2011 Access Cab goes out of control on gravel roads!

I was just wondering if it calmed down with some weight in the bed.

 

WCX

 

Thanks for asking, but don't know yet. Will start stepping through everything tomorrow. Tried to get tires today, but it just snowed here so tires all gone till Monday.

 

Throwing my 2 cents in the tire basket. The stock tires on these trucks are a joke. I drove exactly ONCE in the rain with them and I was on tire rack ordering new ones as soon as I got home.

 

Okay-my 2 cents... I had a ranger that would periodically send me to the ditch on gravel roads... sounds familiar??? In the end the ring had shed a tooth and it would every once in a while bind up the rear end-4 wheel, 2 wheel same outcome... eventually I wadded up the drive shaft and drove home on the front wheels. This sounds similar... I would check the rear end.

Pat

 

Pickup trucks in general are notorious for losing track easily at high speeds on loose gravel

 

True, but off throttle they usually step back in line, so to speak. OP hasn't had this issue with other similar vehicles on the same roads.

 

Thanks guys. These tires are probably worse than OEM. Bought this truck from a dealer (first time in my life for any kind of dealer) and it had 100k, so I think they put cheapest tires they could get it out the door.

They have 25% tread so I thought I’d get a month or two more - not worth the chance now.

I do wonder what type of dirt road everyone has mentioned, as speed keeps coming up. Our roads are 30 to 40 ft wide. The speed limit is 40mph and most drivers do it at 50-60 mph. Don’t see pu’s off the road less it’s solid ice. I grew up on Midwest gravel roads 1.5 cars wide; these are highways by comparison.

 

well based on that picture, that would lead me to believe it could be tires, could you drop a picture of your tires in the thread?

 

Can do that when daylight comes. Would like folks to understand they were 25% when this started 6 months ago! Not so much now, but still though I could get a month before snow flies

 

25% would mean you have 8/32 left which is not bad, but if that was 6 months ago then you are likely down to more like 5/32 or so depending on the tire.
this might just be what's causing your problems!

 

That sounds like a vehicle stability control problem, if it's not mechanical. When we had some packed snow this last year, I was going to town and tried to get the truck a little sideways. My VSC kicked in and straightened me right out. It was crazy how well it worked.
What you're experiencing isn't normal. I would try and have someone posted by the side of the road videoing and replicate the action. Maybe you'll see something abnormal with respect to the rear end or wheel spin??

 

Thanks for the advice. Obviously I’ve pushed the tires too far. It was doing it 6 months ago though when I had the 25%. I just thought I hadn’t learned how it handled and I was mostly driving my 98. 2011 is way different than a supercharged 98 extended cab. I’m thinking those mentioning the backend’s light (or ratio of front to back weight? is different) are on to something and the tire were shitty and are now worn out. My bad! Will have the new ones installed Monday. Will check on all the good ideas posted here, but can’t test it till we get moisture again. We don’t get much here. Or till they scrape up the gravel again. Thanks to all!

 

Could film it if can induce the behavior when I want to. I’ll try when I’ve got lots of room.

Reminds me of when I drove up Mt. Tayler in NM in an old Hilux. 4” of snow.Reached a point to turn it around. Backed off the road to turn and put it in 4 wheel. Wouldn’t move. Tried rocks, logs, shoveling, etc but no luck. My 6 yr old son was watching all this, calmly throwing rocks in a puddle. Finally he walked up to the truck and said: Dad, if this is a 4wd, why aren’t the front wheels turning? I had taken it out of 4wd when I thought I was putting it in. Easy to get out then!

 

Looks like quite a bit of washboard road. Poor suspension & or tires will cause a loss of control fairly quickly.

 

I still think it’s something to do with a problem in the traction or stability control system. But if you are dealing with “washboard “ dirt roads then the shocks could be the problem. Years ago I had a 4x4 truck with extra heavy duty stiff suspension but the shocks were totally wore out. On washboard dirt roads over 20 mph you couldn’t control the truck. I almost wrecked several times. Got new shocks and problem resolved.
Could be tires too. Since you are soon to replace them we should know shortly if that is the problem roblem.

 

Well, don’t have to worry about handling for a while.

 

damn!

 

Although it's not a great pic, the tires look to be toast and if so, why would one "push the envelope" with poor road conditions?....