To everything there is a season
#71
North Carolina is on the East coast. The hot air coming out of his mouth travels clear around the Earth, picking up moisture along the way.*:clap:
*in reality, I thought golfhobo was out on the West coast. I never bothered, nor did I ever care, where he actually lived.:thumbsup: So you really aren't "all knowing"? FYI: "Location" is listed on every post.
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My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson- Democratic-Republican That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Abraham Lincoln "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln
#72
get yourself a couple of lengths of sturdy chain, long enough to go through the rim and wrap around the tire. get 2 shackle bolts.
use these on the back outside drives when you get stuck in one of those docks that are lower at the back than the front, or on a frozen puddle in a parking lot when you're trying to get under a trailer.
#73
Board Regular
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Columbus, OH
Posts: 460
Not everyone...just a select few!
#75
I hate to disagree with Turbo, as I'm sure he has more experience than I, but my OWN experience has me doing just that. When conditions warrant locking my diffs, I keep them locked. When the weight in your box is pushing against your drives, I want that force to be countered by traction on ALL drive tires, not just one or two. Force distributed over a larger area of rubber and road. Ice can be "spotty." What he says about breaking loose ALL drives may be true, but feathering the pedal is meant to avoid that. It is not the "action" that I fear and contemplate, but the "reaction." The very reason that starting off with them locked works is that the torque is distributed over a larger area of contact. This theory should also apply to "resisting" the outside force of trailer weight and centrifugal force rounding curves.
Try "hill climbing" in a two wheel drive vehicle vs. a 4 wheel drive. No matter how much momentum you have, you will never make it to the top without applying torque to EVERY drive wheel you have. I fail to see how the theory of all wheel drive would apply to 4wheelers but not combination vehicles.
Yes, I was in that "battle." Trucks and 4wheelers were wrecked everywhere! (most of the trucks were single screw.) I was approaching Amarillo from the East. The roads were slick, but not completely iced over. There were places where the pavement shone through, and I wanted SOME drive tire to have traction on those spots. I locked my diffs at the OK line, and kept them locked, going about 40-45 mph, and passing everyone. Some might say that was too fast, but I was continually "testing" to see if it was safe. (more later.) For the record, I was heavy. 44k lbs of .... you guessed it.... BEER! :lol2:
On the surface, this sounds right. But again.... I do things differently. 99% of the time, I would drive with this in mind. However.... I "test" my traction by doing JUST this. If I have any question as to whether I am "tracking" or "gliding," I will make a quick but LIMITED jerk of the wheel to see if my steers are steering or just playing along. If the truck wobbles a little, I am in control. If it doesn't react, I am over the edge, and I slow down. Same with the throtte. Most of the time, I am "feathering" it like Turbo says.... forcing the engine to be either pulling gently, or decelerating gently. But, if I am not sure of my contact with the road, I will make a quick but LIMITED jab at the throttle. If I can "feel" the truck trying to respond, I'm in control. If it seems more like the engine is "racing," I am over the edge, and slow down. I also like to know if I have the ability to stop the truck if I need to. To "test" this, without risking breaking traction on my drives, and ONLY on a straight stretch of road, I will quickly "jab" my trolley bar. If the the tandems have enough traction, the truck will immediately slow down a bit. All of this is part of MY "Smith System." I want to know the level of my control at all times. A quick but LIMITED jerk of my steering wheel, when I am expecting it and ready for it, will tell me this. I've never looked into the "SMITH SYSTEM", but now, I plan to. I can envission a situation where jigging the wheel would put sideways momentum on the front of the truck, but the correction could happen over ice, and you would not be able to correct. Some 12,000 pounds going to the right, then refusing to go back to the left because you've lost the traction to be able to overcome the momentum to the right. Most of the rigs I've seen jackknifed have gone out of control with the nose pointing toward the center of the road. (On icy roads. On dry roads, I haven't figured that one out yet.) But, every now and then, I see one that went the other way, and I have to wonder if they "jigged" the wheel. And diffusing that torque over a larger area (all drive tires) will do this, too.
It's not JUST the temperature. It is also the moisture IN the snow (which is determined thousands of feet up in the sky.) Western snow is usually much "dryer" than Eastern snow. Know the humidity levels where you are driving. If the snow is blowing and/or drifting across the roadway, it is obviously much dryer than snow that lands and just lays there. Dry snow requires "packing" to make it icy. Wet snow will ice up due to "freezing" the moisture contained therein. I would rather drive in a foot of Western snow than an inch of Eastern snow. It should also be mentioned that even "dry" snow, when it's drifting across a salted road, is likely to be very slick because of the water content where the salt is doing some, but not enough melting. More than one driver has lost control in these patches. What someone said about paying attention to weather forecasts is right on! KNOW what you will find ahead of you. And KNOW whether it started as freezing rain or as a dry snow.
One more thing. The Western and Northern slopes of any mountain is MORE LIKELY to have a lower temperature and therefore an unexpected snow. Just because you climbed UP a mountain in dry weather OR rain, does not mean that is what you will find once you crest the mountain! Anyone who has ever gone through the Eisenhower Tunnel going west from Denver knows exactly what I mean.
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( R E T I R E D , and glad of it)
YES ! ! ! There is life after trucking. a GOOD life
#76
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: pod# 110 -Shared with a high risk in a red jumper.
Posts: 2,240
I don't think anyone suggested a full set of chains ...But usining 1 real chain would be for most easier than piecing together a chain ,as most don't have these items around to make a chain.
#77
Just remember the "5 P's".....proper planning prevents poor performance.
#78
get yourself a couple of lengths of sturdy chain, long enough to go through the rim and wrap around the tire. get 2 shackle bolts.
use these on the back outside drives when you get stuck in one of those docks that are lower at the back than the front, or on a frozen puddle in a parking lot when you're trying to get under a trailer.
__________________
( R E T I R E D , and glad of it)
YES ! ! ! There is life after trucking. a GOOD life
#79
I do remember another bit of advice that saved me one morning a couple of years ago. A driver told me that if I was stuck, try going to High Range and that may help.
Sure enough, I got stuck pulling out of a City of Indianapolis (read police department) fueling station. I tried everything and was about ready to give up and then remembered his advice. I put her in 6th, worked the clutch out and Bingo! I was on my way home. I've thanked that guy several times for that timely advice.
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Fuel for free. Pre/Post trip for free. Sit at shipper/receiver for free. "Work 80-100, log 70, get paid for 40." Welcome to OTR coolie carrier truck driving!
#80
I've done that several times. It's amazing what the little extra bit of torque will do. Just make sure you are giving it enough throttle to keep from stalling out. |
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