Prep for Snow/Ice Traction?

[Elbereth]

Our winter forecast this weekend includes a high primarily of ice. I remember as a kid that my dad would put a couple of bags of cement mix in the bed of his 2wd pickup, stating that the additional weight helped with traction given that the weight on the rear axle was much lighter. Is this helpful with a current 4wd Ram 1500 with all season tires? This is my first pickup but have had no issues in just snow, and have a lot of winter experience in AWD cars and SUV's. Thanks!

 

[CatDaddy66]

Any additional weight placed as far back in the bed is going to help. Place the weight or ballast if you will behind the rear axle up against the tailgate.

 

[LaxDfns15]

Any time we have snow predicted I put about 300-400 pounds in the bed behind the rear wheel wells. As long as you don't stomp on the gas, and you're careful with speed you'll be fine. Depending on what type of 4WD you have either put it in Auto or 4Hi. If it's 4Hi (manually controlled) then just make sure you turn off when planning on making turns on a dry surface. If it's Auto you can just let it rip.