enough, and if the snow is really bad I drive the Jeep.

 

You beat me to it. I use to put about 1200 pounds of John Deere wheel weights in the bed straddling the GN hitch and then I got smart and bought a Jeep. Now the dually sits in the carport when it snows.

 

I just leave some of my firewood in the bed.

 

someone actually sells a product that you fill with something. it gets fixed to the bed so it is safe and will not roll around. seen the aqdd in a recent magazine i was looking at. don't remember which one though. But, I think it is a bit on the expensive side. It is some kind of rubber bladder

 

i work for the county road crew, im on the gaurdrail crew, about 5 or 6 gaurdrail posts do a heck of a good job

 

"I use nothing for weight. I live in north alaska wher once it snows good the roads are ICE not snow all winter long (4-5months). I have no problem getting around. I might have to use 4x4 to get going then it gets turned back off. I've never understood the idea of adding extra weight Can someone explain to me why you would want to add extra weight. I know it can improve traction but I just don't see the need for it."

Depends on the conditions. During storms around here it's fun to watch how good traction in one condition results in overconfidence in another. During the initial dump big mud terrain tires can do well, but as the road packs down and especially if it gets colder and freezes the same tires often don't do as well on packed snow and ice where lots of siping, winter compounds, etc., do well. So one see the 4x4s having fun when it starts snowing, and then start populating the ditches :^)

The BFG ATs are popular as they seem do well in snow and ok on 'hard ice'. If it stays cold the ice gets polished, either common sense with slower speeds and good all season or AT tires do ok, or dedicated winter tires do well. Hills and mountains make conditions worse, but the worst that I see is what I call 'soft ice', especially where there is no base of snow. Soft ice is close to freezing, it's soft so even studs don't have anything to grip as it juts crumbles, and since it's close to freezing when you put weight on it it forms a water layer on top. Around here we have hills and mountains and soft ice, and on my street I've seen 4x4 Jeeps with BFG ATs stall in front of my house and start sliding backwards. I've been in ice storms where my truck started sliding towards the side of the road, even though I was stopped and had studded tires on all four wheels. I chained up and on the rest of the way of the way home I only saw large 4x4 vehicles with chains. At work the next day I overheard some people saying that even with chains they were sliding in their cars.

From what I can figure weight in the bed works well in snow, it probably doesn't help much on 'hard ice' like you often have, and it'll make for worse traction on 'soft ice' unless you have chains. Once you're chained up the weight will help a lot. During the last ice storm that I mentioned one Interstate was shut down, and once it opened it and another Interstate required chains regardless of vehicle type or tires.

 

Where can I find some of this? I am in the Houston area.

 

Us 2 wheel drivers need the additional weight more than the 4X4 guys/gals.
And it becomes even more of an issue with those of us running "Training Wheels".
Whatever you use, tie it down securely.
In the event of a collision, that "ballast" will quickly become a "missile".
One member posted a couple of years ago about one of the sandbags he used for ballast became wet and then froze, almost took his head off when it came through the back window after a collision.

 

I use 7-9 sand tubes in the bed when in the plowing season and all my major hauling needs are done for the winter. I made a box the hight and width of the bed and the depth of the back of the wheel well to the tailgate,that is open at the tailgate side I made it out of plywood scraps with Zero cost.
It is covered on the tailgate side to keep the sand tubes dry. Frozen sand tubes are useless for grit under your tires when frozen and will not feel good on your hear if you rear end someone. If I need traction grit under the tires (twice in seven years and not once since running studded snows) it was in the bed. It also keeps the tires in the rear from excessive spinning when in 2wd. Also when I run around with the plow on it is a great ballast to offset the 800lbs plow set-up.

The new Hakkapalita LT studded snows are great but the sand is the cats Edit, I have no problem pulling everyone out of the ditch.

 

Holly old thread batman!!

Still good info.

My grandpa used tractor tubes (not sure the size) cut in half and filled each half with sand and used wire to tie the ends closed. Tossed one over each wheel well in his half ton 2wd and drove everywhere!

 

Thats ingenious! It is waisted space over the wheels most of the time. I will work on that over the summer.

 

I got lucky at a farm auction a few years ago and got 9 rear wheel weights for a Farmall for $10 a piece. They each weigh about 100 pounds each.

I use 7 in the back of my 2500 and 2 in the back of my DD Danger Ranger.

I built a cross out of 4x4's to keep the weights from sliding front to rear and side to side. I then sit the weights, stacked, on top the cross. I bolt all of the weights together and then run lag screws through the entire stack into the 4x4's. Works like a charm.

 

is that a concrete statement?

 

I would say it's pretty "Solid"