Chiff and Fipple Forums

I live at the top of a very steep driveway. We have two cars...one is front-wheel-drive and has no trouble at all getting to the top of the driveway, even when it's wet or covered with pine needles (which is pretty much all of the time during the winter). The other is rear-wheel-drive, and getting it to the top of the drive is a struggle if the pavement is at all wet. At this rate, I'm going to go through a couple of sets of tires before the winter is over (heck, the rains only STARTED this week!).

The obvious answer would be to leave the RWD car at the bottom of the hill. I'm reluctant to do that, however, because it's the nicer and newer of the two cars, and parking it down there would mean leaving it on the street, where it's more likely to get hit by another car or vandalized by would-be gas theives (yes, that's still happening hereabouts).

Can anyone thing of anything I could do to make a wet driveway less slippery? I don't mind sweeping the pine needles off once a day, if I have to (though during the rains they're just going to accumulate again), but if even the wet pavement is a problem, I'm not sure what to do. If this were a snow or ice problem, I'd put down sand, but I'm afraid that would make a wet driveway even worse.

Any thoughts?

Redwolf

- Back up into the laneway. Same as FWD the other way.
- Get better tires with more grip.
- Drive up in a lower gear, so that the power goes to torque and traction instead of speed.

djm

djm wrote:- Back up into the laneway. Same as FWD the other way.
- Get better tires with more grip.
- Drive up in a lower gear, so that the power goes to torque and traction instead of speed.

djm

I actually thought about backing up, but there's still the issue of not enough weight over the drive wheels (one of the reasons FWD works so well is you have the full weight of the engine over the drive wheels). It's also pretty hard to see where you're going with that big trunk sticking up in back (it's a seriously steep drive). Back when I lived in ice country we used to put big, heavy, bags of sand in the trunk to add weight to the back end...that might be worth a try.

Can't afford new tires at the moment, but it's a thought for the future.

It's an AT, and the turn to the drive is sharp, so it's already going up in the lowest gear it has.

Redwolf

Have you tried adding weight in the RWD? If you don't get snow and ice it shouldn't be a big concern (except for a greater gas budget). Heavy weight over the rear wheels on snow and ice is discouraged, as it actually adds forward momentum when you are trying to brake.

djm

Redwolf wrote:Back when I lived in ice country we used to put big, heavy, bags of sand in the trunk to add weight to the back end...that might be worth a try.

You're answering your own question!

I'd try 25# bags and keep adding them until it's time to take one out...

Move to Texas.

Can you texture or rough up the surface of the driveway for more traction? Could be expensive, but it would work.

Haven't seen this, but visualizing the snow chains concept, what about staking out a grid of rope across the driveway for traction?? Carpeting??
Tony

Truck tire inner-tubes. Cut one in half, use bailing wire like a twist-tie to close one end of each chunk, fill both chunks with sand, and twist-tie them closed. Presto: sand-bags that don't leak sand all over the trunk.

If the driveway surface is ashphalt, texturing it would be tough. If it's concrete, rent a K12 gas-powered carbide saw (the kind we firefighters use to cut ... well ... anything!) and cut shallow 'X's where the tires slip. Not for the timid.

I feel for you. My driveway was voted the 4th worst on Pender Island.

Doug_Tipple wrote:Move to Texas.

Or Florida.

I drove up to the back of my building at work to deliver some cases of stuff for the upcoming holidays, using an old emergency room entrance, so I could roll a cart out conveniently. The building is built up to get it above flood level, since it's on the water, so there is a slight ramp going up. The entrance is on the second floor. Not wanting to risk parking in a restricted spot, I chose a vendor parking spot on the ramp itself.

And then sat there in the car, foot on the brake, clueless about what to do next.

I absolutely could not remember how to park on a hill.

Denny wrote:

Redwolf wrote:Back when I lived in ice country we used to put big, heavy, bags of sand in the trunk to add weight to the back end...that might be worth a try.

You're answering your own question!

I'd try 25# bags and keep adding them until it's time to take one out...

Kitty Litter is a good weight source. Comes in 25# bags, and if the traction gets really bad you can sprinkle some of the litter (non clumping kind!) under the wheels for more traction.

TonyHiggins wrote:Can you texture or rough up the surface of the driveway for more traction? Could be expensive, but it would work.

That's what I was thinking. Packed stones would work. Basically back to gravel. I know a guy who bought a house with a steep, paved driveway and he had the pavement removed. Gravel worked much better.

Flyingcursor wrote:

TonyHiggins wrote:Can you texture or rough up the surface of the driveway for more traction? Could be expensive, but it would work.

That's what I was thinking. Packed stones would work. Basically back to gravel. I know a guy who bought a house with a steep, paved driveway and he had the pavement removed. Gravel worked much better.

Won't it roll down the hill?

Lambchop wrote:

Flyingcursor wrote:

TonyHiggins wrote:Can you texture or rough up the surface of the driveway for more traction? Could be expensive, but it would work.

That's what I was thinking. Packed stones would work. Basically back to gravel. I know a guy who bought a house with a steep, paved driveway and he had the pavement removed. Gravel worked much better.

Won't it roll down the hill?

That was my first thought as well. I would think the rains would wash it down and erode the driveway (?)

Redwolf

Gravel isn't like marbles, it won't roll.

It will slide down gradually as the tyres push it down, but you can rake it back up to level it.

RWD cars are so rare in the UK, I can't remember the last time I drove one.

Martin Milner wrote:Gravel isn't like marbles, it won't roll.

It will slide down gradually as the tyres push it down, but you can rake it back up to level it.

.

Hmm, interesting. I hadn't realized that. The whole concept is alien, because we don't have rocks in Florida.

If you do see a rock here, it was imported from Canada.

Seriously.