Ice Ice Baby

My truck is covered in ice Apparently it rained last night and froze and now everything is covered in ice. I don't feel comfortable driving my truck on ice, I don't feel like taking that risk. But how do I get my truck back from the clutches of the ice gods?

But anyone else who faces similar conditions, and is going to drive, be safe out there. Even if you can handle it, there might be many more who can't.

Erm, I usually de-ice it enough to get into it- start it, and run it on full heat blast. Other options include hot water, heat gun, the sun, and a shotgun. YMMV with that last one.

Break it up with a hammer and it will fall right off.

I thought hot water was a poor idea because it can cause windows to crack, same with the hammer?

I also don't have an ice scraper, as it is a Texas truck and I haven't bought one.

Hibernate until spring.

fritzsch wrote: I thought hot water was a poor idea because it can cause windows to crack, same with the hammer? I also don't have an ice scraper, as it is a Texas truck and I haven't bought one.

Flamin' hot water? bad idea. Lukewarm? Not as much of a problem. All you really want to do is get enough ice off it to get into it and defrost the E36 M3 out of it. Let the cars heat do thework.

We usually get a couple ice storms every season and they're a pain. I usually chip away at the glass with the ice scraper to get it started and then bang right along the edges of the door to be able to get it open without tearing the weatherstripping. Oh, and a couple gentle strikes near the handle to keep from breaking the linkage. Then it's just a matter of starting the car up, putting the defroster on high, and waiting.

Alternately, I see that the big van is covered in ice and then "volunteer" to take the kids in to school for my wife and use the little van that's in the garage Hopefully by the time she needs to pick up the littlest from pre-school, the ice won't be so bad.

Those storms can be really dangerous though. Not only do the sidewalks and roads get slick, but tree branches get super heavy and start falling. A couple years back a nine year old girl was killed while walking her dog when a tree branch collapsed under the weight of the ice.

That and the states that get the ice storms like that are typically not equipped to handle them. Texas as an example- actually got some winter. My aunt lives in Plano- her kids have been off school for a few days now for what would be considered "a light dusting" up here. Same with the VA storm.

Hair dryer? Rubbing alcohol?

TRoglodyte wrote: Hair dryer? Rubbing alcohol?

It just overheats the hair dryer before you get any appreciable melting of ice. Been there :)

A heat gun works a little better though. Never used it on glass, but I have used it on locks.

A credit card works in a pinch as an ice scraper.

Deicer and a scraper. Spray where you want to chip and chip away.

Some kind of flammable aerosol and a lighter used as a flamethrower. That should melt some ice.

Enough warm-ish water to get a door open and then start it and turn the heat on full blast. Once it starts to melt you can peel it off the windows fairly easily with a CC or the like. This is the best most gentle way to do it, but not necessarily the fastest.

mazdeuce wrote: Enough warm-ish water to get a door open and then start it and turn the heat on full blast. Once it starts to melt you can peel it off the windows fairly easily with a CC or the like. This is the best most gentle way to do it, but not necessarily the fastest.

Exactly this.

OA

mndsm wrote: That and the states that get the ice storms like that are typically not equipped to handle them.

Exactly. Stay the hell home.

I wish I had... In PA/NJ we're looking at snow for the next 6-9hrs... my 48 mile drive home today is going to suck.

A number of years ago I was working in the Triangle area of NC and they were hit with an ice storm. It pretty much shut down the whole area for three days. Three days stuck in a hotel room without power. Oh what fun...

Ian F wrote:

mndsm wrote: That and the states that get the ice storms like that are typically not equipped to handle them.

Exactly. Stay the hell home. I wish I had... In PA/NJ we're looking at snow for the next 6-9hrs... my 48 mile drive home today is going to suck. A number of years ago I was working in the Triangle area of NC and they were hit with an ice storm. It pretty much shut down the whole area for three days. Three days stuck in a hotel room without power. Oh what fun...

There had to have been a beer store close- I'd have been exceedingly drunk for 3 days.

My forces have breached the drivers door. I just can't see out of the truck yet.

I am soooo glad I live where I do.

I leave the heater set to defrost when I shut down and plug in the block heater. Does a surprisingly good job of keeping the ice from building up on the windshield.

While I love the Midwest, and miss it in the Spring, Summer and Fall----- these are the sort of problems I'm glad I no longer have to deal with.

From memory----- de-ice lock so the key will fit (lighter will do in a pinch), body check door hard enough to break the ice "seal" but not hard enough to dent your door. Start car (hopefully will start)--- run for a while, then use your sleeve, gloves, a rag, or an ice scraper brush (if you have one) to clear windows, and snow off of flat surfaces. Remember, snow on flat surfaces will blow onto your windshield / windows once you are underway.

Smack your windshield wipers on windshield to break ice off them---and make sure your tail lights are visible.

Then proceed into the Winter wonderland........with a tow-rope, jumper cables and shovel in your car--- in case you get stuck, or you want to help someone else.

Good luck--- stay safe

Get in. Turn the heat to full blast on deforst and go in the house until it melts. You can speed the front window if the washers can be made to work and you wet the window.

In case you did not know, pick-ups are horrible in the snow. Even the 4wd ones. The is just not enough weight in the back end to make it work.

I've been in Dallas during an ice storm, and the trucks were decorating the guardrails like a string of xmas light bulbs!

If the truck came from Texas, I bet the tires are all wrong for the IL winter. I would be looking for dedicated snow tires if you plan to stay up north.

Two words: Park inna garage.

lol, once when I was delivering pizzas, I got my little beater high-centered on the built up ice bank left behind by days of snow plows at the base of the driveway I was delivering to. It had frozen about 2 feet deep, and no amount of running room would get me going fast enough to get over it.

The dudes inside were drunk as hell. I went up and still delivered their pizza, and called a buddy with a Cherokee to come yank my Corolla off the ice. The drunk dudes saw my dilemma, and offered to help. Their solution: melt the ice under my car with a propane fired weed burner:

They couldnt understand why I declined their offer lol