Traction Control

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Meat, Feb 22, 2021.


  1. Meat

    Meat Monkey+++

    E42E35F3-B659-4FC4-A4EA-D902CBDA9C5C. I’m a dummy but I figured it out. SUV’s evidently have a button when things get really gnarly. It has a vehicle with squiggly lines “identifying” it. I never saw any indication of changing the mode because I didn’t hold it down long enough, 3 seconds. After my episode I chatted to others that had no idea either, in fact I saw a WRX having big problems too and I’m positive he was in the wrong mode. It got me thinking about stranded peeps in the snow. I know this has happened and the outcome could be tragic, especially with the lack of preparation we see nationally. Pass it along and please excuse my ignorance. I’m more old school.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2021
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  2. Merkun

    Merkun furious dreamer

    Got one of those buttons. Owner's manual is no help at all.
     
  3. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Traction control means different things to different manufacturers, but typically consists of a combination of:

    Reducing engine output
    Changing gear
    Applying the brakes

    Personally, I'd prefer folks just learn how to drive in the first place...
     
  4. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    "traction control' uses the ABS system to drag the brake on the wheel that is spinning. WHich means if you live in AK, new brake pads every year. This is why I don't drive my Eurovan in the winter, pads/rotor and labor = $1K.

    On my KIa Soul, I can disable that 'feature' cause I run studded snow tires.in the winter

    Used to be you could get a limited slip diff. I guess that's history in the new cars.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2021
  5. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Couple years ago the wife got stuck in her '98 Cherokee.
    I got in and pulled the lever engaging the 4WD and slowly backed out of the situation without spinning a wheel.
    Said she forgot about using 4WD. But yes, I could see where people forget to or don't know how to use their vehicle's capabilities resulting in getting stuck or remaining anchored to the spot needlessly. Drivers need to get and stay familiar with their vehicles.
     
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  6. oil pan 4

    oil pan 4 Monkey+++

    Yeah when ever it snows, I turn the traction control off. Traction control can paralyze a vehicle in the snow and ice.
     
  7. Lancer

    Lancer TANSTAFL! Site Supporter+++

    Given the extended mud season we're having I've used it a lot recently: for Mud...
    It makes a huge difference.

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Ura-Ki

    Ura-Ki Grampa Monkey

    Brother and I were up on the mountain getting off our shift and heading home after a hard few weeks of grooming! Sitting there in my 46 Dodge Powerwagon we watched a younger couple get in their new Ford explorer and try to pull out of the parking spot next to us, to no avail! Rear Tires spinning, and the engine revving, and the "man" in the pair cursing, goddmit this is supposed to be a Four-wheel drive! My brother and I are almost rolling on the ground with laughter, my brother walks over to them asks if he can help, and the guy is a train wreck of imotions, brother leans in the driver's door and turns the knowb on the dash that says 4WD, and presto chango, now the couple have a working ( And still stuck) 4X4.
    I look over at my brother and smile, shift the trans into granny low, and idle forward over the YUGE pile of drifted and packed snow and out the other side! The guy is sitting there with his mouth open full of flies and cursing henry ford for living! My brother then gets in the driver's side and backs it out after rocking it back and forth a few times! No problems at all!
     
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  9. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Funny story about my Wife & FWD... When AlaskaChick & I were first married, our vehicle was my ‘55 Dodge. PowerWagon Panel Truck.. She worked in a three person Jewelry OEM and parked in the owners vacant lot next to the shop.. After a good rain it was a deep Mud hole... So she parks and it rains the whole day, HARD.. She comes out and the truck is buried up passed the Axles... She gets in and tries to move it but it just sits... So, I get a call from her, “HELP, The truck is stuck..”. i asked if she had tried the FWD, and s he said “What?”. I explained what the lever on the Floorboard did and then told her how to lock the Front Hubs, that were Lever/Cam type locking Systems... She went out and dug down to the hubs and locked them, and then climbed in, and the Old Beast popped right out.. She was a muddy mess when she got home, but just couldn’t get over how “Cool” FWD was.. We have had one FWD Vehicle ever since... and have NEVER been stuck, EVER...
     
  10. Homer Simpson

    Homer Simpson Monkey+++

    I love that they keep trying to make new vehicles idiot proof. Better idiots are being built every day! I'm good with it, all these new whiz bang vehicles afford me the budget to keep building old junk.
     
