Salt may be a no-no on our public streets and highways, but that doesn’t mean businesses can’t get their lots cleared of the snow and ice we’re still driving on. I found this privateer salter in front of Lowes, where I was getting two garden faucets that turned into geysers after the ice that broke them melted in yesterday’s sun. It’s been a full week since the snow storm hit, and the streets are still hard-packed snow and ice, which is a very slippery surface, as I found out the hard way.
Here’s the view down my street, as of a couple of hours ago. Not a big deal, as it’s fairly quiet. Except when school is open, as there’s one just down the block the other way. Little chance of that; school’s been out every day this week so far, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is again tomorrow. The streets in the hills are still hardly passable without chains or good snow tires, which most folks just don’t have.
Oh right; the reason it’s still there. Turns out that the City of Eugene snow plows have rubber lips at the bottom, “to protect our streets and utility accesses”. Which means they might work somewhat adequately in a very wet snow, but this one was dry, and got packed into a slick hard layer very quickly. The snow plows are useless on this; they just surf the top. The result has been over 500 fender benders; count me in as one of them.
True confessions: I had a wee little utterly unnecessary accident with the Forester on this very slippery packed snow/ice. But I have no one to blame, except myself, as I got just a wee bit overconfident after keeping myself under control on several necessary errand runs…keep it slow..keep it slow... Which I did, until I was just a few blocks from getting back home. Turning into a street, I gave it too much gas with my big clunky Sorels on, and once it started sliding sideways there was no stopping, until a very large protruding bumper (undamaged) ended it. Embarrassing…once again.
What’s not noticeable in the picture is the large amounts of negative camber, as the top of the tire took the major brunt. Fortunately, it was just a bent strut; it needed some new rear struts anyway…and the dents will live for now. The plan has been to drive it 15 years, and then get a new car (Subaru XV Crosstrack). The Forester’s piston slap is starting to interfere with the knock sensor, and it’s using coolant, which undoubtedly is a head gasket finally going. We had been spared that so far…So it may not make it to 15.
Stephanie’s already picked out the color she wants, so at least that spares me having to Plasti-Dip the Forester in orange this spring!
I live in Corvallis. 50 miles north of Paul. We are having the same problem. Snow, ice, and below freezing temps for a week now. This is the most snow we have had in 20 years, and the coldest temps we have had in 40 years. I have not driven anywhere in a week. Way too scary out there for a guy who hardly has any experience driving in snow.
Even if it’s an old beater salt truck, I think the community should have some vehicle to spread sand or salt. Even if they have to pay a private contractor. No question drivers have to drive especially cautiously when there is nothing placed on the roads. Snow hard packed by cars, is like ice. But the municipality owes better service to the public than this. They have some liability. If chains are legal in your community, I suggest you get a set.
My Canadian city plows and salts very well during the bulk part of winter. Overkill in fact, as the roads are bone dry pavement and white with salt during much of January/February. So much so, the center line is often hidden under layers of salt. But very early and late in the season, they will save some money, and not road clear so tenaciously. In November and March, there are many fender benders caused by this lack of clearing by the city and stunned/oblivious drivers not compensating by reducing speed and giving enough space between vehicles. I remember years ago, they used to suggest that you drive like there is an unboiled egg between your right foot and the accelerator pedal.
Some folks mistakenly think that a truck needs to be a dedicated sand/salt spreader. A waste if you get lingering snow every 5 years. Many older units are just bolted on at the start of the season replacing a dump box. The city could have a few tucked away.
Here in Atlantic Canada, salt is used on an overkill level. We got 5cm of snow earlier this week and I went through 1/3 of a tank of washer fluid in one day of commuting to work. My car looks like it has been painted a dirty white colour ever since. No wonder cars over 10 years old look like hell around here.
As for the centre lines, the salt usually eats through the paint that the plows don’t scrape off, so by the end of the winter, the lines have basically disappeared..
We’re expecting another foot of snow on Sunday. At least I don’t have to drive in it. The private company that salts and plows our portion of the highway does a good job, though. You can tell where DOT takes over from them. There is usually an actual line of ice and snow on the highway where the switch over happens.
Hey BunkerMan, whereabouts are you? I’m in Saint John.
Sheesh… that ain’t shit compared to living in Cleveland. I’ll drive circles around ya in my ol’ Crown Vic… 😀
As a lifelong fellow Clevelander, I concur 🙂
Sorry to hear that, Paul. It’s tough when the roads haven’t been treated and get packed down into ice. If one must go out, a very light foot on the throttle is a must when conditions are like that on your home street. The best thing is to not go out if it can be helped.
