Cars in Winter

[Bob Riebe]

Right now it is 1 degree above zero, with today being the coldest for the next week or so; after today high to low will bounce from approx. 0 to 20 above.

I was heading out the other day when I found I had zero brakes , on my 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88, fortunately no cars were coming as I was on a steep alley hill and no way to stop plus I did not want to drive into a snow bank.
I am glad I did not find this out 30 miles out in the boonies.
Emergency , unless you are five feet tall tisn't easy to get your foot on and the handle to release is worse, but I drove it to the repair shop with one hand on the release and the other on the E-brake.
(Third time in my life I have had this happen on a moving automobile.)

I did find out that it is probably a good idea to do that just to keep them loose and unstuck, as one-half mile down the road the brake pedal was far easier to depress.
Original estimate on my 1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88 was 1,200 dollars for new master cylinder, that was what was shot, and ALL NEW brake calipers as he could not break the bleed screws open on the wheel cylinders.
Fortunately, again, he had a new tool to apply heat to stuck screws and bolts and got them open, so final bill 396 dollars.

I checked on prices for new/rebuilt master cylinders, minus shipping and they varied from $30 new to $80 rebuilt.
I have put them in before but in this weather , I am not going stand outside in single digit weather with bare hands, and you will end up taking your gloves off.
BUT
He found out the Proportioning valve was shot, SO, I bought  new one at JEGG"S auto store, online (NO store in town had one) for , with shipping 61 dollars.
Now I can spend an extra 70 dollars and have them put it in or do it my self, BUT the brakes will need bleading again, while that is a pain in the buttocks in the summer, in this weather, which comes first, mone or misery?

The mechanic, who has done a LOT for me for free or reduced prices in 20 years, said he thinks the Proportioning valve has not been working for a long time and maybe neve, so I have been using only my front brakes as long as I had the car.
I will be installing new pads and shoes, my self when weather warms up.

[Mule 11]

I was known as the brake line king at my local Napa store many, many years back. I truly know your pain. Also love the old Oldsmobile’s. Butt. Don’t think I’d be driving one in the winter anymore. Time to move into this century my friend and at the least get front wheel drive...

[Mule 11]

Oh yeah. Just pay...

[northwoodneil]

As I'm getting older, I'm finding my favorite tool is my check book.

[Bob Riebe]

I was known as the brake line king at my local Napa store many, many years back. I truly know your pain. Also love the old Oldsmobile’s. Butt. Don’t think I’d be driving one in the winter anymore. Time to move into this century my friend and at the least get front wheel drive...

I LOATHE fwd crap wagon with extreme prejudice .

I can fix this car for pennies compared to the fwd crap wangons, I did after too many years of playing with all-season crap, get an extra set of wheels with Michelin Xi 3 snow tires; although on the '92 Buick I had before this I had put a set of light truck snow tires on the rear (the ones that look like the heavy lug style of the sixties) and I have zero fear of getting stuck.

Now -- I will admit that back in the nineties, when I still had my '66 Plymouth Fury, and this town was less than half the size it is now, they did not plow side streets till up to two days after a heavy storm; well I had gone to school, college, during a snow storm, professor did not make it to school.
 It snowed heavily while there so when I came back there was over six inches on the level on the side streets.
Where the house is there a STEEP, VERY access of the county highway and a shallow one at the other end, so I chose the shallow one but to get there I had to drive up steepest street in town, (they used it for the soap box derby) I had the old school bia-ply snow tires on the rear.

I hit the hill and got half way up before I ran out of velocity; tried it again and was still 80 feet short, so, I backed down the hill, turned the car around and hit the hill with a heavy throttle in reverse.  I backed up three end blocks to the first flat intersection, stopped and drove down the street to a short block-dividing street, into the alley and home.

[Dee]

I'd hang onto that old oldsmobile. Those are classy lookin cars.
Who wouldn't want a classic?

[phalanx]

Get an old ford LTD. Now a Crown Victoria. I’ve got an old 1999 CV with 200,000 miles on it. Runs fine.
CVs are becoming very collectible now.

