I have heard from several people that they put weight in the bed of there truck. Most of them however have a 2 wheel drive truck not 4. Although i never run in 4 wheel drive unless there is at least a couple of inches of snow on the ground and i feel like not fishtailing everywhere "which is fun". Is there any reason i should do this? If its just cause of improved traction i dont think i'll worry about it cause i dont haven't had a problem thus far. Maybe when it gets "snowyer" i might want this. any coments on whether it works or not? and how would you keep it from just all going to the front of the bed? i would asume that you would want it in the far back correct?

 

Yeah, it's just for added traction as the rear ends are so light. I would guess I usually have a good four hundred pounds in the back of my truck normally (I have a bedslider and a crap load of tools I use for work), and I definately notice a difference in the rain/snow compared to when the bed is empty. I would say though, if you're a decent driver and use some common sense (like easing on the throttle instead of slamming down the pedal from a stop) when it's snowy out you should be fine without any extra weight.

If you do add weight, I highly recommend securing it in the bed. Use some heavy duty straps to tie it to the rear tow hooks or something. You don't want anything solid and heavy flying forward in an accident. I have a neighbor who got pretty screwed up about 7-8 years ago. He put a bunch of cinder blocks in the back of his Nissan and ended up getting in a pretty bad wreck. The block flew forward, and busted through the bed and into the cab.

You could probably throw some sand bags, or bags of rock salt back there and not worry about tieing it down. I doubt they could do any damage if they slid forward, and if you get stuck in the snow you can use it to help with traction.

 

You definitly don't want the weight to the rear most part of the bed. Keep it over the rear wheel centerline, or just foward of that, and fasten it down. It makes a difference in light snow or heavy. It all gets down to physics and pounds per square inch under the tire.

 

If you put the weight farther back than the rear wheels, it will give better traction than over the wheels. Think of it as loading the truck if you load it to the front the rear end doesnt sage as much, but if you put it all in back it will sage the most. Learned this playing around with race cars. I only have about 200-250 lbs.

 

I have a 3/4 ton 4x4 Quad Cab, if it's slick enough for it to loose traction, it's slick enough for 4WD. I never put weight in back of it, flipping the switch is soooo much easier.

 

for my weight, i wanted something that would still allow full use of the bed, so i went to the scrap metal place in town, and bought a 4'x6' sheet of 1/2" plate, i guess it weighs in around 600lbs, and it doesnt slide around, or keep me from using my bed. works good so far.

 

I have a '99 4x4 ext cab with 5.2. I put about 450lbs of sand (Quikcrete sand tubes from Home Depot) in the bed when the roads get icy. I definety notice improved 2-wheel drive traction with this amount of weight. I like the sand because if I get stuck, I can cut open a bag or two to spill on the ground for traction.

FYI, you should keep the weight over the wheels or slightly forward as 'rumble girl' suggested. Remember, stability and control are directly related to your center of gravity. If you put the weight at the very back, it will really mess you up if you do get into a spin. With all the weight at the very back, the rear is more likely to keep swinging around (it's like a pendulum). You want to put weight over the rear wheels or slightly forward to keep your center over gravity as close to center as possible. It will still improve your traction too.

 

How do you take it out when it is not icy? If you leave that much weight in year round, your really hurting your gas mileage.

 

I just saw an item that might be of interest. It's a collapsable (sp?) bladder than you fill with water, and it ties to your front and rear tie downs to keep it stationary. The downside is that it makes your bed totally useless while it's in there.

 

i live in maine, lol its always icey in the winter. when i do take it out, i have a JCB 430 loader, i just hook a chain on it and lift it out.