Cheapest Weight for Added Traction?

[Minjin]

It's the time of year where I throw some stuff in the back of my cars to help with driving in the snow. I've used kitty litter in the past because while I have no cats, I can at least use it for oil cleanup in the garage.

I'm curious as to what you guys use for this purpose? What do you think is the cheapest and most secure (for safety reasons) way to weigh down your truck, trunk, or rear cargo area?

And if you want a more advanced question, do you try to keep the weight towards the end of the vehicle or as close to directly over the drive wheels as possible? Obviously, this is more of a thought exercise because I don't think it makes much practical difference.

 

[cheesehead]

Sandbags.

Lead shot is nice if you have it.

 

[LTC8K6]

Sand. You can also use it as a traction aid if you get stuck.

 

[JCH13]

+1 to the sand.

 

[Minjin]

I know that sand bags are commonly used but I don't have any other use for sand and have therefore avoided it. Where are you guys getting your bags of sand? Big box home improvement stores?

 

[punjabiplaya]

fast food

 

[Soccerman06]

Go to a granite warehouse and take their scrap or waste. They would love for someone to willingly take it because the have to pay for someone else to dispose of it.

Free and heavy

Edit: place directly over the rear axle. Its similar having a rear engine car, they can be easy to produce oversteer and that's bad in icy crap. Ofcourse it won't be as bad as a rear engine (not new Porsche, but 80s).

 

[Raizinman]

Sand is the worse thing to put in the back of your truck or in your trunk. The reason is: Condensation will form inside and should any snow or moisture form in the sand, the liquid that drips out of the sandbag is highly acetic. It will rust metal very quickly. Instead of sand, use dirt. You can purchase 40 pound bags of dirt for about $3 each at Home Depot or Lowes. I put about 8 to 10 bags in the very back of my pickup. Then in Spring, I use the dirt to fill in holes or to level the yard. Ask any body shop man about massive rust repair they have seen caused by bags of sand. Never use sand.

 

[Howard]

Sand is the worse thing to put in the back of your truck or in your trunk. The reason is: Condensation will form inside and should any snow or moisture form in the sand, the liquid that drips out of the sandbag is highly acetic. It will rust metal very quickly. Instead of sand, use dirt. You can purchase 40 pound bags of dirt for about $3 each at Home Depot or Lowes. I put about 8 to 10 bags in the very back of my pickup. Then in Spring, I use the dirt to fill in holes or to level the yard. Ask any body shop man about massive rust repair they have seen caused by bags of sand. Never use sand.

You could always wash the sand. Or play sand should be pretty safe.

 

[LTC8K6]

Sand is the worse thing to put in the back of your truck or in your trunk. The reason is: Condensation will form inside and should any snow or moisture form in the sand, the liquid that drips out of the sandbag is highly acetic. It will rust metal very quickly. Instead of sand, use dirt. You can purchase 40 pound bags of dirt for about $3 each at Home Depot or Lowes. I put about 8 to 10 bags in the very back of my pickup. Then in Spring, I use the dirt to fill in holes or to level the yard. Ask any body shop man about massive rust repair they have seen caused by bags of sand. Never use sand.

We are talking about plastic bags of sand you purchase at the store, not the burlap flood prevention variety.

Use play sand. It's clean as can be. And cheap.

Bags of dirt would not be my choice for the trunk of a car. The clean play sand will vaccuum right out if one of the bags leaks. The dirt will stain and become mud.

 

[desy]

I used to use sand filled old tire tubes.
No issues with 'drips' had a plastic bed liner anyway

 

[Arkaign]

1+ to play sand. I used to buy it all the time at Toy's R US, although there are probably cheaper places to get it. Back when I bought it, it was like $3.99 a bag for something like a 20lb bag. I bought about 15 of them to throw in the bed of a heavily modified '77 El Camino

 

[Iron Woode]

My dad used to use two big bags of fertilizer.

The added bonus was you could use the fertilizer on your lawn in the spring.

