Let it SNOW!?

[cl15876]

Last night, Cowboy Devil and I, EarlJam, were traveling west on I-40 as the snow started coming down pretty hard.

There was quite a bit of traffic on the highway, going at about 25-30 MPH. With traffic all around us, including a transfer truck a bit behind us, our Durango started to fishtail. Cowboy Devil, who was driving, said, "Here we go," and time seemed to stand still.

We went sideways as headlights from other cars were going by us, miraculously missing us. When all traffic had cleared, suddenly we found ourselves in a slide headed directly for the guardrail at a pretty high rate of speed. I braced for the crunch.

While all of this was happening, I was watching with keen detail Cowboy Devil operate the steering wheel and pedals. As I wrote, time seemed to stand still. I must say, to his credit, Cowboy Devil knew exactly how to handle the situation and showed tremendous skill in keeping the car from crashing. In short, Cowboy Devil is a snow driving bad ass and I propose that his new name be "SNOWDRIVER!"

The combination of divine intervention, luck (whatever you wish to call it) and Cowboy' Devil's kick-arse driving skills prevented an almost certain, and potentially very serious, wreck from happening.

Just wanted to share and give much deserved props, kudos, vibes, etc. to Cowboy Devil on this board.

Now................GO DUKE!

-EarlJam

Awesome, glad you guys made it out of that safely! I tried to catch you on FB and here last night to make sure you were okay since y'all were heading right into it. You'll have to post pictures of your snow man!!!

[captmojo]

Doing it in snow isn't too awfully bad. Ice is NO-GO.

Both can only lead to one thing: Blue Balls.



-EJ

BB heals, had that procedure! ;) ;)

Over 15 years ago, an older dude(now retired) was loading his truck next to me. It was raining hard and the temperature was in the high 30's. That's the worst. You just get wet and cold. If it were colder and snowing, then it's not melting through onto your skin. I digress. Anyway he looks at me and says, "You know, this is better than sex." I asked why he made such a claim and his answer...."'Cause you wouldn't want to be stuck outdoors fuckin' in weather like this."
He was right and I've never forgotten it.

[DukeUsul]

Just did our second run with the snowblower. Definitely over a foot now.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Asheville got 17 inches. Kids have postponed trip until tomorrow.

[DukeUsul]

We have somewhere between 17 and 20 inches here.

[cl15876]

Asheville got 17 inches. Kids have postponed trip until tomorrow.

Excellent news! They made the right decision! Watching the NoVA news, it is crazy out there ... all those amateur drivers that are stuck are making it tough to get the streets and main roads cleared.

[DukeUsul]

Alotta snow on the car.

[EarlJam]

Alotta snow on the car.

Dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyymn! While I am VERY GRATEFUL for the snow we received here in North Cackalacki, your pictures are making me very jealous! I want, more, More, MORE! Clearly I have a snow addiction problem.

That said, I must repeat: I am very BLESSED and GRATEFUL for the snow we got and for the snow still on the ground. And of course, for not getting in an accident Friday night.

I have issues......I know.

-EarlJam

[colchar]

Last night, Cowboy Devil and I, EarlJam, were traveling west on I-40 as the snow started coming down pretty hard.

There was quite a bit of traffic on the highway, going at about 25-30 MPH. With traffic all around us, including a transfer truck a bit behind us, our Durango started to fishtail. Cowboy Devil, who was driving, said, "Here we go," and time seemed to stand still.

We went sideways as headlights from other cars were going by us, miraculously missing us. When all traffic had cleared, suddenly we found ourselves in a slide headed directly for the guardrail at a pretty high rate of speed. I braced for the crunch.

While all of this was happening, I was watching with keen detail Cowboy Devil operate the steering wheel and pedals. As I wrote, time seemed to stand still. I must say, to his credit, Cowboy Devil knew exactly how to handle the situation and showed tremendous skill in keeping the car from crashing. In short, Cowboy Devil is a snow driving bad ass and I propose that his new name be "SNOWDRIVER!"

The combination of divine intervention, luck (whatever you wish to call it) and Cowboy' Devil's kick-arse driving skills prevented an almost certain, and potentially very serious, wreck from happening.

