Help me wigh down my truck!

December 30, 2009 10:22 PM

Help! I'm looking for 150 lbs of SOMETHING CHEAP to put in the bed of my 04 Ford Ranger.

I have 100 lbs of rock salt in the back already, but as the snow is coming down in Central, IL, I'm fishtailing my way into needing about 150 lbs more. What cheap, heavy thing can I put in the back of my truck to improve my traction? I don't have a long commute, so gas mileage isn't really an issue. Would cinder blocks work? Bags of sand? Some other heavy construction material I don't even know about? Help!

posted by ThaBombShelterSmith to Travel & Transportation (27 answers total)

We used to let the bed of our ancient ranger fill with snow.
posted by kch at 10:25 PM on December 30, 2009

3 or 4 40-50 pound bags/buckets of ice melt? Useful as well as heavy.
posted by IndigoRain at 10:26 PM on December 30, 2009

I don't know how cheap regular sand is, but I think children's play sand is like $3.50 for a 50 - 80 pound bag at Home Depot.
posted by peep at 10:28 PM on December 30, 2009

Sand.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:41 PM on December 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

Costco kitty litter, cheap and also good traction in a pinch.
posted by bunji at 10:48 PM on December 30, 2009

Best answer: Most people here put bags of sand in the back of trucks. They sell bags that come in a long tube shape here in Canada. It seconds as a traction aid if you, or someone else, do become stuck. You just take a bag out, open it and pour it under ( or nearest to) the traction tires to grip on. Most hardware stores carry them. Any sand will do. But be careful, its against the law in some places to remove sand from beaches.

Yes, cinder blocks are also used by some.

What about old (and cheap), discarded chunks of concrete?
posted by Taurid at 10:49 PM on December 30, 2009

Seconding Taurid. Go to Lowe's or Menard's or Home Depot and ask for tubes of sand. These will weight 50-75 pounds each. Get 3-4 and center them over your rear axel. Should be cheap, like $5 each.
posted by cosmicbandito at 10:53 PM on December 30, 2009

Sand is best. can give you that little bit of traction in an emergency.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:04 PM on December 30, 2009

Response by poster: I suppose I thought sand was more expensive than that! I'll definitely swing by Menards tomorrow!
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 11:04 PM on December 30, 2009

You might be able to find some cinder blocks laying around, if you happen to know where to find such things.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:38 PM on December 30, 2009

Rocks are free.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:56 PM on December 30, 2009

Water is cheap if you have something to put it in. And it's free & easy to dispose of when you don't need it anymore.
posted by chairface at 12:58 AM on December 31, 2009

My 2002 2WD Ranger is the worst vehicle on a slippery surface I've ever seen.

I'd been running two Ford 4x4 Escapes up and down my driveway without any problems at all, and the one time I tried to back out over snow with my Ranger it simply slid right off of the paving and into my front yard.

Until I just read about using tubes of sand I'd planned to fill the Ranger bed with firewood for next winter, but sand really makes sense, especially packaged that way.
posted by imjustsaying at 1:21 AM on December 31, 2009

I'm going to second kitty litter - you can get it anywhere, and it's really useful to get out of the ditch.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:41 AM on December 31, 2009

Just anchor whatever you choise well in case you do have an accident, wouldn't fancy 150+ pounds of stuff coming flying at me off someones truck.
posted by Iteki at 1:42 AM on December 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

I sometimes use bags of mulch, especially when I'm planning to buy some in the spring anyway.
posted by box at 5:17 AM on December 31, 2009

i used sand. one thing that i did that turned out to be smart was to put the bags of sand in a container so that there was less chance of getting sand all over the inside of the truck bed instead of concentrated where i wanted it.

i also picked up a big piece of steel plate for cheap, and tossed that in there as well.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:52 AM on December 31, 2009

Around this neck of the hood it's "3 way chips", of course we're limestone rich here.

3 way chips are 80-100lb bags of limestone chips you throw in the bed and give you weight. Then if you get stuck you can open 'em and spread 'em and get some traction. IDK what the third thing is, but from experience I can tell you it's not for eating them when you get stuck and hungry.
posted by TomMelee at 5:53 AM on December 31, 2009

Also, unless those bags of salt are waterproof, every time it rains (or the snow melts, whichever comes first) you will have saltwater sluicing down over your frame and rear axle, which isn't ideal in terms of rust.

Sand or gravel is where it's at. You can save some money by going to a place that sells bulk sand, gravel, concrete, etc, and buying the fraction of a cubic yard that gives you the weight you want. (I think I paid less than $15 for about 1500 pounds of gravel last year, to give you a sense of how cheap this stuff is in bulk.) The sand tubes are more convenient, of course, and you can reuse them next year if they don't tear.
posted by Forktine at 6:10 AM on December 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Tube sand is great...but kitty litter sounds better.

1 Maine winter in a Mazda Miata made somewhat easier by a bag of tube sand.
posted by sully75 at 6:14 AM on December 31, 2009

Best answer: I always had a problem with my tubes of sand sliding all over the bed of my little Ranger - might have been a slippery bedliner problem. We solved it by measuring the inside width of the bed, and getting a 2x4 cut to that length. Put it behind the wheel well (nearer the tailgate) and drape your sand over it.

As a bonus, it was great for making sure boxes of stuff and bags of groceries didn't slide all the way up to the front. Occasionally someone would steal my 2x4, and that was super annoying. It's one of those little things that made life so much easier!
posted by WowLookStars at 6:47 AM on December 31, 2009

You do have winter tires, right? Not just 4-season tires?

Seconding the idea of tying down anything heavy you put in there. If you're fishtailing, I'd be concerned that cinder blocks could come flying out of it at 30 mph.
posted by musofire at 7:20 AM on December 31, 2009

Sand or cinderblocks. Although I suspect sand will be cheaper.
posted by reenum at 7:30 AM on December 31, 2009

Bales of Hay.
posted by yoyoceramic at 8:07 AM on December 31, 2009

If you still want to use your truck for hauling things sidewalk pavers (either 18x18 or 24x24 depending on dimensions of your box) will supply weight while still keeping your box floor flat.
posted by Mitheral at 8:51 AM on December 31, 2009

Even if they weren't in danger of flying out (which I would think they are), wouldn't cinder blocks TRASH your truck bed? Every ding in the paint is a potential rust entry point, and who wants a dented up truck bed if you can avoid it?
posted by peep at 11:51 AM on December 31, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions. I picked up 210 lbs of tube sand for 10 bucks at Menards and the truck handles MUCH better now. I'm also in an ideal situation in that my truck has a hard tonneau cover, so the water issue is moot. With the 75lbs of salt I already had, I'm up to 285, which seems to be a good amount of weight.
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 1:43 PM on December 31, 2009