[Mule 11]

In the 90’s I found myself in a low spot with the same amount of hill on both ends and no matter how hard I tried that old olds would not make it much more than half way up. Parked and went to sleep in the pull off on the bottom. When it got cold I’d run the car a bit to keep warm. At one point with the heavy snow building up around my car I barely woke to a plow driver banging on my window. Had a terrible headache and believe I’d have died from carbon monoxide poisoning if he would not have woken me...

[Dee]

Get an old ford LTD. Now a Crown Victoria. I’ve got an old 1999 CV with 2,OOO miles on it. Runs fine.
CVs are becoming very collectible now.

All time favorite police package car?

1975 Ford Galaxy 500 with a 460 ci, and a true posi trac.

After that one? Crown Victoria police package.

[phalanx]

Get an old ford LTD. Now a Crown Victoria. I’ve got an old 1999 CV with 2,OOO miles on it. Runs fine.
CVs are becoming very collectible now.

All time favorite police package car?

1975 Ford Galaxy 500 with a 460 ci, and a true posi trac.

After that one? Crown Victoria police package.

Absolutely, they are fast and agile, a good one can go for 5k now.

[phalanx]

The police package re-painted and cleaned up can go for 7k.

[Dee]

LOL, knowing the way we treated'em I don't think I'd want a retired police car.

[billy_56081]

LOL, knowing the way we treated'em I don't think I'd want a retired police car.

My brother was the sheriff of our county and he always told me the same when the county auctioned off the old patrol vehicles.

[Ranger99]

Brake fluid likely needed to be
flushed out with fresh and re-bled.
Brake fluid is fairly hygroscopic
and should be changed out every
few years as a maintenance practice
like all the other fluids

[neckisred]

I'd suggest you wait and do the proportioning valve yourself. And when you break every line going into it, ask yourself if it was worth saving $70

[Lloyd Smale]

best police car for winter?? Hands down the 4x4 hemi chargers there using today. Show me an old ford or chev from the 70s that will go 2-300k. As to bleeding breaks. About 10 years ago i did two things. I put away my tools and put away my chain saw. Luckily i have a son in law thats a mechanic and he also sells firewood. He does my mechanic work for free and gives me enough wood for the sauna and i use the gas furnace for heat. No more wood stove and all the work for this guy. Matter of fact last month i gave him my two gas Stihl chain saws and all i have left is the Stihl battery saw. Hed even give me free wood to heat with but im not going out in zero weather anymore to fill the outside wood stove. I thought about keeping it to heat with if shtf but it needs electricity to work so i told him next summer get it out of the yard so i dont have to mow around it. Like northwoodniel my favorite tool is my checkbook and the phone to call the son in law. I worked to hard in life to drive worn out old cars you cant trust to even make it to town let alone if you really had to get somewhere miles from home or back. I also live it BIG snow country and im sure not EVER going back to a rear wheel drive car to get through the winter. Why would i want to make it more dangerous for my self or especially my wife. Im not much on front wheel drive cars either but thank God this is america and we can still buy a real 4x4 truck. 

[pastorp]

Growing up in the land of white sand beaches and sunshine, I had to learn a few things about driving in the snow when I moved out west & then to Alaska.

4 wheel drive may help you go faster in the snow, but it dosent help you stop.

You can still get stuck on top of snow if it’s deep enough.

Lots of chains and heavy duty tow ropes and a high lift Jack is your best friend when your 100 miles back in the mountains.

Boy I’m glad I retired back in Florida.

[Lloyd Smale]

one of the reasons 4x4s became the biggest sellers and rear wheel drives lost favor is the banned chains and studded tires back in the 70s. They just tore the roads up to bad. Even today up here the snowmobiles with studded tracks dig groves in the roads where they cross them. It would take one hell of a snow storm to bury roads so deep a 4x4 pickup cant get through. Maybe one of those little 4x4 sport utilitys but ive drove through two or three feet of snow in my 4x4 trucks and jeeps. Bottom line is thats pretty rare. A 4x4 sport utility will get you through 99 percent of any snow storms and if its so bad that it wont you should be staying home anyway.

