Semi / snow - Bob tail

[noteven]

4 hours ago, Mntom said:

Not in Ontario. There it was "Oh shit, EH?"

And... "we're aboot to hit the ditch"

[NoDirectionHome]

I think Rick & Alana hit the nail on the head... and not just for Corey.  I'll include myself in that group..

[Dennis M]

I've driven ours in the snow with the trailer on (3,500 lbs pin weight) and the 1,600 lb smart on board and it's not something I want to do again! And I'm a guy who learned to drive in snow country and still have no fear of driving a car in slippery conditions. After one trip from Chicago to St Louis in steadily falling snow the DW said "I never knew I could hold my breath that long!"

It is doable, but I would not recommend it. Another vote for Steve's suggestion!

[beyerjf]

I guess I have to comment. Out of the 80,000 miles a year I do, 20,000 are bobtail. At least half of that is under wet or snow slippery conditions. It will be clear to you immediately that you have a uncontrollable vehicle in your hands. We are talking doubling or tripling stopping distances of a like size dually pickup. And if you do get it stopped it will not be in a straight line. Curves are another challenge. Goose it just a little and you are sliding sideways. Starting from a traffic light can bring surprises. Every inattentive driver around you is now your sworn enemy. It is a long fatiguing day when I have to do it for real, the more traffic around the worse it is. 

I will have to go with some other suggestions. Bobtailing on dry pavement is acceptable for individuals here with limited experience, and even that is tricky but manageable. Under adverse conditions I would advise avoiding it if at all possible. Handling any vehicle in slippery conditions is a perishable skill that needs to honed continuously. As soon as the snow starts I get into a large parking lot and wail on it, too much brakes, too many steering corrections and keep the skill set sharp. 

I am not sure you want to limp home with a pranged HDT. Even if no one gets hurt it probably isn't worth the paperwork.

 

[rickeieio]

Gotta ask "why"?  I seem to remember VF has a SUV. Use it.

[rdickinson]

If you take the CDL in BC, you are told not to palm the wheel.

Anyway regarding the topic at hand, most of what you have experienced so far has been a result of limited or no prior research, poor decision making and lack of training. and experience.  Right from the get go you got blinded by the prospect of owning/ driving one of these monsters. 

It seems you are skating on thin ice with the wife on this topic.  If she is not firmly on board with the program, you will be RV ing alone.

Why risk adding to the problem by subjecting her to a risky drive of maybe 400 miles a day for roughly 1200 miles.  If the wx is poor it will be into a 3 day drive.  It could be a white knuckle trip for whatever she can handle then she may jump out and fly the rest, that is if you haven't pranged the truck by then.  Her RV ing days will be over.

Sorry sport but you get no sympathy from me.  So far you have been the master of your own demise. I and another  offered to help, Pre trip plus anything else I know that you could absorb  and drove 5 hrs out of my way on the last return trip from the South only to have you not to return my calls or show up.  Coming up with some weak excuse , later pulling the same with someone else.

If you plan to keep this thing for 10 or so years before seriously using it, you'd better get rid of it.  In 10 yrs, advances will be made in technology and yours will be old tech like my old 2001 IH 4700, it is 70's technology.  The anti skid systems shown on Volvo's videos will be standard  by then.

Tires you plan to replace will be time exed , $2k ish as well a lot of other truck parts. Hoses, some radiator components and that has not addressed the injector harness which plagues these trucks.

I hope common sense prevails but from what I've seen so far, that may not be likely.  So far I see this as a fail.

Am I being harsh??  Lets see what December brings.

On edit...Lets hope if common sense doesn't prevail, because as they say, " Common sense isn't to common", that you don't lose control going  sideways around an outside turn hitting  a hockey mom's van a full van of kids turning it into a flaming fireball.

You need to consider the consequences of your actions.  You'd be in the poorhouse for the rest of your life....pretty much guaranteed your marriage and job would be written off.

You really need to ask??  Are you kidding me, really are you kidding me??

 

[WeBeFulltimers]

I trucked for 20 years and logged 3 million plus safe miles.  Five of those years were Chattanooga to/from Chicago dedicated run.  I have run in all weather conditions and I would not bobtail anytime/anywhere in weather conditions you could face on this trip.  Bobtailing even on just wet roads is much different than on dry roads. DO NOT DO IT !

[Vegas Teacher]

On 11/3/2017 at 9:07 AM, Rick & Alana said:

Corey, I don't want to sound ugly. And I only know you from this forum. I don't think you have enough experiance driving on normal road conditions. Least bobtail in possible bad weather.

 With that said

Have you considered what you will do for fuel treatment? Don't wait until your in cold weather to treat. 

Rick, you don't sound Ugly only truthful and I appreciate that a lot. So many people worry about hurting a person's feelings when truth is what is really needed. I say this because in teaching we have to tread way to lightly on the emotions of our students. Yes I agree we need to build them up and treat them fairly, but so much of what we do any more in the classroom is way to "nicey, nicey" Honesty goes a long ways in my book. So Thanks, you and Phil "Big5er" have said the same stuff pretty much, and he said even professional drivers do not bobtail on Ice and snow.

Later,

Vegas Teacher

[Av8r3400]

On November 2, 2017 at 1:48 PM, Shallow Draft said:

This is why they make airplanes.

Amen!

 

So, you are going to scrub this bad idea?