What a contrast in your old Forester and the new one. I kind of like the new style….
This was 100% my fault, because I have gobs of snow driving experience. I was feeling frisky, and it bit me.
Ironic, when I think of all the wild snow-hooning I did back in Iowa, and it never bit me. I’d go out just to slip and slide around, pulling donuts with my Corvair or VW.
I beat the odds for a long time, but eventually they turned.
It’s not your fault if the community doesn’t make the roads safer for you. Many traditional sander/salters are just bolted on the bed of a dump truck when needed at the start of winter. So, a truck is not taken out of service otherwise. They could have a couple old sand/salt spreaders at the back of some garage. It would cost them nothing. It’s kind of lazy/negligent of them. Even if it’s bolted onto a truck for a week every 10 years. Cheap insurance. It doesn’t require a dedicated truck.
Many people have died when loosing control at highway speeds and sliding broadside into oncoming traffic. It can happen in a split second. And both drivers are powerless to prevent it.
Rubber snow plow blades to protect streets and utility access? Hmmm. I’ve seen it done in areas with raised reflectors but steel blades on a plow with a functioning trip mechanism, and properly adjusted, shouldn’t tear up a correctly installed utility access or damage pavement. Rubber blades are notorious for polishing up compact snow into dangerously slippery condition. Cheap though….
Hopefully no is injured in any of these collisions, sorry to see your Forester take a hit.
If I’m not mistaken, Oregon, like my home state of Washington uses reflectors in the center of most roads. I can understand the reluctance to not damage the roads for a one week a year problem.
Yes, my own city of Redmond, WA has the flappy-lipped plowblades as well, in order to protect their precious ‘turtles’ that they just love to use everywhere in lieu of actual painted lines.
The city actually spent about a quarter of a million dollars a few years back in order to buy a dedicated ‘button truck’ whose sole purpose is to drive around very slowly and glue the dumb things onto the pavement.
Thirteen years and finally your first door ding, not too bad I’d say!
As for me, I keep a fifty pound bag of sand in the trunk of the Alero, as a just-in-case, and I let the ol’ Traction Control, ABS and front wheel drive get me where I need to go…
It’s got a couple of others, but not from me. It’s lived a very hard life: 100+ mph extended runs across desert highways, off-roading, Stephanie driving it 10 blocks to work and back for years (never warming up), etc…and it was never pampered, maintenance-wise; just the very bare minimum.
Glad you’re ok Paul, cars can be replaced but you cannot!
This has got to be bizarre for everyone in Eugene. I feel your pain. It has been hovering around 5-10 degrees here since Saturday, today it hit 22 and it felt like spring!
Sorry about your Forester. I sat in a Legacy Limited sedan at McLaughlin the other day when my wagon was getting washed (nice perk for McLaughlin customers!) and it was very nice. I really like the ivory leather interior in them.
And the Crosstrack is pretty nice looking. There are several orange ones running around town here.
If I lived anywhere in snow country, I’d have an old-school 4WD K5 Blazer, Jeep CJ-5 / CJ-7, or 80’s Jeep Cherokee with tubular front and rear bumpers and side nerf bars.
Believe it or not Jeep CJ’s are terrible on snow and ice; the light weight, short wheelbase, and high center of gravity make for some white knuckle driving. The rag top on cold days is no treat either.
Nothing more fun in better weather :).
I had an International Scout swab ends on me as I turned a corner too fast on an icy road one time many years ago. Fortunately there was nothing to run into other than the snowbank, so no damage was done. It sure did get my attention.
Part of the problem with four wheel drive is it inspires overconfidence. They have the traction to get going quickly, but the don’t corner or stop any better than a two wheel drive, and in some cases worse.
One of the problems with the Scout is its short wheelbase. My friend had two of them when we were in high school.
I drove a 1969 Cadillac ambulance for ten years, and its 156″ wheelbase combined with 6500lbs made it impressively unflappable in winter driving conditions. But when you did actually get the rear end to come loose, you could end up in the next county over before it stopped!
TJ’s are considerably better in snow. I leased a first-year TJ and it was a hoot to drive in Cleveland winter weather. I do agree about the top though… brrrrrrrrr…
I was fortunate enough to hone my snow driving skills when I taught at Imbler High School in Northeastern Oregon. They never had a single snow day the nine years I taught there. The snow would be on the ground from November through March, and would be so deep you couldn’t see out of the windows because of the accumulated snow coming off the roofs. Here in Grants Pass, I’ve been out of school for four days now, all because of a few inches of snow. The county has no snow removal equipment, nor are the buses equipped to drive in snow. Our Jetta TDI Sportwagen seems to do well in the snow.
