Beach sand works as a weighter and you can put the sand in the void spaces of whatever you cargo you are hauling.
In a pinch, you can use the sand on the ice. Gravel, 1/4 minus, is ideal.
There’s no need for sand…that’s my point…My 4wd 4runner does fine in the snow…my wifes Lexus ES-350 with all-season tires does fine. If she didn’t get stuck at all on Friday night then she probably never will. That was one of the worse storms NH ever had. And the plows in our town was only plowing the major roads on Friday…We had 6-10" on Friday alone…then another 12-14" through Saturday afternoon.
@longprime @mikeInNH
Tube sand, available at many hardware stores, is double wrapped beach sand, weighs 70 lbs each and easily tucks in behind the rear seat. We keep 7 or 8 bags stacked at the end of the garage and throw it in as needed, take it when not. If I have weighty cargo or dry conditions, I don’t use it. It’s little sacrifice to have a good handling vehicle on ice and snow. Several occasions I have broken a bag open to throw sand down for someone stuck in front of me on our road. I even use a few bags it in the back of my wife’s awd RAV…makes a world of difference.
We live on this road for a mile and a half out. We know what works.
@MikeInNH
The first leg out for a mile and a half…all like this, all winter long. One lane, deep ditches and steep.
One direction.
The other direction.
Mike
I have a pretty good idea where you live. My daughter lives there and we visit a dozen times or more a year, usually in the winter and I am in full agreement that there is NO need for anything but all season tires 99.9% of the time where you live. But, when the conditions demand it, in response to your comment that “fwd is better then rwd in snow” my response is and has always been, “not always and not all the time.” as the potential, if prepared is often better with rwd, especially where we are and for all my neighbors here and in parts of NH that equally demand it.
Two suggestions:
First, get some qualified bad weather driving instructions. Driving schools aren’t just for high school students and they may lower you insurance rates (for good reason).
Second, find an empty lot somewhere soon after the first snow/ice of the year and practice hitting the brakes, putting your car into spins, etc. Experience the limits of the car in a controlled situation so you won’t have to do it the first time on the road.
I remember seeing road sanders in the Sears Roebuck catalog back in the early 1950s. These devices installed in the trunk and had a discharge chute right in front of the rear wheels. The device was operated by a switch on the dashboard. There was a special grit that was used and it wasn’t really sand. Of course, these devices would be worthless on a front drive vehicle, but virtually all cars were rear wheel drive back then. Does anyone else remember seeing these road sanders?