Sluggish in winter morning (1 Viewer)

[aey_bee_see]

From Winterpeg, good day to all.

Two days ago, I tried pulling a stuck, old Chevy pickup from an icy intersection. At first, I tried pulling him forward. Went to LO (diff-lock and abs lights went on), went to L and gave it a go. My wheels just spun on the icy road and no success. Gave it another attempt, wheels just spun and still no go.

Decided to pull him backward. It was successful this time owing largely to the snow for traction (sure wished I did this the first time). Went hi (diff-lock and abs lights gone) and went our way.

Question: Did I handle with the situation properly? Will going LO and wheels just spinning at higher rev have any adverse effect? I notice that my truck is sluggish lately. I've 0W40 on the engine and my coolant is on the level, if these additional info would be helpful.

Thanks for any inputs.

Arnie

 

[TX_TLC]

IMHO not much, including going to Lo will help on ice except chains on your tires. IF you can't get traction..it doesn't matter what tires have power.

It is kinda like the simplest thing throwing the whole complicated equation off.

 

[aey_bee_see]

Thanks, TX. My concern really is whether going LO and tires spinning would somehow affect the transmission(?) and other parts. Going LO causes your rig to kind of 'crawl' on normal surfaces but with tires just spinning, it's like running at a speed not intended for that setting.

 

[TX_TLC]

I doubt you spun them long enough to cause any problems..

 

[aey_bee_see]

Thanks for the reassurance. I did let go immediately when I was not able to pull him a bit. Would have any idea what else would make an 80 move sluggish? Maybe it's just the reconfigured road surface. My tires may be 'biting' more into the snow/ice so it'd feel that way.

 

[Atticus]

When my truck had about 4000 miles on it, I put it in 4 lo (before I had the cdl switch) and gunned it going up a very muddy hill, tires spinning, for more than a minute. It was either that or slide off and possibly roll. 204,000 miles later, there seems to have been no ill effect. Don't worry about it at all. It would have "upshifted" to second and third before you could have screwed it up. As for the sluggishness, I doubt it's related.

 

[tarbe]

The problem would have come in if, while spinning like mad on the ice, you suddenly found dry pavement! That could cause a problem!

 

[aey_bee_see]

Thankfully, none of that.

Gentlemen, appreciate your inputs. Many thanks.