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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
They’re not all that common here anymore either. I’d say it’s been at least 12 years since I’ve driven a RWD (well, until I got this car). What’s funny is, when this house was built (in the early '70s), RWD was the only game in town, so it’s odd they didn’t consider the challenges involved in trying to push a car up a steep, wet, concrete driveway.
Gravel really isn’t an option, anyway, both for erosion reasons and for financial reasons. I’m going to keep an eye out at Safeway for a good deal on kitty litter, I think.
Won’t it roll down the hill?