Just wanted to share and give much deserved props, kudos, vibes, etc. to Cowboy Devil on this board.

Now................GO DUKE!

-EarlJam

Glad to hear everything turned out fine.

And here are some winter driving tips for all of you from a Canuck (if anyone understands winter driving, it is us!!!!):

First, if you have ABS brakes on your vehicle never ever turn your wheels while skidding as the brakes will prevent you from skidding - providing you keep the wheels straight. You might not stop on a dime but you will only slide forward, in pretty much a straight line, and you will come to a stop in a fairly short distance (a much much shorter distance than you would without ABS brakes).

Second, if you do not have ABS brakes try, as much as you possibly can, to only turn your wheels in the direction of your skid at least until your car has slowed down a good bit. Trying to turn out of the skid will only make the skid worse - wait until the car has slowed and then turn gently out of the skid.

Third, never ever ever use the handbrake/emergency brake while skidding as that will only make matters worse - usually much worse. Hell, up here we intentionally pull the handbrake while turning in snow just for shits and giggles (so long as there are no other cars around) as the skid can be pretty fun.

Fourth, put a couple of old pizza boxes in your trunk as they can be invaluable for getting your car out when it is stuck in snow. Expand them fully and, if you are trying to drive forward, jam them under the front of your wheels with the outside of the box facing down. If you are trying to reverse, jam them behind your wheels, again outside down (just make sure nobody is standing in front of the car as they have a tendency of coming flying out at a pretty good rate of speed - usually somewhere in the neighborhood of Mach 5). Pizza boxes will almost always get you out and are much cheaper than any 'system' you might see advertised for this purpose. Plus, you get to enjoy the pizzas before the boxes go in your trunk.

Fifth, if you are driving on shitty snow covered roads always use the lowest gear possible as this will help to keep your tires from spinning as much as they would in a higher gear.

[cl15876]

...
Glad to hear everything turned out fine.

And here are some winter driving tips for all of you from a Canuck (if anyone understands winter driving, it is us!!!!):

First, if you have ABS brakes on your vehicle never ever turn your wheels while skidding as the brakes will prevent you from skidding - providing you keep the wheels straight. You might not stop on a dime but you will only slide forward, in pretty much a straight line, and you will come to a stop in a fairly short distance (a much much shorter distance than you would without ABS brakes).

Second, if you do not have ABS brakes try, as much as you possibly can, to only turn your wheels in the direction of your skid at least until your car has slowed down a good bit. Trying to turn out of the skid will only make the skid worse - wait until the car has slowed and then turn gently out of the skid.

Third, never ever ever use the handbrake/emergency brake while skidding as that will only make matters worse - usually much worse. Hell, up here we intentionally pull the handbrake while turning in snow just for shits and giggles (so long as there are no other cars around) as the skid can be pretty fun.

Fourth, put a couple of old pizza boxes in your trunk as they can be invaluable for getting your car out when it is stuck in snow. Expand them fully and, if you are trying to drive forward, jam them under the front of your wheels with the outside of the box facing down. If you are trying to reverse, jam them behind your wheels, again outside down (just make sure nobody is standing in front of the car as they have a tendency of coming flying out at a pretty good rate of speed - usually somewhere in the neighborhood of Mach 5). Pizza boxes will almost always get you out and are much cheaper than any 'system' you might see advertised for this purpose. Plus, you get to enjoy the pizzas before the boxes go in your trunk.

Fifth, if you are driving on shitty snow covered roads always use the lowest gear possible as this will help to keep your tires from spinning as much as they would in a higher gear.

1&2, & 5. Good tips!
3. Not sure I want to play russian roulette with all the young drivers out there!
4. Wonder if DominOOOss is delivering today?

thanks for sharing though, I will definitely try them!!!!

[colchar]

Glad to hear everything turned out fine.

And here are some winter driving tips for all of you from a Canuck (if anyone understands winter driving, it is us!!!!):

First, if you have ABS brakes on your vehicle never ever turn your wheels while skidding as the brakes will prevent you from skidding - providing you keep the wheels straight. You might not stop on a dime but you will only slide forward, in pretty much a straight line, and you will come to a stop in a fairly short distance (a much much shorter distance than you would without ABS brakes).