I live on a stretch of road that is withing a stones toss of lake superior and its probably the most often closed road in the midwest. I dont go anywhere because im retired but my wife has to drive that stretch every day. Sometimes in white out conditions. Its so bad theres green reflectors on your side of the road and yellow on the other side so if you cant see and drift across the road you see the yellow reflectors and know your on the wrong side. No way im sending her to work in a rear wheel drive car or even a little front wheel drive and honestly not even in a little sport utility. I buy her full sized club cab 4x4 pickups. THey have a full frame if your hit and sit up higher so you can see better in a storm and have better ground clearance so your less likely to have to push snow when theres a foot on the road.

She even gets nervous on days she has to take the jeep to work. Its not like it wont go through it but when the wind is howling through that section of road off the lake it blows the jeep around enough to sometimes make even me nervous. Yup like pastor said you still have to stop but the biggest danger on that road are idiots driving 3 mph or even stopping right in the middle of the highway. Theres wrecks every storm on that road and 99 percent of them are non local people that just dont have any experience in that kind of weather and are to stupid to be honest with themselves and get a motel till it clears. 500 dollar fine if your caught driving on that road when its closed but if you show an drivers license that has your address in that section of road they let you go.

 Theres been a couple times when its so bad that they even turn around locals and my wife has had to stay at the hospital overnight a couple times. But shes usually let go through because the sherrifs that block the road know her and know shes been there and done that. I remember few storms so bad that i couldnt get to work and power was out all over the place so they sent a county snow plow to my house to give me a ride to town to work. Keep in mind theres countys in Northern MI WI and MN that get more snow every year then many places in alaska.

Growing up in the land of white sand beaches and sunshine, I had to learn a few things about driving in the snow when I moved out west & then to Alaska.

4 wheel drive may help you go faster in the snow, but it dosent help you stop.

You can still get stuck on top of snow if it’s deep enough.

Lots of chains and heavy duty tow ropes and a high lift Jack is your best friend when your 100 miles back in the mountains.

Boy I’m glad I retired back in Florida.

[ironglow]

.
  Hey  Bob, how did you get by with 0 or +1 temperatures..you're in Minnesota, for Heaven's sake !      

    This past week, we had 3-4 early mornings, when we were in the -20s.. 

        My philosophy on cars, trucks or anything else.. (as if anyone is interested..laugh)...

  Due to today's manufacturing procedures, almost any car  today with proper care, will go 2-3 hundred thousand miles.  The key is, how much will repair and adjustment cost over those miles...and how much will it inconvenience me?

  So, let's look at an extreme  example, just for illustration.. 
 
   As a young man, you buy a riding lawn mower and a 12" Crescent wrench on the same day, both quality items.
    You use and maintain both with equal care....   When you turn 70, which one are you still likely to be using, and which one cost you more over the years to maintain?

       The answer seems logical. The more complex, with more moving parts, will require more maintenance over the years.
   Now that is admittedly an extreme example, but the principle still applies..    For example, a car without a power controlled roof, or an automatic "park itself" device, will obviously not have any repair problems with ait's power controlled sun roof..or it's automatic parking device.
 
  That of course, doesn't apply to the problem Bob had, because almost all new vehicles have power brakes, but the theory remains...  Ergo...Less mechanisms, less problems...

    K.I.S.S.....  Keep it simple ..........
.

[phalanx]

LOL, knowing the way we treated'em I don't think I'd want a retired police car.

My brother was the sheriff of our county and he always told me the same when the county auctioned off the old patrol vehicles.

There are places that do full restorations on them. And they use an Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold. Not that plastic crap the factory used. That was the biggest problem with them. There was a recall on that, mine had already been replaced by the previous owner. It was not a Police car just an old couple who parked it in a garage. Their grandson was a gear head and he already knew about that problem. So he changed it before it became a problem.
I’ve put 72,000 on it myself.

