[VAC] Re: winter towing

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joy,
 The absolute worst thing in my experience is wet ice, that usually
occurs when a rain turns to freezing rain. I remember driving the car to
my M-in-L's in Mass, one wintery night, crossing I-80 through PA. It was
a light rain, the temperature was dropping, and all of a sudden (or so
it seemed), cars and trucks were skidding all over the place. We went
from 65 MPH to 10 or 15 and it was dangerous at THAT speed. It took us
over an hour to go maybe 10 miles or thereabouts, at which time things
cleared up again. During that period, we saw MANY cars and semis off the
sides of the road.

Now, getting to the point (finally!):

1.This situation came up rather unexpectedly for us. After all, we were
in a nice, warm car, so had no idea what was REALLY going on outside.

2. There was no 'out', we were between exits and it's not really
possible to pull off otherwise.

3. There are in fact a few methods of having a bit of warning about
impending nasty conditions. One of those Weather Radios might be useful,
but I'm thinking of installing an Outside Air Temperature thermometer in
my truck. Not only would it be interesting to observe, it could save the
day in a situation like I describe above. When you're cruising along in
the rain, and you notice the temperature approaching freezing, it might
be time to consider stopping at the first exit and laying low for a
while.

I've not investigated OAT guages yet, but it seems like one could
install a Radio Shack Inside/Outside digital thermometer in the cab of
the truck and route the little pickup bulb outside someplace. Maybe
through the firewall to behind the grill, or under the truck alongside
the frame. (but well away from any heat source) We have such a
thermometer in the trailer, with the 'outside' bulb under the belly, and
find it fascinating to observe.

Most brake controllers have adjustments that allow you to back off on
the trailer braking. In your situation, with 4-wheel ABS, I'd want the
trailer braking minimized to avoid lockups. If you have a K-H hydraulic
controller tapped into the truck's system, it should in theory cause the
trailer brakes to pulsate with the truck's rear brakes. Mind you, it
will NOT pulse the trailer brakes just because those wheels are
skidding, as the ABS computer has no way of knowing about the trailer
wheels' speed.

My Warner hydraulic controller is tapped into the FRONT brakes of the
truck because that's where a previous owner had (apparently) tapped into
the system. I have rear-wheel-only ABS, so maybe he thought that was a
good idea, I don't know. The controller has no 'gain' adjustment, only
an 'agressiveness' knob. Twirling that will adjust how quickly the
trailer brakes activate in relation to the truck. If I run into a dicy
situation, I won't hesitate to readjust the controller, as it's very
easy to reset to 'normal'.

                                        <<Jim>>