I can't believe it......I live in Wisconsin and winter is approaching rapidly. Actually, we had our first measurable snow fall last night.
Anyway, as we all know, all trucks suck in the snow. To help with traction, I put 5-70 lb. (350 lbs. total) sand bags in the bed of the truck. To my surprise, my average mpg went down by 2-3 mpg. My every day mpg was approx. 16.8. Now, my average is about 15 mpg. Damn......I didn't think 350 lbs. would make that much of a difference. Yea, I could flip the 4x4 switch in my Nismo CC every time we get snow, but that seems a bit excessive too.
Oh well.....winter only lasts till March in the midwest.
What do you guys (and gals) think? Am I wasting money? Remove the sand bags and just kick in the 4x4 every time?
I hope those bags are plastic and not paper. They'll disintegrate when they get wet.
My husband wants to do the same thing. Pool sand comes in plastic bags. Here in Connecticut it can get pretty nasty in the winter too. I'll see how it goes.
My AWD Audi did just fine. I just made sure when we were expecting a storm to fill up the tank for the extra weight.
__________________
Wendy
Drive Fast, Take Chances
2006 LE, Storm Gray w/Desert....and loving it!
Yea, I could flip the 4x4 switch in my Nismo CC every time we get snow, but that seems a bit excessive too.
Why is that an "excesive" option? If you really don't want to use your 4x4, you could get one of those water bladders and fill that when the weather gets bad, but I'd go with 4x4 over sand bags or bladders any day.
__________________
Jerry
2004 Frontier, King Cab, XE, 4x1, 4-cyl, 5-spd My Frontier Page
i am just wondering if i am up for a treat this winter... i just bought a 2004 Crew Cab 3.3 4x2 w/ Limited slip. my previous ride was a 2000 s10, 2wd w/ a posi rear... it got along decently for 2wd - the posi was a nite and day difference... any opinions? surely i'm better off w/ this nissan!
Breeze Man - I say, check the next tank and maybe bust out the calculator... see how much it'll really save you to take it out...
Did you check you mph meter on the truck? If that goes down you mpg goes down also. Maybe it is just you driving slower and using more gas, or if you are letting it warm up for longer.
That mileage change sounds about right to me. think about how much energy it takes to move 350lbs all the places you taken those bags. it does take a fair amount of energy and the gas will suffer.
BTW. My 97 Hardbody did great in the snow. we lived in the mountains of NC (Boone) for a few years and I just kept the hubs locked all winter. It was a real bear in 2wd, just no control or traction; but in 4wd I could go anywhere I wanted, and I wanted to go lots of stupid places. If I ever got scared I would stop and put chains on the rear. Chains make an absolutely amazing difference; rubber just doesnt work on ice.
also... Just having the hubs locked all the time was worth about 1 mpg, so 350lbs worth of sand will surely make a small dent.
I got my first real chance to use my 4wd on the roads this morning. I think half my problem was the sucky factory tires. Once I switched over it wasnt nearly as bad (but it was ice so...it wasnt great either).
And tonight I just drove the last 50 miles of a 300 mile trip in 4wd (coating of snow but still prett slick). I'm sure the gas mileage will be a little lower on this tank but I would rather a couple mpg hit when I need it than 2-3 mpg all winter. Besides, thats one reason I bought a 4x4 instead of a 4x2.
For comparison sake, so far I think my 4-cyl 97 was better in the snow BUT I had better tires and I drove it for 6 winters. So far, the '05 has 1 day of winter driving....and double the power...
I can't believe it......I live in Wisconsin and winter is approaching rapidly. Actually, we had our first measurable snow fall last night.
Anyway, as we all know, all trucks suck in the snow. To help with traction, I put 5-70 lb. (350 lbs. total) sand bags in the bed of the truck. To my surprise, my average mpg went down by 2-3 mpg. My every day mpg was approx. 16.8. Now, my average is about 15 mpg. Damn......I didn't think 350 lbs. would make that much of a difference. Yea, I could flip the 4x4 switch in my Nismo CC every time we get snow, but that seems a bit excessive too.
Oh well.....winter only lasts till March in the midwest.
What do you guys (and gals) think? Am I wasting money? Remove the sand bags and just kick in the 4x4 every time?
Uuhhmmmm.... why did you buy a 4x4 if you don't want to use it when you need it?
__________________ It's much easier to travel through a maze when you have a map!
Spat
Former Nissan Tech
14yrs ASE all but AT it's a bitXX!
New career - HandyMan/Electrician - Freedom at last!!
86.5 Nissan HB D21 234K Miles
94 Nissan Altima GXE ? Miles
97 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.8L 132K Miles
64 Chrysler 300-K 2-door Convertible 63K Miles
Uuhhmmmm.... why did you buy a 4x4 if you don't want to use it when you need it?
Good point. It is fun to see just how far you can go in 2wd before having to engage the magic axle. But I agree; when I bought my truck I was totally frustated becouse there where so many great 2wd trucls out there and I was having trouble finding my little 4wd in good shape; 4wd was a must have item. I knew i would use it and I knew I wanted it. Now I use it on an almost weekly level. And I live in Charlotte NC where there's never any snow, nothing but asphalt.
Part of the problem may be with the "truck bed air bubble" being distrubed with the sand bags in there, a tonneau cover or tarp may be the only way to fix that....
mmmm, how i love the SF Bay Area... 70 degrees today
n/m i see that you have a cover.... damm...
i vote for switching to 4wd then... heck, you can do it on the fly
__________________
05 4X4 Nismo KC 6-Speed Mods: PXNI AAI-NIS Audio input box, XTR7CK Sirius Sat Radio (dash antenna & custom radio mount), iPod integration, lug/spare/gas locks, Silverstar 9007ST Headlights, Full Synthetic Swap (engine/diffs/tranny/xfer case), OEM Rubber floormats, Flowmaster exhaust, K&N 63 Series Intake w/ an AEM dryflow filter
Well I just had my first chance to drive my 06 nismo in the snow and I think it did great. I had an 04 f-150 which weighed more and had smaller tires on it and I think the Frontier is almost as good. I think a lot of it has to do with how light our trucks are compared to the power/large tire size.
FIlled up today and found that I averaged 19.68mpg over 362.9 miles (all with a 6 foot long tv stand in the bed, tailgate down, 60 miles total in 4wd) last time I made this trip I averaged 21mpg so I can accept the drop...I figure it was mostly from the load I was carrying.
Uuhhmmmm.... why did you buy a 4x4 if you don't want to use it when you need it? 
Linear Mode
