Safe winter towing

I am planning to tow my Landmark from Ohio to western Tennessee and then to Florida in mid January and then return from Florida to Ohio in early March.

I'm interested in any tips you may have to safely travel in the winter when snow and/or icy roads may be a problem. Do you automatically stop when snow begins to fall? Is it safe enough to travel on salted roads shortly after a storm. How do you determine road safety?

If you get stuck somewhere (Flying J, etc.) because of bad roads, do you need a generator to help maintain battery power for heat.

Any other considerations would be helpful.

Thanks,
Larry

Hay Larry
I don't know about you but when I was on icy roads the other day here in Dallas, we could only drive about 20mph and were slipping. No trailer. I happen to ask my DW, "This would be a real Bi%^& fi we had the trailer behind us. It would be pushing us all over the road."

If there is any ice or snow on the road my trailer will be parked in an RV Park and we would be in it....

If you were stuck in Flying J it would be a good spot.. Plenty of gas for the generator. Not to worry about the battery but to keep from getting frost bite. Might get hungry unless you like greasy spoon food for a week.

The secret to having an RV is you need to be south two weeks before it snows.

Lot's of luck..
BC

TXBobcat said:

If there is any ice or snow on the road my trailer will be parked in an RV Park and we would be in it....

If you were stuck in Flying J it would be a good spot.. Plenty of gas for the generator. Not to worry about the battery but to keep from getting frost bite. Might get hungry unless you like greasy spoon food for a week.

The secret to having an RV is you need to be south two weeks before it snows.

Click to expand...

That is about the understatement of the year! The first snowflake that I see....I'm looking for a rest area, a truckstop, or a really wide place in the road.

Nothing like coming down a hill and finding you are sliding on glare ice...kinda makes for an exciting drive.

Besides, what's wrong with Flying J food? Just double up on your cholesterol meds...things will be fine.

Larry...... All i can say when driving in winter conditions is, drive if your comortable with the ice and snow. If it gets to bad find a " SAFE " place to pull over and park.
I don't know if others will agree with the following. When driving in ice and snow , back your brake control off a bit, so you don't lock up the trailer brakes, which seem to lock up a helluva lot easier in snow and ice. Nothing worse than looking in your mirror and see the trailer going sideway's.
I drive a truck for a living, and have 3 million miles of safe driving under my belt. So I know what it's like to be out there on snow and ice covered roads, not pleasant at all. Best thing is try to relax , sounds easier said than done.
When conditions get to the point where you are not comfy, as I stated before find that safe place to pull off.
Have a safe trip and a Merry Christmas. Ken

If you do get caught in a storm and can't get to some place safe in short order, then make sure you have a set of chains for your trailer as well as the truck. By all means don't back off the brake controler to much as you need the brakes on the trailer to activate prior to your truck braking to hard, as the trailer will tend to jack knife the truck. Be sure to travel with a generator as you maybe stuck by the road for a while and a heater will eat your batteries up over night. BE PREPARED....JMHO

I agree with Ken the Crazyscotsman. The only person who can determine if the roads are safe is the person doing the driving. Some people are much more comfortable driving in winter weather than others mostly due to where they live and the amount of experience they have. When you become uncomfortable do like Ken said and find a place to park. A little planning and watching the forcast closely will help a lot, if you can avoid bad conditions that is the best scenario. Leave early and allow plenty of time for delays.

Good luck!

If it's slick. Stop!!! These trailers handle like chit on ice, 5th wheels handle slightly better than travel trailers. Get some wind with ice and it's all over but the crying. Have a 2wd dually.... it's even more fun.


I watch and listen for spray off tires (mine and others passing me) if it's wet or looks icy and the lieometer is telling me temps near freezing.

No spray, quiet tires is icy road, good spray can hear the tires is wet road.

The best thing you can do is to plan your trip and that includes checking the weather for the route and then stay alert for changing conditions.

I look at it like this. .... If I have to shut down, I'm better off being late than to not make it at all and if somebody can't understand or accept that, it's their problem, not mine.

A few things to remember:
travel in day light only so you see the road surface condition (i.e. black ice)
the amount of skid marks may indicate the degree of slipperness
check road and weather conditions.
road is usually slippery as the temp approaches 0
slow down - keep below the average speed
increase stopping distance
do not change lanes on curves hills and especially bridge decks
when using off ramp reduce speed a lot more than normal. Easy to slip off of these
keep you fuel level above 3/8 full all the time
DO NOT gear down. this may spin your back end out
when going down steep hills start out slow and don't let your speed build up
If you were to use chains put them on rear wheels of truck and trailer but drive slowly, if they brake at high speed you will damage the truck or trailer.

How is that for starters. Of course these points do not necessarily apply all at the same time.

Another thing Larry, if you have a Jake brake ( Engine brake ) on your TV, do not use it on ice or snow covered roads, as this will make you loose traction and go into a slide.
Looks like good advice from everyone for you Larry.

dewwood said:

I agree with Ken the Crazyscotsman. The only person who can determine if the roads are safe is the person doing the driving. Some people are much more comfortable driving in winter weather than others mostly due to where they live and the amount of experience they have. When you become uncomfortable do like Ken said and find a place to park. A little planning and watching the forcast closely will help a lot, if you can avoid bad conditions that is the best scenario. Leave early and allow plenty of time for delays.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for 5 years...and in my old pickup, I went everywhere whenever I wanted. Haven driven the Alcan 4 times...I sure wouldn't want to do it towing anything....even with chains on all 8 wheels.

CrazyScotsman said:

Another thing Larry, if you have a Jake brake ( Engine brake ) on your TV, do not use it on ice or snow covered roads, as this will make you loose traction and go into a slide.
Looks like good advice from everyone for you Larry.

Click to expand...

I don't think down shifting is a good idea either. Just a looooong slowdown until the time is right for the brakes.

I got an Alaska tale about downshifting too. Made for one exciting 30 seconds.
Any stupid stunt that you can do on highway ice...I've probably done it. As I tell people, I can't tell you what to do...but, I sure can tell you WHAT NOT to do....experience....the great teacher.

Oh GAWD! Is tht another tree?

I know about these stupid stunts Lefty.
Just a quickie stupid stunt.. Ex Mrs and i drove to Germany to visit some friends there. Anyhoo, daughter and i went out for a drive one day, she was about 4 at the time. She was all fastened in the back seat of the car, and I took of on this snow covered country road I keep hearing from the back seat ," faster daddy, faster daddy ". so daddy done what he was told. We went round this corner, no telling how fast, next thing I know we were doing a 360. Voice from back seat said, " can we do that again daddy ". I had done some rallye driving in the UK and knew how to control a car in a skid, but not that time I didn't. After that I thought what a Dumb a** thing to do with the kid in the car. Well, I was young and dumb, we all learn as we age.
Neatest thing I done though was take a semi on a skid pad.That was hair raising to say the least.

I used to pull an 30' office trailer for work in the winter. I quite often used the trailer brake controller to stop and not use the truck brake at all. This way the trailer is pulling you. First time I pulled the Bighorn was in February and it had just snowed about 5". You could feel the truck slip and grab going up a huge hill in 4x4. Not a good feeling!

Thanks for all the tips. I've learned a lot from your experiences. I think the trailer brake setting is a critical point that is difficult to get just right. My current position is to slow down, stop somewhere and be patient for the weather and roads to improve before proceeding. I don't have a generator and that may be a necessary addition.

I welcome more replies from experienced winter drivers.
Larry