[Vegas Teacher]

Just now, Av8r3400 said:

Amen!

 

So, you are going to scrub this bad idea?

Yes! He was right I am not experienced enough with the truck yet. I am still learning plus my tires only have 2/32 & 3/32 of an inch so they are pretty bad. I also do not have any weight in the back. I am even 500lbs less due to the fact I took off my commercial 5th. to get ready to put on my bed, also to be able to drive and not get any questions about this being a commercial vehicle.

[Av8r3400]

Sounds like the wise choice. 

[Jack Mayer]

Corey, you made a good decision.  It is not good to willingly drive in bad conditions. I've done it bobtail more than I like, and it is not fun....

[Vegas Teacher]

On 11/3/2017 at 10:59 PM, rdickinson said:

If you take the CDL in BC, you are told not to palm the wheel.

Anyway regarding the topic at hand, most of what you have experienced so far has been a result of limited or no prior research, poor decision making and lack of training. and experience.  Right from the get go you got blinded by the prospect of owning/ driving one of these monsters. 

It seems you are skating on thin ice with the wife on this topic.  If she is not firmly on board with the program, you will be RV ing alone.

Why risk adding to the problem by subjecting her to a risky drive of maybe 400 miles a day for roughly 1200 miles.  If the wx is poor it will be into a 3 day drive.  It could be a white knuckle trip for whatever she can handle then she may jump out and fly the rest, that is if you haven't pranged the truck by then.  Her RV ing days will be over.

Sorry sport but you get no sympathy from me.  So far you have been the master of your own demise. I and another  offered to help, Pre trip plus anything else I know that you could absorb  and drove 5 hrs out of my way on the last return trip from the South only to have you not to return my calls or show up.  Coming up with some weak excuse , later pulling the same with someone else.

If you plan to keep this thing for 10 or so years before seriously using it, you'd better get rid of it.  In 10 yrs, advances will be made in technology and yours will be old tech like my old 2001 IH 4700, it is 70's technology.  The anti skid systems shown on Volvo's videos will be standard  by then.

Tires you plan to replace will be time exed , $2k ish as well a lot of other truck parts. Hoses, some radiator components and that has not addressed the injector harness which plagues these trucks.

I hope common sense prevails but from what I've seen so far, that may not be likely.  So far I see this as a fail.

Am I being harsh??  Lets see what December brings.

On edit...Lets hope if common sense doesn't prevail, because as they say, " Common sense isn't to common", that you don't lose control going  sideways around an outside turn hitting  a hockey mom's van a full van of kids turning it into a flaming fireball.

You need to consider the consequences of your actions.  You'd be in the poorhouse for the rest of your life....pretty much guaranteed your marriage and job would be written off.

You really need to ask??  Are you kidding me, really are you kidding me??

 

Thanks for all of the advice. So far I have not a had single wreck, yes the truck shut down coming home from Arizona but no wrecks, no tickets and nothing bad has happened. I ask a lot of questions. I am younger than most on the site and by looking at the pictures from the Rally I am really young in comparison to many of you. I have a bachelors degree in Biology, bachelors degree in teaching, a masters degree in Molecular Biology an EDS in administration and a CTE in Leadership. The one thing I have learned is to ask questions. As far as my wife goes hey I like to joke around a little bit. Mostly what I write is a stretcher or two but I like to see people laugh and get involved in something fun. My wife is on board and she loved the trip we took to California two weeks ago. It went off without a hitch, I followed all of the rules, and we had a great time. I even drove in L.A. with crazy drivers without a problem, I was pretty proud of myself. I am a person who always looks for the best in people or a positive outcome to any situation. No maybe I  did not drop everything I was doing to visit with you or come see you but those who have met me know who I am or the person I am. No not everybody likes me but quite a few do and a lot of students have benefited from my knowledge. If I hurt your feelings by not dropping everything in my schedule to come see you I am sorry, but maybe I had something more important going on at the time, once again. As far as calling me "Sport" name calling is for those who like to "Bully" or try to start an argument. So please don't be a Bully or harass me by calling names, not very mature of you. You really show your true colors when you do stuff like that and who you are. That is the last I will say of that.

So I wish you nothing but the best. I wish you safe travels, and I wish you a great holiday season. Maybe someday we will meet at a Rally and we can sit down over a beverage and have an adult conversation without name calling and bullying. Yes I will continue to ask questions because as we say in teaching there are no dumb questions, only the questions unasked are dumb, yes really. Yes I really was looking for advice on driving on snow or ice. I grew up doing that back home but had not driven a semi on it. Really yes really all I wanted was advice, really. As you can see by reading all of the posts I got a lot of different advice which I did enjoy reading. As a highly educated person I love to read and I love to do research, that is what getting a Masters degree in Science taught me.

On a really great note the Friday I left for California I drove my semi to school and the announcement / media / video productions class did a 15 minute story on one of the only teachers in Las Vegas to own a semi, the kids just loved it. They were able to see a teacher doing something so far outside of the box and I have had kids come up to me and say hey my dad drives a truck, I have met kids I don't even have in class this year.

So please have a very, very nice day. I am sure you are a great person. I am sure you have lots of knowledge and that I could learn a great deal from you. Thanks so much for the knowledge you have shared. I have loved every minute of reading your posts you have made. Thanks so much for the entertainment.

Have a wonderful day!

10 -4

Vegas Teacher