[Casull]

one of the reasons 4x4s became the biggest sellers and rear wheel drives lost favor is the banned chains and studded tires back in the 70s. They just tore the roads up to bad. Even today up here the snowmobiles with studded tracks dig groves in the roads where they cross them. It would take one hell of a snow storm to bury roads so deep a 4x4 pickup cant get through. Maybe one of those little 4x4 sport utilitys but ive drove through two or three feet of snow in my 4x4 trucks and jeeps. Bottom line is thats pretty rare. A 4x4 sport utility will get you through 99 percent of any snow storms and if its so bad that it wont you should be staying home anyway.

I live on a stretch of road that is withing a stones toss of lake superior and its probably the most often closed road in the midwest. I dont go anywhere because im retired but my wife has to drive that stretch every day. Sometimes in white out conditions. Its so bad theres green reflectors on your side of the road and yellow on the other side so if you cant see and drift across the road you see the yellow reflectors and know your on the wrong side. No way im sending her to work in a rear wheel drive car or even a little front wheel drive and honestly not even in a little sport utility. I buy her full sized club cab 4x4 pickups. THey have a full frame if your hit and sit up higher so you can see better in a storm and have better ground clearance so your less likely to have to push snow when theres a foot on the road.

She even gets nervous on days she has to take the jeep to work. Its not like it wont go through it but when the wind is howling through that section of road off the lake it blows the jeep around enough to sometimes make even me nervous. Yup like pastor said you still have to stop but the biggest danger on that road are idiots driving 3 mph or even stopping right in the middle of the highway. Theres wrecks every storm on that road and 99 percent of them are non local people that just dont have any experience in that kind of weather and are to stupid to be honest with themselves and get a motel till it clears. 500 dollar fine if your caught driving on that road when its closed but if you show an drivers license that has your address in that section of road they let you go.

 Theres been a couple times when its so bad that they even turn around locals and my wife has had to stay at the hospital overnight a couple times. But shes usually let go through because the sherrifs that block the road know her and know shes been there and done that. I remember few storms so bad that i couldnt get to work and power was out all over the place so they sent a county snow plow to my house to give me a ride to town to work. Keep in mind theres countys in Northern MI WI and MN that get more snow every year then many places in alaska.

Growing up in the land of white sand beaches and sunshine, I had to learn a few things about driving in the snow when I moved out west & then to Alaska.

4 wheel drive may help you go faster in the snow, but it dosent help you stop.

You can still get stuck on top of snow if it’s deep enough.

Lots of chains and heavy duty tow ropes and a high lift Jack is your best friend when your 100 miles back in the mountains.

Boy I’m glad I retired back in Florida.

Sorry, but I don't believe for a second that a 4x4 truck or a Jeep with maybe a foot of clearance is going to drive through 3 feet of snow.  Not more than a few feet anyway.

[Winchester94]

Does this snow thing happen all winter?

No problem here in GA for my best two friends:

[billy_56081]

one of the reasons 4x4s became the biggest sellers and rear wheel drives lost favor is the banned chains and studded tires back in the 70s. They just tore the roads up to bad. Even today up here the snowmobiles with studded tracks dig groves in the roads where they cross them. It would take one hell of a snow storm to bury roads so deep a 4x4 pickup cant get through. Maybe one of those little 4x4 sport utilitys but ive drove through two or three feet of snow in my 4x4 trucks and jeeps. Bottom line is thats pretty rare. A 4x4 sport utility will get you through 99 percent of any snow storms and if its so bad that it wont you should be staying home anyway.

