Snow gates in Scotland (2023 Update)

[rbowman]

The US mandates what are known colloquially as ICC bars for fools such as yourself.

[rbowman]

You call that a trailer?

[rbowman]

Do they have electric brakes or do you really like to live dangerously?

[rbowman]

In this state you can use studded tires from Oct 1 to May 31. Snow was early this year but I usually put them on at the end of November and take them off in March depending on the spring conditions. I don't think the studs add that much noise over the aggressive tread but they're noisy enough to want them off as soon as possible.

I doubt my 2200 pound Toyota damages the pavement any more than the behemoths that are more common here.

[Commander Kinsey]

I'm surprised you can screw something into a tyre without bursting it.

[Commander Kinsey]

I doubt a truck could stop quicker than a car.

[Commander Kinsey]

The pigs would have a field day if I towed that with a Renault Scenic.

[Commander Kinsey]

Sounds like one of those hand waving laws that's never enforced.

[Commander Kinsey]

Stupid way to drive. I've always left 4WD on all the time.

Was pretty funny when I saw a miniature 4x4 not getting up a snowy hill, then I easily went up with a front wheel drive Golf. Auto gearboxes let you get up anything.

[Commander Kinsey]

I had a Honda CRV with non-permanent 4wd. Stupid idea, and since it was a bit worn, it took a fair time to engage (you could hear a noise as it did it). Oh and the diff?! WTF? I had it in a muddy field, and one wheel was in a dip of mud, and the other three wheels were on solid ground. So er.... all the power to one wheel? How did they design it so badly?! What's the point in 4 wheel drive without a limited slip diff or a diff lock?

[Dean Hoffman]

No brakes.

[Commander Kinsey]

She was a bit snobby and would have wanted genuine ones for no reason. When I go in that garage and a part is required, the mechanic says "budget version mate?" It's a garage specialising in alloys for boy racers, and doing up vintage cars, but they do my old banger fixing very cheap. £10 cash (VAT discount?) to fix a hole in the exhaust etc.

Amazon is way overpriced. Use Ebay.

[Commander Kinsey]

Just get a 2nd hand one off a wreck.

[Colin Bignell]

Under the UK legislation, it is sufficient that the tyre *may* cause damage for there to ba an offence. Actual damage is not required.

[Commander Kinsey]

Ah, guilty until proven innocent. About time we got a new Guy Fawkes. Why do people put up with this shit?

[rbowman]

The previous Toyota had traction control that couldn't be disabled. On the whole it worked well, braking the wheel without traction and transferring the power to the other. If both wheels were spinning it shut them both down, making rocking the car impossible.

This one has an override. The manual mentions traction control might not be appropriate in all conditions. I guess they don't have snow or mud in Japan.

[rbowman]

Depends on the 4WD. Full time 4WD is relatively new and uses a center differential between the front and rear axles, like AWD, the difference being you can lock full time 4WD.

Traditional 4WD was not meant for pavement as the front and rear axles were locked together, meaning something has to slip while cornering. On the plus side you don't have a 4x4 stuck on the hill when the axle with no traction is merrily spinning.

[rbowman]

The studs go into pockets molded into the tire tread. Unstudded snow tires often had the pockets anyway. I don't know if you can do so anymore but when I was a kid I'd get cheap snow tires and install the studs.

That's for bicycle tires but it's the same process. Any, yes, some people around here run with studded bike tires. Nokia used to sell them pre- studded but I don't know if they still do.

?v=FKHzvoc8YW4 There are purpose built dirt bike studs but that's two cheap methods. In the second video he used regular hex head self-tapping sheet metal screws, probably 3/8". There's plenty of depth on the lugs. Like he says, they will tear out if you spin the rear wheel excessively.

I've never seen the vestigial sidecar setup on ice. Interesting.

We used to race cars on the ice too. Time trials with plenty of hay bales since it was a run what you brung and nobody wanted to destroy their ride home.

[farter]

Guess again, they actually have both and the Toyota LandCruiser handles both fine.

[rbowman]

The Us has a myriad of problems but I'm quite happy we fought that little war a couple of centuries ago.