Idaho,Montana, ND

[blunttech]

who uses salt?? I bought a car in BC and am going to fly Brandon out to drive it back. But Its never seen salt. Who can speak to the passes and when its safe to come through without salt concerns? I know Washington state and BC are ok but concerned about the rest

[Farbin Kaiber]

Most of ID does not salt. IDOT uses a combination of a de-ice additive and a sand & gravel mix. I'd be much more worried about cracked windshields and paint chips.

EDIT: The crap will be on the roads for a while longer I'd think, spring sweeping is just starting down here, and it's a little ahead of the north where I think you'll be concerned.

[blunttech]

Most of ID does not salt. IDOT uses a combination of a de-ice additive and a sand & gravel mix. I'd be much more worried about cracked windshields and paint chips.

Thanks think its ok to drive through Idaho on summer tires in 3 weeks??

[Farbin Kaiber]

You never know. For example, yesterday I was outside in shorts and sandals walking the yard, here is a picture of the same area this morning.

[blunttech]

ugh The winter that wont end. Hopefully in 3 weeks we will be better off
I still have a lot of snow on the ground too

[ST1G]

I was up on a 7000 ft pass yesterday and it was covered in snow. But once I was below 6500 it was just wet. and below 5000ft there was no snow on the ground at all.

If you're sticking to highways/freeways in southern Idaho you'll be fine. It would be highways that go through the middle of the state that will cause you problems.

[blunttech]

I was up on a 7000 ft pass yesterday and it was covered in snow. But once I was below 6500 it was just wet. and below 5000ft there was no snow on the ground at all.

If you're sticking to highways/freeways in southern Idaho you'll be fine. It would be highways that go through the middle of the state that will cause you problems.

I was going to have him go straight across 90

[ST1G]

I was going to have him go straight across 90

You'll be fine. Always well maintained.

[blunttech]

Thanks man

[Aviator]

No salt in MT, just gravel.

[mrsleeve]

^
By gravel he means shit with stones in it the size of your fist, like farb said we have a hard time keeping wind shields and headlights in stuff this time of year


in 3 weeks you "should" and I highly stress "should" be ok though the I90 corridor MT/ID dont use much salt like the midwest does, BUT they do use combinations of Magnesium and Calcium Chloride, I grew up in MI and I would rather take the old fashioned salt than this shit. The liquid deicer will eat the chrome off a car bumper if there is any little imperfection to let it get into. STG is correct I90 is very well taken care of that is not going to be your issue, its the deicing agents they will use if you hit wintery weather or if you hit the 1st few rains since the last time it was applied, the shit is like glue when it mixes with road grime. I have to spend an day with a clay bar to get the shit all off every spring it even sticks to glass. I assume since you are asking about ND you are going to route him onto I94 just east of Billings??? I would not want him on that stretch of I90 between the SD/MN boarder and I35, that road is BAD it will eat a nice car, you have to plan ahead and be very mind full to keep from losing your car in a pot/chuck hole, one of the most stress full 3 hours I had ever spent in my e30 trying not to lose a oil pan in BFE.

That said Mid April you might hit dry roads and 70 all the way. You might get into a foot of snow at the top of look out or home stake pass, you might have 40's and rain all the way or sleet and wintery mix. Out here form late march though the 1st week of may we have wild weather swings from day to day. We used to try and make the annual back country horse trip every memorial day weekend, we stopped it usually snows at elevation at camp every year so we stopped going. Today I went out shooting and in the span of 25mins or so we had bright sun and about 50's to a driving rain squall, then to near white out snowing and back to the sun again. we still have snow down as low as 3800 feet right now and there is still 4-6 FEET on the ground at Marias pass

I guess what I am trying to say is the weather this time of year is predictably unpredictable, forecast might say its going to shit, and turns out to be a great day or vice versa. Hell I had 2 inches of snow in the middle of june on my lawn back in 2008.

Keep an eye on the weather forecasts and remember it might be nice at the bottom of the hill but when hit the top of the pass it might be a totally different world. Once your man makes it to about livingston there should be NO issues what so ever it puts him out on to the high plains where you should be fine even though bad lands that late in the spring. You could send him out on HWY 2, it would cut your number of passes down to 2 and cross the continental divide at lowest of them all at Marias pass with a elevation of just over 5600 feet. Once you cross there you are out of the mountains and out on the high plains and the weather is a bit less unpredictable, even though a late spring snow is not unhead of. When he reaches MT HWY 13 @ wolf point on the far eastern side of the state turn south and head down to Circle MT and then turn back to the South East on 2005 (IIRC it been a while since I have gone that way) and get on I94 in Glendive MT. Dont turn south at 15, you will still have to go though Home stake and the other pass between butte and livingston, you would only really be cutting out look out pass at the MT ID boarder if you did that. 2 is a fed route as well and is also well maintained, though is kinda rough in places.

One last thing in 3 weeks I might be around home its up in the air, if he gets into a bind I am more than willing to lend a hand if I can

Oh Fun new clip from about 3 hours ago @ lookout pass

http://www.khq.com/story/25113350/montana-idaho-border-lookout-pass-closed-after-landslide

[wark]

Most of ID does not salt. IDOT uses a combination of a de-ice additive and a sand & gravel mix. I'd be much more worried about cracked windshields and paint chips.

EDIT: The crap will be on the roads for a while longer I'd think, spring sweeping is just starting down here, and it's a little ahead of the north where I think you'll be concerned.

Traveling around Idaho this winter has TORN up my front bumper/lip with all the sand and rocks being kicked up by other cars.

Thanks think its ok to drive through Idaho on summer tires in 3 weeks??

Idaho spring means an unpredictable combination of blizzards and nice near-summer weather, can change hourly. I said fuck it and put my summer tires on last week though, so keep an eye on the forecast in the areas you will be driving and you could be fine.

[pantelones]

who uses salt?? I bought a car in BC and am going to fly Brandon out to drive it back. But Its never seen salt.

I can fly for free, my pops works for United... Hook it up blunt!

Seriously though, ship the car... I do not understand why people bother driving cars across the country. In the end it's usually cheaper to ship, much cheaper in fact... Think about all the wear and tare you put the car through when it is driven like that; also all the money wasted on gas, food, a place to rest, and so on. It's easily $1000+ and that's right in the ball park of shipping. My buddy just shipped a car for $700 from Cali to Chicago. You could not buy a plane ticket, and pay for the gas to drive it back for that sum.

[frolf]

Montana springs are unpredictable. I say go for it.

[blunttech]

I can fly for free, my pops works for United... Hook it up blunt!

Seriously though, ship the car... I do not understand why people bother driving cars across the country. In the end it's usually cheaper to ship, much cheaper in fact... Think about all the wear and tare you put the car through when it is driven like that; also all the money wasted on gas, food, a place to rest, and so on. It's easily $1000+ and that's right in the ball park of shipping. My buddy just shipped a car for $700 from Cali to Chicago. You could not buy a plane ticket, and pay for the gas to drive it back for that sum.

I fly free as well and can fly brandon free. Some of the best times Ive had is in cars Ive purchased and just got in and drove.