Tips for helping a car or truck that has become stuck in the snow. Post your ideas.
If your car gets stuck in snow or ice, remove the floormats from the car and place them under the tires. This will usually give you just enough traction to get free. (Don't forget to pick the floormats back up!)
By Becki in Indiana
Cut up a fairly large cardboard box, and leave it in your trunk for snow stuck cars....
Along with this idea, is if you replace your floormats, keep the old ones in the trunk for this purpose and also in case you need to change a tire, it will give you a "cleaner" surface to lean on.
Branches broken off a nearby tree also give traction - but I've used this when stuck in mud as it NEVER snows where I live in Australia!
Regards
Jo
If you feel the tyres begin to spin don't keep revving the engine and digging yourself in deeper. Put the car in reverse gear and gently but steadily try to reverse back up the shallower slope behind the tyres.
Regards
Jo
During the winter months I keep a bag of inexpensive cat litter in the car to give traction in case I get stuck. Don't have to go back to retrieve it like mats.
Be careful when putting things under your tires. Floor mats or cardboard is probably okay, but a friend of mine got badly injured when she used an old board. She was standing behind the car with the board under the tires. The car's driver revved up the engine which kicked the board up from under the tires directly into her shins, which were shattered.
Becareful with kitty litter. I got stuck in a new housing development on a bunch of packed down snow. This girl that I knew that lived there went and got kitty litter for my rear wheels.
Before the kitty litter I could move about 3 or 4 feet slipping like mad but could not get moving past that. She put the kitty litter around both of my rear wheels and I went about a foot and slipped back and could no longer move either way...
Come to find out the kitty litter was the clay stuff and it just make things slipperier for me.
I was stuck for over an hour. Another thing is to watch the reving and spinning. Even though I was stuck for slow long I didn't spin my wheels all that time. I would try for a few minutes then let things cool down.
It finally took her brother pushing along with two of his friends to get me free.
Jen
One writer said be careful of what you put under the tires. I've seen folks get their leg cut bad when a floor mat got loose and was ejected from the front tires. i've lived in snow areas long enough not to put anything under my tires. a good shovel (spade shovel) to clear the snow front and rear of the tire, and then rocking is the single best technique I know of, short of a tow truck. Sounds easy, but rocking isn't for the ones that hold the pedal down and shfit between gears... it's an art, but when mastered, works wonders!!!!
I don't offer to stand near a car that has stuff under the tires, usually the driver feels over confident, punches the pedal down, and someone gets hurt. I know that when stuck, you just want out, but be careful... tires are great at throwing things (grip with the tire, snow with no grip underneath).
Daniel
I like to keep a hay bale in the back of my truck for when stuck in snow, it works pretty well :)
If your like me and own an old van that has bald tires the best thing you can have is CAA/AAA. Wish i had it today. I tried almost everything short of a tow truck. What finally got me out was time and rocking the van back and forth. If you have a standard vehicles such as my van you have it made. Move forward then let the car roll back. For those who have automatics, umm I don't know, good luck?
KITTY LITTER! I drove a delivery truck for 20+ years in remote rural areas. In the winter time when snow was a possibility I always carried a shovel, a towing chain and a large bag of kitty litter. The kitty litter was helpful the most often.... although I often had to "dig" my way out at times with the shovel. The chain was for when a kind person driving a 4-wheel drive truck would stop and I could provide the chain for them to pull me out! Bags or "tubes" of sand are also available to buy in our area in the winter.
clorox bleach on the tires....warms em up and melts da snow
If I wanna help someone who is stuck, and I bring out my tow strap that has a hook on the end, where are good spots to hook it onto the car of the stuck person? And what are good techniques for pulling them out in terms of driving my 4wd Jeep?
After having lived in the south I recently moved back north and forgot how easy it is to get stuck in the snow .I tired the floor mat thing and dug myself out to no avail, even got some old carpet out, still nothing. I would seriously hesitate to use kitty litter, but the guy next door brought over some sand and that combined with chopping the ice up under the tires worked great
I have used weeds twice to get myself unstuck from a muddy area and to pave a path in snow so I could reach the road. I would also suggest that people look into buying traction ramps. There is one called Save a Tow, that's just a lightweight plastic ramp. There are also much more expensive ones called waffle boards and sand ladders. But if kitty litter works, why not use it?
The key to getting free from snow is a feather light foot on the gas. Wiggle your front wheels, gently accelerate just until the wheels slip (in 2nd gear in a manual transmission), then back up again just until the wheels slip. Keep doing this and you'll eventually have enough room to get out.
This will only work if your stuck and have people with you, or kind passerby's that stopped. We tried rocking the car by just switching from drive to reverse and etc. but that didn't work. Started rocking it even though it would only move about a foot both ways, we'd go forward, then when we reversed, two people would push the car, which effectively rocked it more, and eventually we got out.
There is a new product called Lions Grip Traction Pads that work super in snow and in most other stuck-vehicle situations. Very simple to use, light weight, inexpensive, and very safe. I've gotten out of snow, mud, sand, and wet grass using them.
Tips to Get Your Car Out of the Snow
1. Check the tailpipe before you start the engine.
2. Shift into the lowest gear available.
3. If you live in an area where it snows a lot, consider investing in winter tires.
When your vehicle gets stuck in the snow or ice, don't panic. Instead, try one of the techniques used by drivers that live and work in the snowiest regions.
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Very good tip, but first what type of snow; wet, down style or à mix, The wet condition are The one that is hard to deal with, wet snow pack very fast and turn very hard lift your car and their no more traction, solutions are remove that snow under The car, very hard job, second way, find a way to lift The car using any things that Will make it happen, to add thing under The wheel, The last thing to do, your care his supportes by The snow, tire are o traction, you have try to put rock, piece of Wood but The tire Just slip, bring down your tire pressure to +\- 20 PSI, from your MFG recommanded tire pressure, this will give two things, one, all the weight his apply in that snow under The care, your tire has gain near twice The surface contact and that same tire now will Come up on that rock
That before it was Just pushing it, you always want Come back, if no portable Compressor , do not speed over 30 km and get to a garage to bring back your tire pressure, Please note that a low pressure tire are a not to be use other then special situation only.
On snow very fluffy traction is way better, when you get stuck, The force that stop you his that snow that his bull by The car, take off anti sleep, use salt, sand, rocking your car slowly, no over spinning your wheel,
Very good Winter tire make a extremely big différence on winter road