I live on a stretch of road that is withing a stones toss of lake superior and its probably the most often closed road in the midwest. I dont go anywhere because im retired but my wife has to drive that stretch every day. Sometimes in white out conditions. Its so bad theres green reflectors on your side of the road and yellow on the other side so if you cant see and drift across the road you see the yellow reflectors and know your on the wrong side. No way im sending her to work in a rear wheel drive car or even a little front wheel drive and honestly not even in a little sport utility. I buy her full sized club cab 4x4 pickups. THey have a full frame if your hit and sit up higher so you can see better in a storm and have better ground clearance so your less likely to have to push snow when theres a foot on the road.

She even gets nervous on days she has to take the jeep to work. Its not like it wont go through it but when the wind is howling through that section of road off the lake it blows the jeep around enough to sometimes make even me nervous. Yup like pastor said you still have to stop but the biggest danger on that road are idiots driving 3 mph or even stopping right in the middle of the highway. Theres wrecks every storm on that road and 99 percent of them are non local people that just dont have any experience in that kind of weather and are to stupid to be honest with themselves and get a motel till it clears. 500 dollar fine if your caught driving on that road when its closed but if you show an drivers license that has your address in that section of road they let you go.

 Theres been a couple times when its so bad that they even turn around locals and my wife has had to stay at the hospital overnight a couple times. But shes usually let go through because the sherrifs that block the road know her and know shes been there and done that. I remember few storms so bad that i couldnt get to work and power was out all over the place so they sent a county snow plow to my house to give me a ride to town to work. Keep in mind theres countys in Northern MI WI and MN that get more snow every year then many places in alaska.

Growing up in the land of white sand beaches and sunshine, I had to learn a few things about driving in the snow when I moved out west & then to Alaska.

4 wheel drive may help you go faster in the snow, but it dosent help you stop.

You can still get stuck on top of snow if it’s deep enough.

Lots of chains and heavy duty tow ropes and a high lift Jack is your best friend when your 100 miles back in the mountains.

Boy I’m glad I retired back in Florida.

Sorry, but I don't believe for a second that a 4x4 truck or a Jeep with maybe a foot of clearance is going to drive through 3 feet of snow.  Not more than a few feet anyway.

It depends on the snow, I remember driving through the fluffy powder in the mountains of Colorado with it over the bumper.  This is much different than having 16 inches of hard snow like we have in Minnesota.

[Mule 11]

one of the reasons 4x4s became the biggest sellers and rear wheel drives lost favor is the banned chains and studded tires back in the 70s. They just tore the roads up to bad. Even today up here the snowmobiles with studded tracks dig groves in the roads where they cross them. It would take one hell of a snow storm to bury roads so deep a 4x4 pickup cant get through. Maybe one of those little 4x4 sport utilitys but ive drove through two or three feet of snow in my 4x4 trucks and jeeps. Bottom line is thats pretty rare. A 4x4 sport utility will get you through 99 percent of any snow storms and if its so bad that it wont you should be staying home anyway.

I live on a stretch of road that is withing a stones toss of lake superior and its probably the most often closed road in the midwest. I dont go anywhere because im retired but my wife has to drive that stretch every day. Sometimes in white out conditions. Its so bad theres green reflectors on your side of the road and yellow on the other side so if you cant see and drift across the road you see the yellow reflectors and know your on the wrong side. No way im sending her to work in a rear wheel drive car or even a little front wheel drive and honestly not even in a little sport utility. I buy her full sized club cab 4x4 pickups. THey have a full frame if your hit and sit up higher so you can see better in a storm and have better ground clearance so your less likely to have to push snow when theres a foot on the road.

She even gets nervous on days she has to take the jeep to work. Its not like it wont go through it but when the wind is howling through that section of road off the lake it blows the jeep around enough to sometimes make even me nervous. Yup like pastor said you still have to stop but the biggest danger on that road are idiots driving 3 mph or even stopping right in the middle of the highway. Theres wrecks every storm on that road and 99 percent of them are non local people that just dont have any experience in that kind of weather and are to stupid to be honest with themselves and get a motel till it clears. 500 dollar fine if your caught driving on that road when its closed but if you show an drivers license that has your address in that section of road they let you go.

