Fishtailing tacoma in the snow

Do you know how hard that is to do when all four wheels are on different surfaces ? Wheels are ALWAYS ON DIFFERENT SURFACES and/ or have different coefficient of friction. It’s impossible. My tractor has a brake for each of the rear two wheels....does your car ?
Well, only it it has abs. No driver can brake one wheel completely while on a bare hard surface allowing the others to pulsate while on ice....

 

When a drive train is LOCKED, it’s much harder for the abs system to work properly front . I have an OR. When the rear DIFf is locked, the abs is deactivated. When A Trac is engaged, it only works on the front wheels and then, only from side to side.
The newer trucks are no different. Abs does not work well when systems are locked. That’s why awd vehicles are much safer at higher speeds on slippery surfaces.

My 04 4 runner had the awd feature. It was much more forgiving at higher speeds then locking everything up. The abs worked fully in that mode. The Taco does not have that option. The Colorado does. That steels a few potential buyers.

 

Safe Braking on snow or ice is MUCH MORE dependent on your tires grip on the road surface then ANYTHING else. 2 wheels, 4 wheels, or 18 wheels, it means BUPKIS if you are sliding...

 

Well, yes, agree.
The problem is, bald tires brake better on dry pavement but are useless anywhere else. Also, no matter how hard you try, it’s impossible to keep the coefficient of friction the same for all tires. Abs system and good tires for the situation enhance the performance of each. All commercial airlines use abs like systems. They have the best tires too.

 

Nothing that you said here makes any sense and is irrelevant. The guy said that 4hi is unsafe at highway speeds and that you should stay in 2wd unless you get stuck and that 4wd is not meant for snow. My post was in regards to a 4wd Tacoma. It has nothing to do with other vehicles and your irrelevant words.

 

“4hi is perfect for highway speeds.”
. Not in any vehicle, Tacoma or any other. “ perfect” ?
The faster you go, the more problematic it becomes, on any surface.
Just because you can drive in snow in 4 high at highway speeds (. 65) doesn’t mean you should.

 

[

From the experts on off roading It’s worth reading.

http://www.rubicon-trail.com/4WD101/how-fast-4WD-AWD.html

 

Nah that “article” is stupid also. That should be titled 4wd for people who have never driven anything other than 2wd. You will not cause mechanical damage to your Tacoma if you drive on dry pavement in 4hi. If you are turning and driving in the city, obviously 4wd will cause damage. But like that article says “driving in part time 4wd on dry pavement will cause damage” that’s not true. In fact, the owners manual says to drive 10 miles a month in 4wd to keep mechanical parts working properly. But you feel free to never use 4wd, it doesn’t hurt my feelings.

 

Obviously you should drive to conditions. That’s not what the conversation was about.

 

Please read the article. They publish relevant experience.....abs doesn’t function well in 4 hi. There is nothing about driving on dry pavement in this discussion. I don’t know why you’re commenting on off topic situations.

 

the faster you drive in 4 hi, the more problematic it becomes on any surface. Abs DOES NOT FUNCTION WELL IN 4hi.
My OR even shuts it off, front to back. They all do.

 

I gave you one professional opinion on the proper use of 4 hi.
You’ll find NOTHING else to the contrary.

 

Please explain why high performance AWD cars such as the Subaru WRX STI have a locking center differential for slick conditions and why AWD rally cars have locking center differentials or no center differential?
I run my truck in 4WD all the time in snow and have not noticed any understeer at any speed. The powered front wheels overcome understeer.

 

Just an observation...after spending MANY years driving a semi cross-country, I noticed that almost anywhere I happened to be when the first significant snowfall would hit, the majority of the vehicles in the median or in the ditches after having spun out on slick roads seemed to be either 4X4 pickups, or SUVs. Take that for what you will...

I suspect that it was from people thinking "I've got 4 wheel drive, so I can go as fast as I like." Well, no, you can't, because once you break traction, you're gonna slide.

As I said... just an observation...

 

Yep. As a side note, how many of them were dodge half tons? I have a theory that people with them drive like aholes i developed that theory during my last week long hunting trip in omg slick conditions. Every dodge on the road passed us hauling ass, and we found every one in a ditch within a mile. But the first few days of winter was non stop wrecks, and yep, mostly 4wd. It's easier to get going in 4, easier took control in 4, makes people over confident. So wrecks, and blowing stop lights with all 4 locked. I wrote Lots of speed for condition tickets.

Being that the current conversation is soooooooo far from the original question, and so much bad info has already been disrupted I'm moving on

 

All im trying to say in the above statement is that ice has a coeffecient of friction and it differs so little in the track width of our trucks that it is going to act like it has the same coefficient on all 4 wheels. Also if you are on ice during the entire stop, your truck is on the same surface. This means that it is not as hard as you say it is to stop without locking up. This technique is called "threshold braking" and it is faster than older abs systems like ours.

 

I wouldn't classify Harald (author of said article) as a professional and there is contrary out there. Driving in 4hi is only ever a problem when making a turn and is better than not having 4 hi on snow because your front wheels lead and pull you around the turn. My final statement on here is that ABS IS NOT PERFECT it has its problems for slowing down, even though it is faster than locking wheels, in our trucks, it is slower than threshold braking.

 

Yeah, I finally found the correct term for it.

 

When 4wd is not engaged its rear wheel drive

 

Well,at last you get the point......
Making sudden directional changes at higher speeds in 4 hi on slippery surfaces is very concerning. That’s the whole idea. Your abs can’t function well and your front and read wheels travel at the same speed which can easily put you into a skid. You’re better off in 2 wd If you make sudden change of direction.
Driving in a straight line while accelerating is the only advantage to powering the front wheels at all in slippery conditions. Any turning whatsoever, the wheels need to travel at different speeds.

Btw, you have never addressed the point that it’s impossible to brake or steer wheels with different rotational speeds independently while in full lock.