 

[Tsavo]

Nice thing about sand is you can use it on ice if you get stuck. Mix some salt with the sand and you are good to go.

 

[jlee]

I used to use 'tube sand'...it was 40lb or 60lb (or something fairly heavy), fairly cheap, and I never had an issue with it leaking. Even if it did, it was onto a plastic bedliner so I didn't care.

 

[MentalIlness]

Ive seen people use cinder blocks and bricks before. As well as sand bags, or bags of concrete.

About 15 years ago, I went to my dads house in a 2-wheel drive Ford Pickup. Well, got stuck in his driveway. lol...

The only "weight" I used in the back of the truck, was my brother and sister. They are each easily over 350. It was funny as hell when the truck walked right up out of the driveway with them both sitting on the tailgate.

And before anyone asks what I weight, I am 6'4" at 180. They are my step moms kids.

 

[jlee]

Ive seen people use cinder blocks and bricks before. As well as sand bags, or bags of concrete.

About 15 years ago, I went to my dads house in a 2-wheel drive Ford Pickup. Well, got stuck in his driveway. lol...

The only "weight" I used in the back of the truck, was my brother and sister. They are each easily over 350. It was funny as hell when the truck walked right up out of the driveway with them both sitting on the tailgate.

And before anyone asks what I weight, I am 6'4" at 180. They are my step moms kids.

 

[MentalIlness]

Yes, indeed. Very nice people, just very overweight. Of course, their mother is as well. :awe:

 

[jlee]

Did they break your tailgate?? I thought most tailgate max load ratings were in the 300lb range..

 

[MentalIlness]

Did they break your tailgate?? I thought most tailgate max load ratings were in the 300lb range..

LOL..nah. Id say they were kinda sorta squatting right next to the taillights. Holding onto the sides.

AHAHAHAHA, I had one of them over each back tire.:biggrin:

Oh, this truck was a 81 F-150

 

[cpals]

Don't use it for snow, but when it's raining. I have a well so use salt bags.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Sand is the worse thing to put in the back of your truck or in your trunk. The reason is: Condensation will form inside and should any snow or moisture form in the sand, the liquid that drips out of the sandbag is highly acetic. It will rust metal very quickly. Instead of sand, use dirt. You can purchase 40 pound bags of dirt for about $3 each at Home Depot or Lowes. I put about 8 to 10 bags in the very back of my pickup. Then in Spring, I use the dirt to fill in holes or to level the yard. Ask any body shop man about massive rust repair they have seen caused by bags of sand. Never use sand.

Firstly:

"worst", "Condensation" should not be capitalized, and "acidic"

Now that I have that out of the way:

I have to say that you're full of shit here. I've known several body guys and I've never had any of them say that rust was caused by sand. The salt and other de-icing chemicals used in areas of the country where sandbags would be used for weights in the back of pickups, however, do cause massive rust damage if you don't wash your vehicle frequently.

Of course, if water gets trapped under a sandbag and can't evaporate, then that trapped water will be problematic (especially since it's almost certainly got salt and other de-icing chemicals in it) because it's sitting in the same spot for a long time, but that has nothing to do with the sand itself and would happen just the same with a bag of dirt. The problem isn't sand, it's water trapped under the bags. A bag of dirt will trap just as much water and cause just as many problems.

ZV

 

[GasX]

I used concrete in my 67 Mustang and it worked great. Except for the part about when it got wet...

 

[marvdmartian]

If you're parking outside, you could fill a couple 5 gallon water cans about 90% full of water, set them outside to freeze, then put on the cap and stick them in the trunk of your car. So long as you leave an air gap for expansion, you'll be fine later on, if it melts & re-freezes (won't split the plastic), and 10 gallons of water will weigh in at 80 pounds (plus the weight of the jugs).

Personally, I'd get the kitty litter in the square plastic buckets. Easy to store between winters, if you want to, and like the OP said, useful for cleaning up oil spills.

 

[IronWing]

Don't use it for snow, but when it's raining. I have a well so use salt bags.

Back when I lived in snow country and had a water softener, this is what I used.