Second, if you do not have ABS brakes try, as much as you possibly can, to only turn your wheels in the direction of your skid at least until your car has slowed down a good bit. Trying to turn out of the skid will only make the skid worse - wait until the car has slowed and then turn gently out of the skid.

Third, never ever ever use the handbrake/emergency brake while skidding as that will only make matters worse - usually much worse. Hell, up here we intentionally pull the handbrake while turning in snow just for shits and giggles (so long as there are no other cars around) as the skid can be pretty fun.

Fourth, put a couple of old pizza boxes in your trunk as they can be invaluable for getting your car out when it is stuck in snow. Expand them fully and, if you are trying to drive forward, jam them under the front of your wheels with the outside of the box facing down. If you are trying to reverse, jam them behind your wheels, again outside down (just make sure nobody is standing in front of the car as they have a tendency of coming flying out at a pretty good rate of speed - usually somewhere in the neighborhood of Mach 5). Pizza boxes will almost always get you out and are much cheaper than any 'system' you might see advertised for this purpose. Plus, you get to enjoy the pizzas before the boxes go in your trunk.

Fifth, if you are driving on shitty snow covered roads always use the lowest gear possible as this will help to keep your tires from spinning as much as they would in a higher gear.

For #2 I should also add that you should never ever jam on your brakes. If you have ABS brakes you can get away with it but, if you don't, never ever do it. If you don't have ABS brakes hit your brakes (not too hard), release, hit them, release, hit them, release, and so on as needed. This will help normal brakes emulate ABS brakes (grab, release, grab, release) when skidding on snow.

[captmojo]

A most important

FACT

to bear in mind...

THE SLIDING WHEEL WILL TAKE THE LEAD!

What ever wheel is not turning will become the one that leads the direction of travel. Should it be one of the rear wheels, you will turn back bumper leading the way.

[DevilAlumna]

Mom & Pop DA, having dug out in Falls Church:

[captmojo]

Well. We see who gets the 'good' shovel.

[DukieInKansas]

Glad to hear everything turned out fine.

And here are some winter driving tips for all of you from a Canuck (if anyone understands winter driving, it is us!!!!):

First, if you have ABS brakes on your vehicle never ever turn your wheels while skidding as the brakes will prevent you from skidding - providing you keep the wheels straight. You might not stop on a dime but you will only slide forward, in pretty much a straight line, and you will come to a stop in a fairly short distance (a much much shorter distance than you would without ABS brakes).

Second, if you do not have ABS brakes try, as much as you possibly can, to only turn your wheels in the direction of your skid at least until your car has slowed down a good bit. Trying to turn out of the skid will only make the skid worse - wait until the car has slowed and then turn gently out of the skid.

Third, never ever ever use the handbrake/emergency brake while skidding as that will only make matters worse - usually much worse. Hell, up here we intentionally pull the handbrake while turning in snow just for shits and giggles (so long as there are no other cars around) as the skid can be pretty fun.

Fourth, put a couple of old pizza boxes in your trunk as they can be invaluable for getting your car out when it is stuck in snow. Expand them fully and, if you are trying to drive forward, jam them under the front of your wheels with the outside of the box facing down. If you are trying to reverse, jam them behind your wheels, again outside down (just make sure nobody is standing in front of the car as they have a tendency of coming flying out at a pretty good rate of speed - usually somewhere in the neighborhood of Mach 5). Pizza boxes will almost always get you out and are much cheaper than any 'system' you might see advertised for this purpose. Plus, you get to enjoy the pizzas before the boxes go in your trunk.

Fifth, if you are driving on shitty snow covered roads always use the lowest gear possible as this will help to keep your tires from spinning as much as they would in a higher gear.

For #2 I should also add that you should never ever jam on your brakes. If you have ABS brakes you can get away with it but, if you don't, never ever do it. If you don't have ABS brakes hit your brakes (not too hard), release, hit them, release, hit them, release, and so on as needed. This will help normal brakes emulate ABS brakes (grab, release, grab, release) when skidding on snow.

Thank you for the timely driving tips. They came in very handy when the snow started falling Christmas Eve. It was the first snow in the new wheels - had very little trouble. I thought of your tips while venturing forth.