A related thread got me to thinking about something I heard a few years ago. Does it do any damage to your transmission if you spin your wheels while trying to get out of the snow? I did this once about ten years ago and the transmission got gradually worse for a few months, then just died. Coincidence or cause and effect?
I’m not sure if that incident affected your transmission, but I would say it is possible. I do know that if the spinning drive wheels suddenly get enough traction, the jolt can damage the differential. The wise thing to do is back off on the throttle as soon as you detect spinning with no forward motion (nothing good is being accomplished at that point), and if you are getting forward motion, keep the spinning as low as possible and ease up as traction increases.
It doesn’t work anyway. Any good Canuck knows that you need people to help rock and then you have to do the forward - reverse - forward move.
My other strategy was to avoid fast roads and drive the slower roads in second gear. Lots more traction that way.
Not sure about the transmission, but speaking as someone who has helped push many a stranded motorist out of the snow, spinning the wheels is also dangerous for another reason…
The tires can heat up surprisingly fast, and depending on their condition could explode, spewing hot rubber and steel belts and shit all over the nice people pushing you out.
/happened to me only once, by myself, rocking back and forth on especially compacted snow.
I had an incident the other day whereby my traction control held me hostage. Rocking didn’t help. Once I realized I could turn off the traction control, a little wheel spinning cleared the ice/snow from below me, and I was able to move again. I’d only needed just a little forward inertia, and I was good. Much faster than calling triple-A.
Controlled wheel spinning is one of many winter driving tools that you need in your quiver. If it seriously damaged your transmission, ever car in the northern reaches would die in the spring.
Because of the way normal differentials work, if one wheel has traction, and the other not, only the one wheel will spin, but it spins at TWICE the driven speed. So if your speedometer indicates 60, then that tire is spinning at a 120 mph rotation rate. That is where the problem hekk mentioned comes from.
Even if the tire doesn’t explode, warm tires on ice have about zero traction once you get unstuck, so it is wise to minimise spinning to keep the tread cooler.
That’s true unless you have a limited slip differential, and even then sometimes, but mostly I agree. You did say normal differentials and I don’t know if limited slip differentials count as that, but they are pretty common so I figured I’d mention it.
Hmmm. I recall reading in a vehicle owner’s manual that your tire may risk detonation above 35 MPH indicated speed.
Incidentally, I might suggest taking 5 minute breaks if you have to spend more than a few seconds rocking back and forth.
Should be better for your tranny, giving it a chance to cool.
This isn’t dangerous, but the friction from spinning your tires can also melt the snow underneath them, which will quickly freeze into ice.
agree with the ice thing - it may not be dangerous to spin the tires, but it’s not a particularly efficient way to get unstuck.
best to carry a bag of generic kitty litter in the trunk of your car during winter. if you get stuck, you sprinkle it in front and behind your drive tires for traction.
What?
No.
Most people in the ‘northern reaches’ know that spinning one’s wheels compacts the snow underneath to ice, making it even harder to get out. It’s pretty much the most useless thing you can do.
I saw that “forward-reverse-forward” thing for rocking the car out of a stuck position…that sounds very cumbersome. One of the nice things about a manual transmission. Clutch, release clutch, clutch…
It certainly sounds like shifting that fast in an automatic might cause some damage. It’s wear and tear at any rate.
By coincidence, I have taught a couple of kids how to drive. Shortly after each one learned it all, I had to replace either the whole transmission or the clutch. Coincidence?
There are plenty of situations besides being stuck in deep snow though where it’s pretty much impossible to get going (or keep going) without the wheels spinning. And as Telemark said you then need to have the skill of controlling the spin.
And yet it has worked for me hundreds of times over the years. Are you saying that you should go out of your way to avoid spinning your wheels on a slick surface?