If there's ever proof of what a V8, 4lo, and a very good attitude can do, here it is.
Reddit user Shomegrown posted this on r/Cars yesterday under the headline "I paid it forward yesterday- pulled a massive semi out of some snow with my pickup!"
He went into more detail in the YouTube description.
Leaving the gym I came across a tanker truck which was stuck in some deep snow. He swung the cab over into an unplowed area with about 6" of hard snow and his super single drive tires just weren't getting traction. I was in my S4 at the time and told him I only lived about 10 minutes away and would come back with my truck. The truck driver was thankful but made it clear he didn't think a pickup would be able to pull him.
As promised I came back with the Dakota (and camera!) to see him still struggling. Plenty of people with trucks much larger than mine drove right on by, nobody seemed interested in helping this guy. As someone who has been helped before, I figured I'd at least give it a shot. Plus it'd be fun.
He went on to say exactly how it all went down.
With all the excitement, I forgot to lock it into 4lo on the first attempt. I don't think he was helping with the cab, you can see I was able to rock it a bit in 4Hi. On the second try in 4lo I had no problem yanking it out.
How heavy was that tanker truck? Seriously heavy, at least by his estimates.
The truck driver didn't know the weight of the truck as it sits. His full weight is 122,000 lbs (55,338 kg). This isn't your average semi truck, this thing was huge. I'm guessing it was 40,000 to 50,000 lbs empty.
He concluded with the specs of his Dodge.
The pickup is a 2000 Dodge Dakota SLT quad cab 4x4 4.7L V8. It's mostly stock. The rear axle is fully locking (Powertrax No-Slip) with 3.55 gears. Tires are 31 x 10.5 BFG TA KO's. The exhaust is an MBS catback stainless system.
After watching that Subaru pull a cop out of the snow and now this, I think it's safe to say that car and truck enthusiasts are some of the nicest, best drivers on the roads.