Lack of ICE causes a ton of Ice.

[grange]

This weekend I was travelling in white out conditions in Northern MN. Heavy snow and wind on unplowed highways. The truck performed fine but I realized that the lack of an internal combustion engine there is no heat generated on this truck under the frunk or under the truck. Long story short - I ended up with 6 to 8 " of hard packed Ice (not snow) in my wheel wells and under my truck. The ice in my wheel well made driving home difficult as I could not make sharp turns without potentially damaging the wheels or the well.

As soon as I made it home I ran a fire hose under the truck to start and melt some of the ice away (which it did) but after an hour I decided to let mother nature manage the rest. I am now 3 days past the blizzard. The weather hit 60 degrees yesterday and I still have massive amounts of thawing ice dripping below my truck along with small chunks of Ice. I have never seen anything like this before.

 

[Mike G]

So is Ford paying you for the Extreme Cold Weather testing event or was this your idea?

 

[Grumpy2]

That longitudinal garage floor drain is essential in this case !!

 

[Heliian]

Lol, that's nothing and you shouldn't damage anything by turning the wheels. My truck is covered for weeks at a time in snow and ice. After 3 winters, I haven't had any ice related problems. You just have to live with the buildup.

You'll do more damage trying to remove it yourself. Warm water car washes help a little.

 

[Maquis]

An ICE won’t keep ice out of the wheel wells. I once drove a minivan about 80 miles on an interstate in freezing rain. I exited and came to a stop at the end of the ramp. I tried to turn left, but couldn’t due to the ice buildup. Fortunately, I was able to knock it loose with a couple swift kicks on each side.

 

[gbuydos]

Now just wait till the loose ice chunks start rattling around in different areas. You will think something is wrong with the truck. It took weeks to get warm enough to have all the ice chunks melted before the noises stooped.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

The only place I've had ice buildup that was due to lack of waste heat from a gassy vehicle was on the hood and under the frunk.

 

[RickKeen]

Wonder if there might be something that could be applied to the wheel well liners to help prevent snow and ice from sticking? Maybe automotive "wax" rated for use on plastic? Maybe some or snow board / ski glide-wax? Armour-All? PAM? WD40?

I park in a heated garage, so generally not an issue.

 

[topofsuperior]

Lol, that's nothing and you shouldn't damage anything by turning the wheels. My truck is covered for weeks at a time in snow and ice. After 3 winters, I haven't had any ice related problems. You just have to live with the buildup.

You'll do more damage trying to remove it yourself. Warm water car washes help a little.

I am with Heliian! North of Lake Superior I could send you much worse pictures. Never think to take them as this is just normal winter stuff here!

 

[FloridaMan655321]

I've driven ICE trucks in northern MN and had the same thing. Not sure the difference. I'd have to kick out the buildup in the wheelwells or the tires would rub against it. About the only difference would be the frunk not keeping the hood warm.

 

[Scorpio3d]

just kidding: sort of…. Earlier this year:

 

[CD4TNF]

Y'all in the north sharing these experiences make me feel a lot better about driving the Lightning if I ever get in those kind of conditions. The truck can handle it.

 

[pullinggs]

just kidding: sort of…. Earlier this year:

Are you kidding? In some parts of Texas that's enough snow to cause a full-blown Winter Emergency declaration!

@grange, Yup. BTDT. I live in the foothills (i.e., SNOW) but routinely drive down to civilization (i.e., never seen snow). Even when I kinda clean up the stuff I can see, the truck just piddles and drools all day long as the ice underneath melts away. The time it takes to stop is meaningfully longer than what I saw with my ICE vehicles.

 

[Mike G]

Wonder if there might be something that could be applied to the wheel well liners to help prevent snow and ice from sticking? Maybe automotive "wax" rated for use on plastic? Maybe some or snow board / ski glide-wax? Armour-All? PAM? WD40?

I park in a heated garage, so generally not an issue.

PAM...we used that on Blackhawk intakes so the water/ice wouldn't stick and go through the first stage blades and FOD the engine. Works great. Would be perfect for the wheel liners.

 

[Bushwood CC]

An ICE won’t keep ice out of the wheel wells. I once drove a minivan about 80 miles on an interstate in freezing rain. I exited and came to a stop at the end of the ramp. I tried to turn left, but couldn’t due to the ice buildup. Fortunately, I was able to knock it loose with a couple swift kicks on each side.

Quick tip: Broke 2 toes that way. Use your heel instead.

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