A very cool coworker of mine traded off the ’96-(’97?) Impreza she bought new for a new Crosstrack in the same color I would have chosen (blue). She loves it. I love the funky wheels.
It may be counter intuitive but one of the worst vehicles is an old school 4 wheel drive in icy or packed snow like we have here in Oregon. In deep snow where their knobby tires can have something to get a grip on; they’re ok. But get them on a slipper surface and they are uncontrollable. Years ago one of the better slippery weather cars was a Datsun 510 station wagon with good tires and some weight in the rear, which I drove around 4×4 blazers, flailing in the ice and snow. Another good winter car was the 1992 Pontiac Bonneville with front wheel drive and 3.8L v6, same for the 2000 Buick Le Saber I had. I would think one of the newer AWD cars with traction control would be great or are their traction systems not sensitive enough for glare ice?
That largely depends on the tires. People tend to assume that a large aggressive mud type tire is good on ice but that’s not the case. My F-150 does quite well on icy roads with stock-sized all-season A/T tires. Good enough that I don’t really NEED four-wheel drive. I typically use four-wheel anyway because it makes sense.
I’d say a little salt would help, but here in Wisconsin they dump it by the ton creating a separate set of problems. Yesterday I had to run my car through a wash twice because the salt build-up made it difficult to see even with windshield washers. I appreciate what the salt does, but do we really need so much?
Salting isn’t illegal in Oregon, it has just been a policy not to use it unless absolutely necessary, which seems to be never. Most cities don’t even have the proper equipment for salting, which is very expensive, so I don’t see it happening on a governmental level any time soon. Works for me. Hell half of the cars Paul has CC’d about probably wouldn’t even exist if Oregon salted the roads. (sea salt notwithstanding.)
I’ve been having a blast driving my old Tercel around. Front wheel drive with decent tires, and gets me anywhere I need to go. Granted I’ve avoided the south hills; no need to push my luck.
This one was totally my fault…I got a bit frisky…and it bit me back.
Are you running studded tires, Paul?
No. I’m kinda’ anti studs, given the huge amount of damage they inflict on the roads. Around here, snow and ice is so uncommon, it doesn’t make sense to even bother with snow tires, unless you go skiing regularly on weekends.
I agree with that. I have a set on steel wheels I keep on hand but only use them while conditions are icy. Put them on in 2008 when we had the 2008 Portland/Vancouver Dec ice/snow storms. Ran them for about a month and only put them on last week for a couple of days of pretty icy conditions. I can’t see running them unless a big storm hits (this last one missed us and hit your area big time)! I think I will take them off this weekend unless another big freeze is predicted.
There are much better options than studded tires if you want traction on ice and snow. Good studless winter tires are designed to perform when the temps are below 40 degrees by using a compound designed for those conditions and they work better in that temp range than standard tires do. Plus since they don’t degrade wet and dry road performance like studs do you can feel safer leaving them on through the winter and wear them out before they age out. Depending on who you talk to a tire is aged out and is less safe, or unsafe, and provides highly reduced traction particularly in wet conditions after 6 to 10 years. Toyota for example says the OE tires should be replaced after 6 years regardless of the amount of tread on them while Michelin says their tires should be replaced by 10 years regardless of tread depth. Of course Michelin is know form making tires that typically have much longer tread wear than the average tire, Ultra High Performance and Winter tires excepted.
We’ve used studless winter tires on all four wheels on the Accord the last several years, thereby insuring that little or no snow would be seen on our local roads. We did have one year when it snowed and got cold enough for the snow to pack hard, and these tires did the job for us, even coming up the curving driveway that we can’t get a run at.
I can’t say my rwd drive Toyota PU is fun to drive in the snow. Absolutely no traction whatsoever. It’s been sitting for a week.
Sounds like the kind of conditions that led me in high school to stand on the gas pedal of my mother’s LeMans in an attempt to make the speedo indicate 100 mph. Yeah, stupid, and ended up with the car driving sideways until I was stopped by a fire hydrant. I learned respect for that hard-packed snow real quick.
