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Ask Uncle Spinout: Getting unstuck from snow: Rockin' and Rollin'
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Dear Uncle Spinout.
I got stuck in the snow and some know-it-all Mr. Buttinsky told me I should rock my car to get out. He said to put it drive and then reverse and back and forth really fast. He didn’t look like a really reliable kind of person so I used my cell phone to call AAA to tow me out, but then I had a really long wait and was late for work and my boss was really mad. What should I have done?
Barb
Barb,
“Rocking” your car could rock your world, but not in a good way. What Mr. Buttinsky suggested requires split-second timing that even Uncle Spinout would try. Get it wrong and you could really, using technical terms, screw up your transmission. Then your wait for a tow truck would be just as long, only he’d be taking your car to the repair shop instead. And then you’d be looking for two jobs—one to replace the one you have now because your tyrant of a boss fired you, and the one you’ll need to pay for the transmission repair.
For everyone says they got away with rocking their way out of the snow, Uncle Spinout says (a) you were lucky this time but (b) perhaps shortened the life of your transmission—which if it doesn’t show up until your lease is out, well, you beat the system. But remember, what goes around, comes around.
So yes, Barb, getting the tow from AAA was a good idea. And what I like about AAA, by the way, is that you have one number to call when automotive things go wrong.
However, there are a few things you can try before making that call. The first is that when you try to drive out, keep your wheels pointed straight ahead. For a number of reasons, it’s harder for your car to pull or push out of the snow when the front wheels cocked to one side. One of the big ones is that your rear wheels have to make a new path through the snow when you’re turning.
Keep your wheels straight ahead and drive forward if you can. When the car stops moving, don’t keep trying to move. STOP. Then put the car in reverse and back up until the car stops moving. STOP. The put the car in drive and rinse and repeat, as they say on the shampoo bottle. If the wheels start to spin, stop. At that point you’re just digging yourself in deeper. Think of the process as rolling, not rocking, yourself out.
Here’s an example of an extreme example of rolling a car out. A shovel would have helped:
If that doesn’t work, hand Mr. Buttinsky the shovel you have in your trunk and ask if he could help a damsel in distress. We suspect he’ll leave. But then Sir Galahad will step up. If you have to dig yourself out, remember that all four wheels have to make it through the snow, and also, the bottom of the car may have snow packed under it, in which case you might as well call AAA.
If someone with a pickup truck or SUV offers to pull you out, it might be a good idea…or maybe not. If it’s any of the guys in this video, we suggest saying “no thank you’ and waiting for the AAA two truck to arrive.
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