Fellow northerners...how much weight do you run in the bed during winter?

Mark_88 · Nov 24, 2015

Dead bodies work just as well as sand or anything else. I put two or three zombies into the back and then cover them with snow...Since zombies have been dead for a while there is not much weight loss due to fluids but the muscle mass tends to drop off rapidly if they get too warm and start to stink...that's when I toss them out into a dumpster (Zombie Dumps are great) and get some fresh ones...

If there is no run on dead zombies I usually get about 200 lbs of snow back there...and I agree with the tire idea...

Good tread and a few dead will get you there...

bobbywalter · Nov 24, 2015

i.....i uh...

awwww fawk it.

adsm08 · Nov 24, 2015

bobbywalter said:
i.....i uh...

awwww fawk it.

x2.

97ranger xlt · Nov 25, 2015

Mark_88 said:
Dead bodies work just as well as sand or anything else. I put two or three zombies into the back and then cover them with snow...Since zombies have been dead for a while there is not much weight loss due to fluids but the muscle mass tends to drop off rapidly if they get too warm and start to stink...that's when I toss them out into a dumpster (Zombie Dumps are great) and get some fresh ones...

If there is no run on dead zombies I usually get about 200 lbs of snow back there...and I agree with the tire idea...

Good tread and a few dead will get you there...

it must be getting cold in canada already..it's freezing people's brains !

97ranger xlt · Nov 25, 2015

adsm08 said:
I don't run any extra weight, I just leave the bed open and run whatever the snow weighs.

agree.

Mark_88 · Nov 25, 2015

97ranger xlt said:
it must be getting cold in canada already..it's freezing people's brains !

Sorry...not that cold yet...

Just a side effect from my quarterly visit to see the vascular surgeon yesterday and...well, thinking of things dead and all that is a typical side effect...

97ranger xlt · Nov 25, 2015

Mark_88 said:
Sorry...not that cold yet...

Just a side effect from my quarterly visit to see the vascular surgeon yesterday and...well, thinking of things dead and all that is a typical side effect...

aha, hope all is well anyway.

my guess is last winter we probably got more snow here in Mass than you guys did north of the border
- not looking forward to that again. you can keep it. this time hope i'm more prepared with 4x4 vs.
the old 4 cyl rwd which did remarkably ok!

racsan · Nov 26, 2015

I usually run a 3/4 ton spare in the bed between the wheelwels, weighs 230 pounds. Have a fiberglass cap. Now that im in a 2wd 4 cyl instead of the v6 4x, we'll see what happens. Still have my winter wheels from the old truck, going to try them as they are alot newer and better suited for snow, they are bigger though so im not using 5th gear. Maybe next summer i can swap out the axle i have now for a 8.8 with rear discs and 4.10s with a lockrite. Right now its a 7.5 /3.73/open/9" drums

Pete99 · Feb 4, 2016

Just seeing this thread now, but last winter I filled up several 5-gallon buckets with sand and kept them stationary using ratcheting spreader bars. Worked out to about 150lbs plus the weight of the fiberglass cap, and it was good to have sand handy (though as others have said, last year's permasnow here in New England meant gravel was really the way to go).

lil_Blue_Ford · Feb 6, 2016

Ok, so it's a little bit of an old thread, but I'll put in my two cents...

I found that the tires played a bit of a part in how much weight was good. Mud tires needed a lot of weight when the snow was packed down and icy, but in deeper snow, you wanted virtually no weight. I also ran all seasons and some aggressive AT tires over the years. Don't really remember exactly what I ran with the crummy all season tires, but the aggressive AT tires I would usually run 150# in my Ranger. I took to using bags of lead shot (like for reloading a shotgun). Small little bag weighed in at 25# and they had a lot of inertia (they didn't like to move for any reason). Being small, I could pile them out of the way next to the wheel wells since I used the truck for work and needed the open bed space.

My choptop gets run around empty in the winter. It seems to go incredibly well like that so I haven't bothered to add any weight other than the spare 35" tire hanging off the back (it does act a little funny without the spare on the truck).

My F-150, my normal tool load seems to be enough with the aggressive tires I run, Mastercraft Courser CT tires. I have put bags of sand in the back, but they often get in the way, they will get frozen to the floor of the bed when I need to move them, and they'll come free and slide around smashing into things when I don't want them to move, so I gave up.

Bottom line? Experiment with different weights, you'll most likely want between 100 and 300 lbs in the bed. Make sure it's secure and doesn't move around. A frozen bag of tubesand will do a lot of damage if it starts sliding around, and remember that something like a concrete block will do a lot of damage without being frozen, so choose your materials for adding weight appropriately.

ridgerunner · Feb 7, 2016

I don't run any weight in the rear of any of my trucks. Just drive and don't worry about it. Never had a problem. The little ranger runs an auto locker in the rear (Powertrax no-slip) and once U get used to it, it is fine. I can do 180's and turn on a dime anytime I want lol! I ran 31X10.5X15 BFG AT KO's last yr and it slid all over the place. This wasnt due to the tread but rather the width of the tire. This year I am trying the stock 235-75's ATs and they seem to do better being skinnier if only by an inch or so. I'd run pizza cutter tires in the winter if they made one tall enough!

enjr44 · Feb 7, 2016

ridgerunner said:
This year I am trying the stock 235-75's ATs and they seem to do better being skinnier if only by an inch or so. I'd run pizza cutter tires in the winter if they made one tall enough!

That is why the old cars and trucks from the 20s and earlier ran those 24 inch by about 3 inch wide tires. They would cut down to the solid stuff on the dirt roads rather than slide around on the mud/snow.

brokemechanic3000 · Feb 7, 2016

I fill my bed with snow for weight, it works great and melts in the spring so no disposal.

Rex2nr · Feb 8, 2016

ridgerunner said:
31X10.5X15 BFG AT KO's last yr and it slid all over the place.

Thats whats on my truck now and yup! Even 210#s of tube sand

Andy D · Feb 8, 2016

Some snow and a bunch of green apple logs from a tree that fell into my turn around.The weight seems to help . I'm in 4 high but the hubs aren't locked.

Fellow northerners...how much weight do you run in the bed during winter?

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