The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Winter

Well, even though it's 90o here in the Boston area, I suspect that winter will arrive at some point... at least that's the word on the street.

This will be my first snow season with my Bolt. Any suggestions??? Did you add any weight in the bed?? Put snowtires on?? Studs??

I lived in Nashua, NH and worked in Billerica, MA for 9 years. If memory serves me right, I'm not sure that studded tires were allowed. I found that 150-200# of weight above the rear axle worked just fine. Really depends on how stiff/soft your suspension is. Of course a good set of snow tires is a must.

Studs are allowed, I believe Nov - Apr

If they salt the roads there, buy a winter beater and garage the 'bolt.
Otherwise its days will be numbered.

for years i didn't drive my 54-3100/235 because i feared getting stuck. i have 235/70/15 tires and they didn't seem to get much traction. i put about 300# of weight in the back and got around all last winter just fine. i even drove from my shop garage in the back of the house, about 160 ft., to the front, on grass and no problem. ron

Weight seems to be the magic formula.

Brad, I agree that the east is tough on all vehicles. My Bolt is a daily driver so she'll be seeing winters by necessity... course if I had a ton of money then I'd consider alternatives.

Avoid driving on sloppy winter roads, and wash the truck whenever weather permits. When washing it, concentrate on the rust prone areas. Otherwise it will get like this one.

http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/ducor_doug_1966_01.htm

Glad I dont have to worry about that stuff here in SoCal.

why worry? restore'em once, restore'em twice, restore'em 3 times
that's the good part about these simple ol trucks - easy to take apart and fix what needs fixin, and minimal care will increase the time between major rebuilds, plus a bit of attention to rust proofing will prevent the rot problems the poorly finished originals suffered

Larry - weight is the key, and if you really wanna get around in the sloppy stuff, try a panel truck w/ mud and snow treads - the weight distribution is better than the pu

Bill

Check out the picture of my "other 48 Loadmaster" in my signature. It was purposely built for winter. It has a V-8 to push an eight foot plow and to pull 4 ton of gravel. Never has been stuck in the snow yet. It's weight caused some problems on sheet ice though,
Scott

Well, at present I dont have the money for all that re-restoring, I'm just geting started on my first(wish me luck).



Nice snow plow 48.

Nolan