I'm handicapped. **Many Pictures**

[[TASF]Maverick]

I went to the shooting range this morning at dawn to have the range to myself and to sight in my new purchase. When I turned onto the back road to get to the shooting range, it was covered in snow. Thinking nothing of it, I continued on the road and I had great traction the entire time. At the end of the road, there is a moderately steep hill and I was thinking about something else entirely when I began to drive up the slope. However, the truck began to slow down while the tires began to spin. Momentarily the truck came to a stop, just before it began to slide backwards. Right then I had no control over the vehicle, and I just turned and watched as I was sliding directly towards a National Forest sign. About 20 feet infront of the sign, the truck began to turn sideways and it eventually came to a stop as it began to slide backwards down another hill. I was thankful that I did not hit the sign ($150), but obviously I was going to be stuck. I had 3 wheels in snowy mud, and one wheel barely making contact on solid ice. At first I tried to rock it out gently using very low RPMs and trying to keep the tires from spinning, but to no avail. I placed rocks infront of the tires in hopes to gain traction, but no luck. A park ranger showed up in his huge Chevrolet 3/4 ton truck, but said it was against policy for him to assist me. I ended up having to pay $100 for a wrecker to come, hook a chain to me, and drive 10 feet forward. The billing process took longer than the job. That's aggravating to me, I expected $30-40. I snapped some pictures just for you guys. Here's my precious:


Notice how I parked RIGHT where they told me to... you think I could sue 'em for that?


From the front.


Here you can see how deep I had gotten into the stuff.


This is the rear passenger side wheel, I tried to put rocks infront to make a track because the truck slid down a little every time I rocked it, they worked more as a block than a ramp.


Rear driver side rear tire. This gives you an idea of how much it slid between when it initially stopped, to when I started to try to rock it. The drain pipe just behind the wheel and to the right also made it impossible to move backwards much.


Undercarriage shot. The truck was bottomed out.


These are the rear tire ruts after the truck was pulled out. Good thing that drain pipe wasn't damaged.


This is where the front tires sat. The huge rut also gives you another good idea of how much the truck slid to the side during the rocking.

I was at the range for four hours today, and only shot 50 rounds of ammunition. Nothing got accomplished as far as zeroing anything in. Yippee...

Add this to the list of current frustrations.

[backstay]

We just had an ice storm here and I couldn't make a hill. Came down backwards spun around and stopped going the other way. I know that feeling as you were coming back down. I must say it could have cost you much more.

[therooster]

apparently that chevy was made for Texas... probably why you slipped off the road.

[R/T Performance]

Been there done that have the t-shirt to prove it

We have a orv park called Silver lake here it is a big azz sand dune.
I was there during the week had to go see the magistrate to fight a traffic ticket so it was toward the end of the season during the week .I was playing around and high centered my truck and was the only one out there except the DNR guy how pulled up and said Sorry against policy to pull anyone out but he did lone me his shovel about a half hour of digging I got it out.

[Brickboy240]

Looks like only your rear tires were spinning. Why didn't you use the 4WD? Its a Z-71...aren't all of those 4WD?

- Brickboy240

PS: its 65 degrees and sunny here in Texas right now. You're in the wrong state!

[ichy_trigger]

I did the same thing last year in the middle of nowhere with 2 wheel drive. I ended up putting wood under my tires, letting the air out of my tires, jacked up my truck, and drove it off the jack. Took about an hour to get it out.

[JimLongley]

I was a phone man in upstate NY for 28 years, and only got my 2 wheel drive van stuck 3 times.

Once I crossed a creek on a bridge and there was ice on both sides, I slid backward onto the bridge and couldn't go forward or back.

Once I drove up a snowdrift that I thought was the road, and it collapsed under my truck - that was an interesting one.

And once I pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant across from a central office, and misjudged the edge and would up in the ditch.

The worst I ever got stuck was up in the Catskill Mountains with no snow on dry ground on a nice warm fall afternoon. I was driving a four wheel drive Ford Bronco and was following a power line in the woods. I came to a little cliff and tried to make a three point turn to go a different direction. I managed to put my left front tire in a crack that was pretty hidden by grass and that lifted the right rear off the ground.

Did you know that Ford 4WDs back then put all their power to the wheel(s) that are spinning? I found out. Both left front and right rear were free wheeling.

Out of range for the car phone, out of range for the cellular, several miles from a road, I had to rely on ingenuity to get me out. I shifted all of the weight in the vehilcle to the right rear, and then tied a rope around the right rear tire and off to a power tower, I was lucky to have just enough rope.

About a half turn of the tire was enough to get me back where all four wheels were on the ground. I very carefully finished my noise investigation.

[mr0w1]

Originally Posted by JimLongley

Did you know that Ford 4WDs back then put all their power to the wheel(s) that are spinning? I found out. Both left front and right rear were free wheeling.

The beauty of the posi-traction system is inherent, is it not?

It's been a long, long time since I've taken part in a good, hardcore stucking. The closest I've come personally is when I rolled my Cherokee on a dirt road, once I slid the '78 F-250 (THE most epic truck of all time...I loved it!) into a ditch, and once we only barely got the Ranger back up a sand hill with some random pieces of carpet we found.

When you don't have a 4wd vehicle, you are much less likely to get stuck, if you know what I mean.

[[TASF]Overkill]

That's freaky!

The one time my Jeep slid off the road due to ice was at our range at home, and it was the same deal. Feel like you're doing fine, and then you realize your car is going nowhere but says "35mph". Then, backwards you go.

I wasn't going to hit a sign though, I was going to either slide off the edge into the creek or hit the giant steel post that the gate latches onto. Yikes.

Glad it wasn't more serious, but I'm sure that $100 hurts... Ehhem....

What did you take those pics with?

[one-eyed-fatman]

S N O W is a four letter word.