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  11. Altoidfishfins

    Altoidfishfins Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Bought new whiz-bang vehicles and they're fine. But keeping and repairing the old ones that are not so whiz bang because they work and as 4WD's they're more capable, however less fuel efficient.

    It's kind of like the lesson learned in Texas. Renewables are whiz-bang and fine. But you'd better back it up with old, and reliable, technology. I know that even the old tech failed, but it can be made to be reliable in all conditions
     
  12. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    I like my old junk as well. ;)

    120252494_3679712778715313_306648234175250344_o.
     
  13. Meat

    Meat Monkey+++

    Great truck. No button.
    SUV’s are pretty nice I have to say. My little 87 Honda commuter is still going strong though. It will go almost anywhere too, especially with the front end chained up.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2021
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  14. madmax

    madmax Far right. Bipolar. Veteran. Don't push me.

    After half a lifetime of trucks and Jeeps I was very sceptical when my wife brought home a Subaru Outback. All wheel drive. The first indication that it was a viable car was at the beach in sand. Drove right around a kid in a 4wd truck stuck down to his axles (4 wheeling technique had a lot to do with that one). The second wake up call was in a pretty heavy snow storm in western NC. It won't replace my old Jeep Scrambler. But I am pretty impressed. But both vehicles are TOO small. Give me my old F250 We can pile us, dogs, and camping gear and hit the woods. My older dog thinks that truck is his doghouse. LOL. He thinks he's King Tut in the middle of the front seat.
     
  15. Meat

    Meat Monkey+++

    This is what my Trail 90 is for. I’m still looking for that special someone to ride b@tch though. Lol. :D
     
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  16. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    I lived in the mountains of Big Bear Lake California and I grew up @ 14 years old driving my moms '55' Pontiac (2 wheel drive automatic) with bald ties and drove it in the snow every where and didn't get stuck.
    It is a matter of learning not to strip the gears. Think of the connection of your tires and the rod as gears and if your strip them you remove the traction, the more you strip them the worse it gets. And this is true whether the tires are new snow tires or old baldies.
    I have driven plenty of 4 wheel drive vehicles and never needed to engage them all, even pulling boats up an icy/snowy launch ramp. The tires in the water have the better traction so acceleration starts there, then as the vehicle is on the slippery part I let off the power a little at a time as I reach the top of the ramp. Works every time.
    If you have new snow tires and break traction on ice every time you leave a stop sign or signal the result is you remove the edge off the tread, reducing its effectiveness worse and worse with each take off. My wife took a while to learn to accelerate slowly, so to fix the tires we drove down to the desert to do our shopping and going over dry pavement helped sharpen the tires again, not as nice as new but improved.
    I also drove a 1958 3/4 ton cheve 2wd and I learned another trick.
    Off canter roads and the front end wanted to fallow the hill I'd loose control with standard snow tires in front and back, so I found some very narrow aggressive snow tires and put those on the front and completely altered the character of the truck on those turns like a slot car. Fat tires float on the ice, and narrow tires cut into the ice.
    I drove that 2WD truck other people in 4WD vehicles could not fallow.
     
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  17. Meat

    Meat Monkey+++

    My Ford Fairlane went almost everywhere too. What choice did I have? I will say I believe the snow in the PNW is a bit different than most. I plowed a lot of it and in some cases we were almost all screwed with our set up. The Motor Grader never was though.
     
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  18. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    One of the best small FWD Vehicles we ever owned was our Subaru Wagon... We brought it to Alaska when we moved up in ‘91 as our Town Car... Easy on the Gas and could go anywhere.. We sold it to a young Couple, in 2007, and I still see it around town, on occasion...
     
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  19. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    One of the most utterly useless cars ever made, was the Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch. The supreme POS! I let my Dad talk me into buying a new '79 Monarch. I literally hated that car from the night I bought it. A few years later, we had some snowfall in Norfolk, Va. I was trying to return to the navy base, and had to do a U-turn. There was a small patch of ice on the pavement. My rear tire got on it, and spun. I was stuck! Finally another driver was good enough to slowly push my POS off the ice. I made it in to work. I finally traded that crap car in once I owed less than it was worth on trade in.
     
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  20. Tempstar

    Tempstar Monkey+++

    I had a 1980 Granada Ghia, 302 and 4 speed. Well, 3 speed with overdrive. I put a 3:91 posi in the rear and a Weiand intake with a Holley 600. POS still didn't run that great, 5500# car with a smog motor. I stopped short of putting a cam in it and just sold it off. Oh, and forget about running in snow or mud.
     
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