Bad towing experiences...

[Coolerman]

This is my absolute worst experience towing over the years. It could have been avoided. That's all i have to say about that...
I have towed twice on snowy winter roads with my Starcraft Gemini. Once in Colorado and once in Wyoming. It is not fun. Both times we were caught off guard by mountain snows. The Wyoming trip was the worst. We were at Yellowstone National Park and were packing up at 3:00 AM local time to head back east. It started snowing. Nothing heavy, just a light dusting. I have 4WD tow vehicles and wasn't too concerned, though we were about to cross over the Rockies. The snow stopped as we were pulling out of the camp ground and I thought we were good to go.

We were fine until we got to the very top of the mountain. I had put the automatic Xterra into 4WD HI about a mile from the top as we had lost traction a time or two. As we crossed the top and started into a banked left hand curve, I started slowing down. The wife said, "Whoa, that looks like ice!" I reached for the gear selector with the intention of dropping the truck down into 2nd. Before I could even move the lever, the rear of the truck started sliding. The camper had pushed us sideways!

We jack knifed before I could react! The camper was going straight but the truck was almost pointed back up the mountain! We were sliding towards one of those famous drop offs with no guard rail, and no way to stop it. Realizing we were going to go over unless I did something, I did the only thing I could think of, I cranked the wheel all the way to the left, floored the truck and grabbed the manual brake control on the Prodigy and slammed it on full. This had the effect of immediately causing the truck to slide toward the left edge of the road where there was gravel giving me traction. The truck then lunged forward causing the trailer to start sliding around behind us. We came to a stop on the edge of the road with the truck pointing uphill. I was thanking every deity I could think of. We were LUCKY.

The camper sustained some heavy damage. Busted the propane tank cover, busted the cargo lid, busted the molded side panel and busted one of my Trojan T105 batteries open so I had acid all over the tongue.


The truck had a couple of minor dents. We made it home with a couple of rolls of duct tape holding the plastic pieces together.

Lesson learned: If it's snowing, and you have to cross the Rockies, and you have no tire chains, go back to bed... I now carry tire chains if we are headed out west.

[Coolerman]

Ozlander wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:
Chalk it up to excellent driving decisions in an emergency. You are to be commended! Sorry this happened.

Chalk it up to not knowing how to drive on ice and snow.
You don't down shift on ice and not expect the rear end to start sliding.

Really? No offense, but that was a bit presumptuous of you don't you think?

I live in mountainous eastern KY and have been driving on snow and ice my entire life and have not had one accident. I am also an experienced off-roader.

If you had actually read what I wrote, you would have read that I did NOT shift down, I INTENDED to shift down before hitting the ice. I never got the chance as the camper pushed me around due to me slowing down when I crested.

Downshifting was to use engine braking for the many miles of down hill we were facing.

The mistake I made was the decision to drive at all, NOT what I did once faced with the situation. I hope to never face towing on ice and snow again, but if I do I will be better prepared with TV chains, a better tow vehicle, and some painfully gained experience.

[EcoBullet]

mleekamp wrote:
Glad you guys are safe. That's the important thing!

Thanks for sharing the lesson.

X2

I've never towed a TT on ice, but I did unintentionally tow a 2 horse trailer on ice very briefly. I didn't realize there was still ice on the roads, as there wasn't any for the first 10 miles or so of the trip. Then I started to descend the north slope of a ridge and the road was still ice covered. In short order, my whole rig did a 180 and I was on the shoulder of the road, headed back uphill. Miraculously, neither horse was hurt, and no damage was done. After some time trembling and checking to make sure the horses were OK, I chained up and returned to the top of the hill, took the chains off and returned home.

[Tequila]

I avoid snow like the plague. i head to Mexico every winter and my only trouble spot is the Siskiyou pass. I will go 1 day out of my way over to the coast to avoid it, if necessary.

[opnspaces]

It tastes bad too. :B Sorry I couldn't resist.

[trail-explorer]

Acid on your tongue is never a good thing. It makes a mess.

[TomG2]

Glad you are alright, campers can be repaired. I too think you were lucky not to downshift like you intended. The other lesson is that 4wd helps you go but does nothing for whoa. See it every December when the SUV's park in the snowy ditches.

[Ozlander]

2012Coleman wrote:
Chalk it up to excellent driving decisions in an emergency. You are to be commended! Sorry this happened.

Chalk it up to not knowing how to drive on ice and snow.
You don't down shift on ice and not except the rear end to start sliding.

[Doug33]

Glad you are okay and the propane tank didn't rupture! Dealing with battery acid must have been a mess.

I winterize in November and unwinterize in March/April. The only time I could see us encountering winter weather is if we decide to tow to Florida in the winter.

[_tpc_]

Glad you are alright. Good thinking about how to react, I am fairly certain I wouldn't have thought of that.

I keep thinking of ice road truckers where they like to hang out the side of the truck when crossing shaky ice crossings. I think maybe thats what I would do, but it would be tough to have people on both sides of a truck jump out...

[GMandJM]

Wow! Glad you're alright. Camper stuff can be fixed...people not so easily.

Kudos to you on the quick thinking and grabbing the manual control on your Prodigy.

[2012Coleman]

Chalk it up to excellent driving decisions in an emergency. You are to be commended! Sorry this happened.

[Coolerman]

Thanks everyone. The second time I towed in the snow, we were headed to Timber Creek campground on the west side of Rocky Mt National Park. We arrived in Estes late that evening and got a hotel. The plan was to continue across Trail Ridge Rd. (12,000 foot pass) in the day light. When we woke up it had snowed about 8" on the east side. They had closed Trail Ridge road going across. We had to drive AROUND the mountain to the other side. I-70 was clear up to the Eisenhower tunnel, but going down it was icy in patches. Had no trouble at all until we turned off I-70 onto Route 40. They had plowed, but there was still that glaze ice/snow pack. It was like that all the way to Winter Park and Granby. There were several steep sections where I had to use the side of the road to get traction. (No Chains again. I'm a slow learner...) We got back on Route 34 and continued on to Grand Lake and the west entrance to Rocky Mt National Park. There was 8-10" of snow in Timber Creek camp ground! Besides a hippy in a tent, we were the only people in the campground! One of the best trips ever. It started warming up the next day and by the end of the week the snow had gone. Typical October weather for the mountains.

[colliehauler]

I will never intentionally tow in snow or ice, not my cup of tea. I seen what road salt can do to a trailer and the safety issues.

Glad you were ok other then some damage.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Holy crips!!! Glad you guys made it out ok!!!

I have never towed our tt in the winter, but we snowmobile also. There has been some interesting trips snowmobiling, but luckily never that bad!!! We live in Mid-Michigan, and the in-laws have a cabin in Ontario, east of Sault Ste. Marie. We usually go up Presidents W/E for a long w/e trip. At times it has been mid-40*'s out when leaving. When warmer like that it is usually a slippery, icy, messy road into the cabin (about 1hr once through customs to get there).

Or some interesting trips to Northern Mi also!

Drive safely out there!!!