Help driving on icey gravel road - suggestions ?

brpn#1 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2005 12:28 pm

well i dunno if any of you saw the pictures and my story about our ice private road/driveway. anyways I purchased some snow cable chains at advance auto to get me by until I can figure out what else to do. You can see my other post here...

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... php?t=4367

I need some advice from you guys that live up north or in higher elevations then we are here in the NC Mountains. My house is on the side of a mountain.. actually behind me is the Black Mountain Range which includes Mt. Mitchell... If you know the Blue Ridge Parkway that runs thru NC you know where I am talking about.. my house sits on a south facing slope.. but the driveway leads down to the main road goes on a cutback that is covered by trees and is facing north and that area has stayed icey/snowy for over a week and STILL has ice on it.. The road is a gravel private road.. I have suggested getting that area paved so it would be easier to scrape off next winter but for now that will have to wait until springtime/summer. I am trying to figure out what to do to make the driveway safe until then.. What kind of snow chains or straps do you guys use. I am only going to use them to get up my driveway safely. The ones I got from advance auto are cable chains and they seem to work but i was still sliding sideways some. They didnt have the regular snow chains that I have seen in stock that would fit my stock goodyears.. Right now I am stopping after I turn off the main road.. putting on these cable chains on the rear tires.. then going up the driveway.. then when i leave.. stop right before i go on the main road and remove them takes about 5mins tops..

any suggestions would be greatly apprecaited.

SchnellRS · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2005 12:59 pm

Just a thought .... how about salting the driveway? I don't know how long it is but that might at least get rid of what you have. Or maybe throw some brush or branches down.

Ken

Taz · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2005 2:58 pm

We have a nasty hill on our road and I have gotten sand and salt pre-mixed from the the local town public works. I fill up a 55 gallon garbage can with the mixture and it lasts for many winters. Trap Rock instead of gravel also makes a big improvement.

The other thing to look at is a good tire. A tire with a lot of siping, especially Zig Zag siping will make a big improvement on Ice. I have first hand experience with a rear wheel drive car on ice with good tires with zig zag siping, its like the difference between broom ball shoes and dress shoes on ice.

Check out these All Seasons:
http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/tire ... e=5&tire=9
http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/tire ... =5&tire=10
http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/tire ... =5&tire=11

Or for the ultimate in traction: Order these from Tire Rack with cheap steel rims for winter.
http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/tire ... =5&tire=13

I do not know how good any of these will be off road, probbably not very good, hard to balance on road and off road performance.

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2005 6:27 pm

If the weather is constantly cold (say 20 degrees farentheit or lower) use sand because it will give you more traction on top of the ice untill you can put salt on it. When the weather gets warmer (low to mid 30's) use salt as it will melt the ice faster by lowing the ices freezing temperature. I use old school chains on my all terrains to claw across frozen lakes up here. Real chains, not the cables work the best. I can move through 2 feet of snow on top of ice with my chains on (no lockers or LSD yet). If you have selec-trac, now would be a perfect time to use Part Time.

labman1 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:21 pm

I agree sand the heck out of it. I'm afraid that the salt would make a muddy mess in the gravel. You can get suprisingly good traction on hard packed snow or ice with coarse sand, then when it melts in the spring it will just go into the driveway, no mess.

bennybmn · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:16 pm

A lot of folks with hairy driveways in Vermont keep a 50 gal drum with half a lid on a wooden rack, tilted about 20 degrees up from horizonta so you can get a shovel in easily. They keep it right on the bad corners or hills so they can stop, spread some sand, and keep on going. Probably take as much or less time than the chains, and one application of sand will last more than one trip up the driveway!!

That, or a more rough kind of gravel to begin with, and some snow tires!!

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:25 pm

labman1 wrote:

I agree sand the heck out of it. I'm afraid that the salt would make a muddy mess in the gravel. You can get suprisingly good traction on hard packed snow or ice with coarse sand, then when it melts in the spring it will just go into the driveway, no mess.

Salt wont make the gravel muddy, thats the whole point of gravel-it drains away water to provide traction on otherwise soft ground. Yes it will dirty up the KJ plenty, but who cares-It's a Jeep thing!

grnd93 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:44 pm

a salt/sand mix is probably the best option.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2005 6:53 pm

Growing up down in the hills of Southeastern Ohio, the township Trustees always just put limestone on the roads in the winter when it got icy. Limestone is very course, rougher than gravel, since gravel is very smooth and then it just beds down in after the ice thaws. You can get limestone in different sizes also. Some of it piled in the right spots can get you going on ice. Or even good old ashes from the woodstove. Too much sand and you end up with all sand which will retain a certain amount of moisture all the time.

Help driving on icey gravel road - suggestions ?

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