Winter Breakdown Help at the Continental Divide on I-40
If you drive I-40 between Gallup and Grants in winter, the Continental Divide crossing near Exit 47 is the stretch to respect. It's high — over 7,000 feet — and it's exposed, with nothing to block the wind. The weather up there can turn on you in minutes: clear road one mile, snow squall and black ice the next. When it does, American Muffler & Towing runs roadside assistance and towing along this corridor, 24/7.
Why the Divide is different
Down in Gallup it might be dry and calm. Climb to the Divide and you're in another world. The elevation means colder temperatures and snow that sticks after town has thawed. High wind pushes drifting snow across the lanes and shoves high-profile vehicles around. And the black ice — the kind you can't see — forms on that shaded, wind-scoured pavement when everything else looks fine.
Two things happen most up there in the cold: vehicles won't start, and vehicles slide off.
If your vehicle won't start in the cold
Cold is hard on batteries. A battery that cranked fine in town can give up at the top of the Divide after sitting through a freezing night or a long stop.
If you're stranded and it won't turn over:
- Stay in the vehicle where it's warm and out of the wind
- Run the engine only if the exhaust pipe is clear of snow, and crack a window
- Call for a jump start — we'll come to you on the shoulder
If you slide off or get stuck
If you lose it on the ice and end up off the road, the first job isn't the vehicle — it's you.
- Get as far from moving traffic as you safely can
- Turn on your hazards and, if you have them, set out flares or reflectors
- Stay buckled if you're still near the lanes, in case you're bumped
- Then call, and we'll send a truck for a towing or a winch-out
Give the dispatcher your direction of travel — eastbound or westbound — and the last exit you passed. On a long, featureless stretch like the Divide, that's what gets us to you fastest.
What to keep in your car all winter
You don't need a survival kit the size of a suitcase, but a few things make a cold breakdown up here a lot easier:
- Warm layers, a blanket, a hat and gloves
- Water and a couple of snacks
- A charged phone and a backup power bank
- Sand or cat litter for traction, and a small shovel
- A flashlight and jumper cables
The single best habit for winter on the Divide: keep your fuel tank at least half full. Fuel keeps the engine — and you — running if you get stopped for a while.
A local shop that knows this road
We've been family-owned in Gallup since 2012, and we run this corridor in every kind of weather. We quote every job up front, so even on the worst winter night you'll know the price before we hook up.
If winter catches you at the Continental Divide, call American Muffler & Towing at (505) 863-5990. The tow line answers 24/7 — a real person, every time.