Dissapointed in my cruisers snow prowesslessness- how to improve. (1 Viewer)

[peteinjp]

Well I've been driving a nissan safari (patrol) for 5 winters now with 215/80 snow tires Its so stable. Brush a snow bank on the side of the road and it just busts through with a little steering correction. Well the bj44 gets pulled around like no bodies business. For example- changing lanes on the highway when I cross over to the other lane I get pulled around big time by the snow between the lanes. Off the highway if I get into an area with ruts in the slush etc I have to be ready to do some serious steering work to keep the front end-- well- in front. Also since the wheel base is more narrow than other 4x4's I find that the truck is constantly pulled left and right as one wheel is always in the beaten path and one on untouched snow. Its a lot of work to keep the thing straight- so I just have to keep it really slow.

Of course the safari is heavier and has a longer wheel base and that plus the extra weight makes all the difference.

What I'm wondering is how can I improve the land cruiser. Since the land cruiser has is much lighter than the Safari I'm wondering if I would not be better off with an even skinnier tire than the 225/80 15's. Now just to be clear- I'm not talking about trail driving. I'm talking about getting the kids to school and back- So flotation is not needed. The tire tire that gets in the deeper stuff is slowing down that side of the car- enough that it did cause me to spin and slide into a wall- (nothing major- I needed a new fender anyway-ha.) I'm thinking of getting a set of 7.00 r16 8ply bridgestone snow tires- its just about the only size that I can find that is actually skinny (9.5" is not skinny btw.)

Also I'm wondering how much of a difference power steering makes in terms of dealing with snowy roads. It seems that it might make it less of a big deal to make corrections when Iget pulled around. I'd like to hear others experiences in terms of driving the cruiser on snowy roads.


Best,

Pete

 

[DSRTRDR]

I noticed a definite improvement going from 12.5 to 10.5 wide tires of the same type - it eliminated most of my truck's wandering

why power steering should make a difference while your truck slides is not clear to me - I mean, it slides because you lost the traction for any steering

 

[peteinjp]

Well- the thing is that basically I have to work against any rut or bump in the snow. The other day coming home I got to an intersection where the snow was choppy due to cars having driving thru with random paths. As soon as I hit it I was steering right- then left then right etc. and I had to work hard to keep the truck straight. These were not just little inputs at the wheel- I had to pull to keep it straight. Kinda like when your driving over river rocks you know how you the steering wheel gets pulled around- but with the possibility of spinning out.

I'm looking into a set of 205/85 winter snow tires. Hows that for skinny? Comes out to 30x8".

 

[1969cruiser]

Move to Southern Utah. We have no problems with snow down here on any size tire.

 

[peteinjp]

Originally from Texas- no problems in Austin either! Toyama- that is another story. Snow every day for 2 weeks now. Its only fun when I'm driving.

Guess I should get around to learning to ski.....

Pete

 

[Dieseler]

I have 9.5x33 on my 44 and have had little to no issues with snow driving.

PS add your location and a avatar pic

 

[JohnnyC]

Pete I do alot of snow driving...quite a bit right now even

I noticed a difference when i went to PS mainly because at the same time i put a HD steering stabilizer with my stock one and took care of all the slop in the steering...big help.

pete i cant remember...do you have a lift? does it wander onroad normally? Correct caster angle for front axle?

I run 255/85r16 cooper discover tires...tall and skinny as were my toyo m-55's before them...and both come studable

 

[shelfboy1]

i run 38s and soa and my 40 doesnt do that maybey its the weight of the plow and pto winch on the front .still have manual steering but used a minitruck steering arm and relay rod so all the extra lincage is gone.i remember those days when that was unerving and people would think you were gonna hit them,oh what a feeling.

 

[peteinjp]

I have no lift. I went out tonight in the safari again now that it has brakes. It was a little more likely to follow ruts and stuff than when I drove it last. I felt less in control than usual even in that truck. I think another part of the equation is that it is colder than I am used to. The snow gets half melted in the day then it goes down to -10C or so at night. They do not use salt here.

Johnny- the stabilizer could be a good idea. The one on there is the original. Not sure how much help it is at this point.



At any rate I'm looking to make it better than it is in the snow. The 225 tire is about 2 inches wider than the tire the truck came with originally. I'm thinking there may have been a reason the original tires were so skinny. Anyhow- anyone running a true 7.00" or 7.50" tire in the snow?


Pete

 

[cmiller114]

Get one one these:

 

[boxxer]

Get one one these:

What is that? Stretched body? what frame/suspension is that from?

 

[cjgoode]

You cannot really compare a along wheel base vehicle like the nissan to a short wheel base vehicle like the fj40. Get a cj5 and drive it for a while then drive the fj40 and you will love the longer wheel base of the fj40. In high school when I lived up north we drive the fj40 in all sorts of snow, they did very well, but did not handle nearly as nice as our Toyota pickups.

 

[cmiller114]

It's a modified FJ40 from Iceland.....they know snow!

4x4 Toyota Iceland

 

[CruiserStuff]

I plow snow with an FJ40 and usually run tires that are 9.5 to 10.5 inches wide and have no problems.

There are many types of snow and some are more likely to cause the "pull" that you are describing and some types will require more work to keep the rig going in a straight line as you drive through it.

I recently added mini-truck power steering to my rig and love it.....it does make it far less work to drive in tough conditions.

I will add, however, that you may want to see what portions/parts of your steering might have slop in them and correct/replace them. Any slop is magnified in the conditions you are describing.....

 

[peteinjp]

Well I have been driving both in the snow regularly now just to compare and yes the safari wins for stability and ease of use- but the landcruiser (mine is a bj44 BTW so the wheel base just a bit longer than a 40) is just fine. I think it would actually do better with a skinnier tire but with the tires (225's) I have there is no problem. I just have to keep the speed down lower than I would in the safari.

I think I'll put the 225's on the safari next year and get a set of 7.00 r16 snow tires for the bj44.

It turns out that temperature is indeed lower than it was in previous years and this is a huge factor as the snow is re-freezing. The safari breaks this stuff up better probably due to its weight.

Power steering I think would be a good mod simply because the ratio change would mean I would not have to make huge inputs right left right etc. Until now I kinda figured I would not do that mod but now I'm considering it. There is an 40 series RHD box/pump etc up for auction right now....

The tie rods etc are original. The seem to actually be in pretty good shape but honestly I have not really checked carefully. I'll check it out.


Thanks for the replies-


Pete

 

[CruiserStuff]

The "huge inputs right left right etc." could be attributed to worn steering components. Check the tie rod ends, but also the center arm. Have someone turn the wheel back and forth to see where the slop is coming from. "Tight" manual steering is pretty responsive....the people who rebuild or replace worn TRE's and center arm are usually very surprised by the difference in handling.