 Theres been a couple times when its so bad that they even turn around locals and my wife has had to stay at the hospital overnight a couple times. But shes usually let go through because the sherrifs that block the road know her and know shes been there and done that. I remember few storms so bad that i couldnt get to work and power was out all over the place so they sent a county snow plow to my house to give me a ride to town to work. Keep in mind theres countys in Northern MI WI and MN that get more snow every year then many places in alaska.

Growing up in the land of white sand beaches and sunshine, I had to learn a few things about driving in the snow when I moved out west & then to Alaska.

4 wheel drive may help you go faster in the snow, but it dosent help you stop.

You can still get stuck on top of snow if it’s deep enough.

Lots of chains and heavy duty tow ropes and a high lift Jack is your best friend when your 100 miles back in the mountains.

Boy I’m glad I retired back in Florida.

Sorry, but I don't believe for a second that a 4x4 truck or a Jeep with maybe a foot of clearance is going to drive through 3 feet of snow.  Not more than a few feet anyway.

I have done it with plain old front wheel drive. 4wd jeeps and trucks make it easier although generally I wait on the plow trucks butt sometimes ya do what ya gotta do. Sorry no YouTube white knuckle videos for proof...

[Bob Riebe]

\
Sorry, but I don't believe for a second that a 4x4 truck or a Jeep with maybe a foot of clearance is going to drive through 3 feet of snow.  Not more than a few feet anyway.

iAny vehicle that is plowing through deep snow, especially bumper height runs the risk of a problem that was common in the sixties when roads were not plowed as often , and cars often made the trail.
Snow packing under the hood to the point the engine over heated or stopped running.

[ulav8r]

In the spring of 1976 I left out of Salt Lake City in the afternoon, headed for Denver.  As we left it started drizzling rain.  Just out of town we were gaining elevation and the mist turned to snow. By the time we got to Rabbit Ears pass there was about 8 inches on the ground and it was still coming down sort of heavy.  Less than a mile from the top of the pass, we caught up with a snow plow, it was only doing about 20 mph.  After following it about a mile I passed it and had the road to myself.  There were no tracks and still only about 8 inches on the highway.  When I got to I70, it had been plowed and I made it into Denver at about 2:00AM.  I was driving a "great" bad weather vehicle, a 1973 Pinto station wagon.

[Lloyd Smale]

In the spring of 1976 I left out of Salt Lake City in the afternoon, headed for Denver.  As we left it started drizzling rain.  Just out of town we were gaining elevation and the mist turned to snow. By the time we got to Rabbit Ears pass there was about 8 inches on the ground and it was still coming down sort of heavy.  Less than a mile from the top of the pass, we caught up with a snow plow, it was only doing about 20 mph.  After following it about a mile I passed it and had the road to myself.  There were no tracks and still only about 8 inches on the highway.  When I got to I70, it had been plowed and I made it into Denver at about 2:00AM.  I was driving a "great" bad weather vehicle, a 1973 Pinto station wagon.

only ford ive ever owned was a 72 pinto wagon that was given to me. It had the drivers door pop rivieted closed because of rust and you had to crawl across the passenger seat to get in. It ran great though and i drove it 60 miles round trip to work for 2 years. Back then i had square body chev 4x4s and they got about 10mpg and the pinto got twice that. It actually went through the snow exceptionaly well for a rear wheel drive car. But when the storms hit i did drive the truck to work.

[Dee]

In 1975 I had an emergency and left Longmont Colorado in near blizzard conditions. Ran out of that weather about 100 miles south of Amarillo Texas.
Other than visibility, and having to get out for gas, I had no problems.
I was in a 1969 Pontiac Catalina. It was a good car.

[Dee]

Most problems with cars or trucks in bad weather, is bad judgment.

[Lloyd Smale]

Best car I ever had for snow and ice travel was the Volkswagen Beetle. And if you had snow tires on all 4 corners it was even better. Pretty good in mud season, too, because it stayed on top rather then sink down.
.

they were well known up here for going through the snow. But they were also know to be kind of cold to ride in.