Stuck in snow?

[Bryan Williams]

I have decent tyres on my camper van,Michellin camper X, which arnt snow and mud but are a bit grippier on a field.
Its snowing, I'm in work, I want to get home,we had a discussion about what is best, letting air out of a tyre , normal pressure or harder,any thoughts?

 

[Bryan Williams]

Well at the moment it's a couple of inches, but a guy left the office got half a mile away ,got stuck,came back, needed pushing on to the carpark..rear wheel Beemer.
I'm in Oldham area its all hills.

 

[Bryan Williams]

Not panicking, just a tea brew question , I usually get home and I've got chains.

 

[mechman]

Well at the moment it's a couple of inches, but a guy left the office got half a mile away ,got stuck,came back, needed pushing on to the carpark..rear wheel Beemer.
I'm in Oldham area its all hills.

Had a Beemer and it behaved like Bambi in snow.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Had a Beemer and it behaved like Bambi in snow.

Winter tyres are the answer.

 

[gaz_moose]

just let the tyres down to about 20 psi. chuck some sacrificial grippy things in the back that you can throw on the ground and drive over if you do get stuck.

 

[Kent]

No do not let the tyres down in traversing a hard tarmac road. Period end of no question!

20 psi is way enough to put your back end out on perfect conditions.

Tyre deflation is about mud and sand - total different thing. You also put the air straight back in once your out of the bogged in situation. Further more you let a heck of a deal more air out.

The thought of someone deflation to 20psi on a commercial type vehicle in snow scares the snot outta me.

 

[Kent]

Well at the moment it's a couple of inches, but a guy left the office got half a mile away ,got stuck,came back, needed pushing on to the carpark..rear wheel Beemer.
I'm in Oldham area its all hills.

Just got back from Oldham r - it's but a sprinkle, way off forcast. Back in Bowland now

 

[zx9]

Did not @normspanners (I think it was) say he had used cable ties as snow chains at one time.

 

[Bryan Williams]

Yes its more or less washed away now....was more just curious about people's opinions on emergency tyre pressures after the tea break chat.

 

[Bryan Williams]

Reducing pressure can give you a larger contact patch, probably best idea if it's deep.

Unless you can swap to narrow tyres at higher pressure that can sink through and find a hard surface to grip on...

My sister used to have a Citreon Diane, pram wheels ,used to get her everywhere in the snow.

 

[brightspark]

was she a school teacher and an activist ban the bomb and all that stuff save the forest that's who generally had them

 

[gaz1]

sierra rear wheel drive always threw in 2 bags of sand in boot also let some air out to give better grip

other one is sometimes 1st was too high used second to start moving including on hills

were an 1/2" thick here

 

[rockweasel]

I remember one winter the works transit van got stuck going up a hill. Two of us opened the back doors and stood on the back edge bouncing up and down while the driver did his best to steer. We made it up.

 

[Bryan Williams]

was she a school teacher and an activist ban the bomb and all that stuff save the forest that's who generally had them

No, quite the opposite really,in fact she would probably batter the crap out of you if you said that.

 

[outofthefire]

Rear wheel drive bmw's always get stuck wide tyres and no weight over the drive wheels. Steady away, try and start in second and don't get stuck behind a rear wheel drive bmw, plan ahead try and avoid stopping and starting, before hills slow down to let other cars get out of the way then accelerate on the flat so you've enough momentum to get you up.

 

[Migmac]

Letting air out - wrong for snow. Takes more effort to push them through snow.

 

[PhillipM]

Chuck a couple of old towels/sheets, etc, in the back. If you get stuck throw one down and wedge the end under the tyre. The sheet will freeze to the slush/snow and you have a nice grippy surface.

 

[sako243]

Take it slow, its not gaining momentum is the issue but losing it.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Never had a problem even in deep snow with my Reliant Regal Supervan III on skinny crossply tyres. On the other hand my Smart Fortwo gets stuck with just 1mm of snow on the ground !