[VAC] Re: Winter Towing

[soule <soule@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ok, I can't resist contributing my $0.02 worth to this thread.  My
comments are based on 40 years of driving in snow and ice for 4-5 months
per year.  I've noticed that I get in trouble when the rear end of my
vehicle decides that it wants to pass the front.  This happens during
braking on slippery roads if the front wheels have better traction than
the rear, and would also apply to trailer wheels, since they are even
further back.

For example, I use studded snow tires on my front-wheel drive vehicles.
The studs contribute absoultely nothing to traction except on ice, and
then they are the only devices, short of chanis, that will help.  I have
had many experiences driving on ice and wet ice when the only thing that
saved me was the studs.  If you use studded tires then you know that
most tire stores strongly recommend using studs on all 4 tires, even for
those with front wheel drive.  This is for the very valid reason that if
you have studs on the front and not on the rear, the front will have
better traction when braking on ice, so the rear will decelerate less
quickly and put you into a spin.  The corrective action is to remove
your foot from the brake and put it on the gas pedal.

Getting back to the topic of towing in snow and ice, you want to be sure
that your tow vehicle doesn't decelerate a lot faster than the trailer
in slippery conditions.  If it does, the inertia of the trailer will try
to push the tow vehicle out of its way and you will learn more than you
ever wanted to know about jackniving.   As others have pointed out, the
rules of survival are: 1.) Stay off the road if you possibly can, 2.) If
you must drive, keep the speed way down, 3.) Give yourself plenty of
distance to the vehicle in front of you (at least 2-3 vehicle lengths
per 10 miles per hour) 4.) Use the brakes very sparingly, 5.) Test
braking by using the manual control on the trailer brakes and 6.) Use
your gas pedal to straighten yourself out if you start to slide.

On a related, but slightly different topic, how many of you who live in
the snow belt have noticed that 90% of the vehicles that end up off the
road are SUV's and other 4 wheel drive vehicles?  It seems that a lot of
people haven't learned that 4 wheel drive vehicles have no better
braking in snow and ice than their 2 wheel drive cousins.   I cringe
when I'm driving at 40-50 in the right lane during a blinding snowstorm
and I'm passed by a hulking SUV doing 70 in the left lane.   I just hope
that I'm not close by when the driver loses it.

Lincoln Soule