[SGVLUG] OT: Snow

[Dustin]

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005, Chris Smith wrote:

> Hmm.. Canada has less than 4 times the population of Montana, but is
> more than 24 times its size. Despite this, we find ways to get sand or
> the new fangled glass stuff on the road even in some of the sparsely
> populated areas (certainly not everywhere).

While everything you say is true, I did notice how most of the population
is concentrated along the border, so you can't quite claim all that space
unless you're talking about driving up there. :-)  Similar comments for
Montana--if you're in Billings, say, you can expect the same level of help
as you would in any city.  Maybe more, since there are a *lot* of people
with 4WD and serious towing tackle.  But the part that I think of is East
of Billings, and that's starting to be Little House On The Prairie type of
population.  If you want to tell me my views on snow are overly colored by 
that, feel free. :-)

> Hmm, my parent's cottage is up in northern Ontario. The area is hilly
> (anyone from around here would laugh if I said mountainous ;-).

Eh, and I think the local mountains are cute little things. :-)

> ...It is
> civilized enough that a few of the local residents pool together money
> to privately pay someone to plow the roads. As for near services, I
> guess it depends on your definitions of "near" and "services". Cell
> phone service is within about 20 miles... They have land lines, gas
> (at least when the lines don't freeze up) and electricity (no
> broadband of course ;). No water or sewage services although those are
> available within 20 miles.

I wouldn't call that city living.  You have more amenities that that in 
Terry itself, for example, probably fewer in the rest of the county.

> ...As far as I know neither my parents nor
> many of the local residents use chains (the guy with the plow has some
> of course).

You know, it's possible that it has to do with how many people own snow 
tires and how many months you can use them.  Winters are long up 
there...when grandma gave me her old Dodge she had studded rear tires for 
winter, but I don't think it's as common now as it was when she bought 
them, which means you're likelihood of needing to chain up is a lot 
higher.  Also, a good winter set is more expensive than chains, and the 
longer the winters the easier it is to make the investment.

There is no comparison between them if you're really in trouble, but if 
you're trying to stay out of trouble that should rarely be an issue.

> Yeah, I'm sure it's about the same. It's not the *having* chains that
> I think is odd (that's just being careful/rational). It's the
> occassions on which said chains actually get used that seems peculiar
> down here. I don't know about Montana, but in the north east it seems
> like they start pulling them out anytime they are leaving the "city"
> and there's more than a couple of inches of snow on the ground.

Hmm, I agree that doesn't seem right.  As I said, I rarely actually *used*
my chains, because (as you more or less said) if you don't need them
they're a real pain in the neck.  Could be they were overcautious,
unskilled, had summer tires, or all of the above.

You know, some of the worst highway pileups I've seen were in South Texas
after a rain.  It wasn't that the road was slick--it was just wet--but
that they had little clue and drove eighty just like always.  Just knowing
to SLOW DOWN avoids the majority of situations that require traction aids,
or worse.  I guess I'd rather have the idiots chain up early--the ride 
will help them decide to slow down, and the extra traction might help them 
avoid hitting *me*.

But the bottom line is I'm just paranoid.  I feel my 4Runner isn't ready
for serious driving conditions because only the center differential has
limited-slip. :-)  I really want the ability to manually lock both front
and rear.

Jean, I just hinted at this, but realize that on snow and ice most cars
are really 1-wheel drive, because if either drive wheel breaks free the
differential will put all the power to the spinning wheel and none to the
non-spinning one.  You can get stuck with one drive wheel on dry pavement,
particularly in an RWD car (though it'll probably just push at that
point).  The relevant driving skill is to do *exactly* what you were told
never to do and carefully ride the brake with your left foot while
maintaining speed with your right.  Yes, that's right.  Both pedals at
once.  You don't do this constantly to avoid glazing the pads, just when
you're losing all traction.  What this does is apply enough friction to
the spinning wheel to transfer some to the other wheel.

Also, tromping on the pedal is useless.  If you're having traction 
trouble, go gentle on the throttle and try not to just spin.

Dustin