Note how I resisted the temptation to tell you to call the Waaaaaambulance. This is normal winter weather around here. I am working very hard to overcome my northern Indiana snow superiority complex, and am making great strides. 🙂 Sorry about the Forester, never fun to put more character lines in the body than were intended.
Sucks about the fender-bender. That pickup in the first pic is a 95 or 96 Dodge. You won’t find many of that vintage in my neck of the woods that are in such good condition, owing largely to all the salt that gets thrown on the roads in southern Ontario.
I think the best snow cars I have ever had were two: a VW Dasher wagon w/ narrow studded snow tires on front– and the early 1980’s Audi 4000 quattro. Quattro’s had the lockup switch in the console for locking one differential, or for full lockup. Narrow snow tires correctly fitted for your car have more pounds per square inch and improved “bite” on ice and snow, not the “float” that big wide tires have in powder snow and sand.
The small mountain town where I live uses pea gravel, which is surprisingly effective. Rock salt is a no-go here due to frequent subzero temperatures. We get lots of broken windshield and chipped paint in exchange for less car-killing rust. On the numbered highways, the DOT mixes their gravel with a magnesium chloride solution which will drop the melting point all the way down to -70f. They mix in a corrosion inhibitor to make it easier on bodywork. As a result, 20-30 year-old rust-free curbside classics are a common site in spite of the nasty winter weather.
Say Paul…
If you’re worried about head gasket issues, you could always pick up a spare engine out of a wrecked Forester, do a heavy-duty “turbo” head gasket upgrade, and swap motors.
Just an idea. 🙂
I get the feeling that Paul doesn’t have the time or interest in doing an engine swap, at least not himself. 🙂
Sounds like Eugene body shops will be getting an unusual spring boost in 2014. After a couple of exceptionally slick days in my burg you can literally walk the Target parking lot and find all kinds of fresh damage.
I’ve been driving on roads like that for the past two weeks here in ND/MN, where it has been too cold for salt to do anything. There isn’t any particular trick to driving in it, other than having good tires, some weight over the drive wheels, and slowing down.
Portland barely got a slight dusting through all of this, where just 40 minutes south in Salem they got 3-4 inches at least. Very bizarre.
Paul,
I simply describe the 1997-2010? 2.5 Subaru as having a “head gasket fetish”.
It’s simply part of the Subaru ownership experience and seems universal to ALL 2.5 engines of that approximate period. Sooner or later the head gaskets fail, usually somewhere north of 100,000 miles. Expect a repair to run appx. $1500.
My wife’s 2005 Outback has been meticulously maintained over the four years and 117,000 miles we’ve put on it. (Total mileage is 179,000) On a recent repair visit (brakes and stabilizer links), while on a lift, we noticed the driver’s side head gasket starting to seep again. If we keep the vehicle thru 200,000-220,000 miles (she drives 35 miles each way to work so it’ll be soon), when it goes for its timing belt…oh and let’s replace the water pump while the cover’s off just because…the head gaskets will be replaced again.
2010/2011-newer 2.5 Subies have a new design boxer engine that apparently doesn’t eat head gaskets for lunch.
If you’d like advice for how to keep your Forester, I’d say when the timing belt maintenance is done fix the head gaskets too and replace the water pump for kicks and giggles.
“Love is what makes a Subaru a Subaru” is from my personal experience the truest advertising slogan in the history of mankind. Because I personally wouldn’t own a vehicle that requires a potential $2000 of powertrain maintenance every 110,000 miles.
But my wife LOVES the car.
Are you taking it to a Subaru dealer or independent Subaru Specialist? The good ones will make sure that it has the proper Subaru approved coolant conditioner (sealant) that will prevent or cure that head gasket weeping on those engines that are prone to external head gasket leaks.
Ours has finally (at 175k) developed a thirst for coolant. Is it possible to forestall a repair with the conditioner, or something else? I know it had the Subaru-approved conditioner a while back, but that may have been longer than ideal by now.
Some of it depends on how big it’s thirst is, a cup or two a week and adding another bottle of “conditioner” or leak stop may do the trick. If it is a qt a day then it is probably way too late. The important thing is to use the ones like the Subaru, GM, the powder or pellet versions. That stay suspended and don’t plug up the heater core or radiator at least used in moderation.
Note if you don’t see it weeping or dripping from the head gasket on the bottom of the engine it may be a leak to the combustion chamber that can’t be fixed with these types of sealers.
I would get rid of the Subaru. Who needs a car that eats head gaskets and wheel bearings??? They also eat turbos and are small and bizarre looking. My Lincolns always made it through the snow just fine.