4x4 driving questions/concerns

Hey, I was just pointing out the flaw in your statement. I can't have you spreading rumors and giving bad information to fellow TW members...

 

I have found the VSC effective, although it it contradicts what I expect the truck to do. I was trying to have some fun in the snow the other night (forgot to turn VSC off), dang thing kicked in and stopped a nice slide. It always suprises me, and then I have to re-react to what VSC is making the vehicle do. That is where I think it can create somewhat of a safety hazard, but overall I think it is an effective safety feature that works pretty well.

I was driving in snow through a neighborhood that has small roundabouts, and I found that you have to be careful in 4WD -- the front tires broke loose as I was lightly accelerating around the roundabout and sent me headed straight for the curb. VSC did nothing for me then (didn't kick in for that situation), but I was going pretty slow and I caught traction before rolling over a sapling. I blame that more on the crappy snow performance of the Rugged Fails, they don't clear wet snow very well.

 

Brady I have to say that is some of the worst advice I have ever heard about winter driving from someone who drives in the snow. While driving in a straight line in 4wd vs 2 the front tires will keep the the back ones from walking out on you, and it will keep the truck tracking straight. In 4wd you have all 4 tires stopping you when you apply engine braking, and in 4wd vs 2 while going through a turn the front drive wheels will help pull you through a turn.

 

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

kicks on at something like 30-40 MPH.

 

I would also like to add that you are either stupid or have never driven in the snow. It is a FACT that having 4wd gives you more control and keeps the vehicle driving straight and prevents it from sliding in slick conditions. As said earlier the front drive wheels will pull the vehicle along. Also, why do you think people put weight in the back of their truck? For traction, because in the winter weight = traction. So why do you think that the extra weight of 4x4 makes a truck worse than other vehicles in slick conditions, especially once you consider the fact that it has FOUR WHEEL FUCKING DRIVE?

 

Needs to be done once a month for 10 miles to lube seals. per owner manual.

 

X2

Driving in snow in 4wd makes my truck WAY more stable at any speed. In 2wd, I need to be on my toes at ALL speeds. I've been on the highway on a couple occasions when the road transitioned from fine to pretty damn icy in a matter of minutes. Trust me, suddenly dialling in opposite lock at 70mph while driving in a straight line is NOT fun, and would have been prevented with 4wd.

 

That is true if you just push the button , not push and hold for 3-5 seconds

 

Negative. It lurks @ 30 even when "fully disabled". No way to turn it off completely.

 

That's what I said , kinda

 

^^^

 

True. Part of "out of shape" is wheelspeed 30 mph.

 

My VSC engages due to my lift with VSC in normal mode and does not with VSC " off " , so sensitivity with it " off " is indeed greatly reduced

 

Yes. With the VSC off swith activated, the system is not fully disabled, It will intervene if yaw rate is large. WTF is that you ask? Basically if the truck is skidding sideways, VSC will intervene and attempt to control the vehicle--and it works!

The merits of VSC are, I think well established now, and Fed law in the U.S. now requires that new vehicles be sold with VSC or ESC (same thing, different acronyms.) NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that VSC systems are second only to safety belts in reducing fatalities on our nations roads. That's pretty f'n impressive!

My life saving experience from 2009:

Here is how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPxt6Pw00yA

All that said, for general 4x4'ing VSC should be disabled. But for highway speeds it's a life saver!

 

Like 90% of the cars on the road at autos now, who engines brakes? haha. In the winter I will stick to using my brake pedal to slow me down gradually rather than downshifting and hoping it doesn't lock up the tires on the slick surface.

You've got me on the 4wd keeping your backend from sliding out on you while driving straight, but if that happens you are likely driving too fast for conditions and are going to end up in the ditch on the next corner... so you are basically treating the 4wd as an invincible mode, when you should just be slowing down... That was the main post of my post, 4wd does not make you impervious to the weather...

Part of why I meantioned a rear driveshaft disconnect being pretty awesome. Front wheel drives perform amazingly at high speeds in slick conditions. That's why almost all cars and minivans are FWD now instead of RWD.

Adding weight to your bed will improve traction on your rear tires and helps with take off and such, but when it comes time to turn that extra weight is momentum and momentum resists change and will want to go straight. Most of my argument was how 4wd can cause issues with cornering and tenbeers gave an example of exactly what I was getting at. In his case the momentum and 4wd forcing a tire to slip while turning, caused his front tires to lose traction and he went straight instead of turning.

Generally I imagine the rear tires will usually slip in these conditions since there is more weight on the front tires, and having an open diff your other rear tire will keep you from sliding out on a corner when one is forced to slip, but in conditions where lateral traction is severally compromised on the rear tires (driving too fast for conditions), one of them slipping may be all it takes for your rear end to slide out on you on a corner...

I love using 4wd offroading. As you said it makes the truck handle better, but offroad I drive way more aggressively and take full benefit of the extra grip from the front end. On road I don't drive anything like that (usually) and only need the 4wd for taking off from a stop. I played around with all of this a lot this winter and just saw no benefit to using 4wd on road while moving unless I was driving in a manner that I shouldn't be driving in on road.





In conclusion, I am mainly saying 4wd is not an invincible switch!! If driving on raod is getting a little spooky in whatever condition you are driving in, you should be slowing down not shifting into 4wd.

 

It is amazing... on a rain slick road day like today, you take a curve too fast with an pickup, and the back end swings out (before VSC) and you counter steer and hope no other cars or obstacles are in your way. With VSC, the truck corrects the spin and and prevents it from happening.

Off road, yes the VSC thinks you are still on pavement when you are not and uneven traction and slippage is normal, yet we get the beep-beep-beep every now and then. However, to turn off the VSC is to also turn off TRAC... TRAC in H4 is four wheel drive traction control/ limited slip. I like TRAC in H4 as a big improvement to the truck's off road abilities over normal open differentials. So, I ignore the occasional triple beep of the VSC working when one tire leaves the ground or spins a bit faster than another.

 

VSC is great if your truck is not lifted or otherwise suffers from VSC over sensitivity , then it is more dangerous than without .

Having the traction control engage and being forced straight on into oncoming traffic because the truck thinks you are in a tail slide condition is far from safe albeit your own doing for messing with the factory suspension set up

 

Naturally that isn't what it is designed to do... If you modify your truck, then the VSC needs to be adjusted. There are many posts about that. The truck is great without a lift, so you will sacrifice things by going for that 'look' or more than the great factory ground clearance. I added 1/2" of ground clearance by simply changing to 32" tires, that need no lift to fit (265/75-16)... 9 3/4" up from 9 1/4" at my rear differential.