So I have always owned a long wheel base vehicle with power steering. This is the second year I have owned my 7/70 fj40. And I have noticed I work a lot harder steering my rig though the snow. Now is this because I don't have power steering to "fight" any resistance that I encounter. Or is that what the steering stabilizer is designed to counter act? Maybe this is what is expected from driving this type of vehicle and I am not use to it yet. Any input?
Driving in the snow (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Bigcity25
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I agree.. I have a super duty F350 Ford super cab and an 81 Bj42. Night and day driving each... the 42 always feels like the ass end is trying to pass me an I am probably the most alert driver on the hwy as although it tracks very true any wind wants to take me where it is going....and on black ice I feel I have no control at all. The F350 'will do anything I ask of it on snow or ice... I just have to make sure I have an acre and a half or so if I decide to turn around....
I have a 44 which is a bit longer wheelbase. Till last winter I drove a nissan patrol- the nissan equivalent of a 60 series. The patrol is of course much longer and has a wider track. More importantly it is much heavier. Totally different. First I thought that manual steering would be fine on the 44. I had in in my 65 gmc back in Southern New England- no problem. Driving the 44 I almost lost my thumbs when the wheel caught in some mealy half melted heavy stuff while driving in reverse. If I hit a snow on one side of the road with the patrol it just mushes on thru it. the 44 will go into a spin much more easily. I also made the mistake of lifting my foot from the gas pedal when this happens. Now I basically work the wheel hard away of the drift and floor it and it keeps the truck straight. Counter intuitive but it does the trick. I am putting power steering in my 40 so there is less "fight" involved when I get into a snow bank on the side of the road or really slushy stuff.
Also on my truck the rear brake bias is perfect for a half ton load. On ice or snow with no payload the rear locks up in a heart beat and will start to some around.I must say that driving laden the truck deals with snow much better. Try throwing 4 bags of sand behind the front seats and see if that helps. Wide tires on a light truck also make things way worse. I go for stock width tires for winter-tall and skinny.
Pete
Also on my truck the rear brake bias is perfect for a half ton load. On ice or snow with no payload the rear locks up in a heart beat and will start to some around.I must say that driving laden the truck deals with snow much better. Try throwing 4 bags of sand behind the front seats and see if that helps. Wide tires on a light truck also make things way worse. I go for stock width tires for winter-tall and skinny.
Pete
- Thread starter
- #5
Ok that's what I have been experiencing. Hit something deep with one front tire and it turns the wheel. Hence the "fight" I noticed. Just wonder if power steering will help that issue.
And also shorter wheel base is squirrel y in general. Just a learning curve I assume. But there's a good reason to tell the boss (my wife) why I need to buy something else.
And also shorter wheel base is squirrel y in general. Just a learning curve I assume. But there's a good reason to tell the boss (my wife) why I need to buy something else.
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All depends on the snow. My 40 loves fresh pow but hates rutted up hard pack.
A few thoughts, based on 50+ years of pushing through the white stuff. Skinny tires rule. Ditch your mudders, and your wide tires for the season. They have their place but it isn't in powder or ice. Slow down, just like everyone else should do. And sometimes 4WD just means you can do a better job of getting stuck.
x2 on the fresh vs rutted. Going out in fresh and returning on the same road- even there it feels less stable.
We just got buried for 2 weeks straight- daily/nightly snow fall and they do not salt the roads here. Night time is frozen slushy ruts and day time we get the slick white sheets on the bigger roads. A little sun and it gets slick as can be pretty quick. I have to pay so much more attention to the snow condition when driving the 44 than when I drive the patrol.
What size tall and skinnies are you guys running in the snow? I like 215/85 or so. My 235/85's did alright but didn't dig as well as the 215's and I can fit chains with the 215's without concern of hitting the body with them (no lift stock wheels.)
Ed what tires ya got there? Nice looking pattern. What is the load range?
Pete
We just got buried for 2 weeks straight- daily/nightly snow fall and they do not salt the roads here. Night time is frozen slushy ruts and day time we get the slick white sheets on the bigger roads. A little sun and it gets slick as can be pretty quick. I have to pay so much more attention to the snow condition when driving the 44 than when I drive the patrol.
What size tall and skinnies are you guys running in the snow? I like 215/85 or so. My 235/85's did alright but didn't dig as well as the 215's and I can fit chains with the 215's without concern of hitting the body with them (no lift stock wheels.)
Ed what tires ya got there? Nice looking pattern. What is the load range?
Pete
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These photos are from a couple of Christmas' ago.
Our problem locally is that we often get snow and ice in layers. My FJ40 is parked on top of a few inches of snow and ice. It's parked on at least six inches of hard packed snow in the driveway, and we got more on top of it. The curb no longer shows. Slick, but not bad as long as it doesn't get rutted. Once rutted, it's difficult to drive out of, as the sides of the ruts become slippery wet ice. You have to stop, crank the wheel hard over, and goose the throttle to drive out of them, and the front tires might skid a few feet first. Finally threw in the towel and bought another set of chains for the front tires to aid with steering in ruts. Ever price heavy truck chains for 33x1250 tires? Yikes.
Never had much problem with manual steering except when barely moving on dry pavement. And yeah, learned long ago and far away to never stick fingers through the inside of a steering wheel on a vehicle without power steering. The only thing I don't like about power steering is the lack of it if the engine dies. Maybe some day the FJ40 will get an upgrade, but frankly it barely sees 1000 to 1200 miles per year. Not really worth the effort.
Would rather run tall skinny tires, like 33x1050. But even though these tires are at least seven years old, they're still like new. I had them siped and will run them until they wear out. Which I figure will be around the year 2040, if I should live that long. By then the greenies will have either banned gasoline or it will cost $50 or more a gallon. Siping the tires really helped, though I'd rather run skinny studded tires. For now siping and carrying chains works.
The white blob in the foreground is the wife's RAV4. We ran around only in the FJ40 once it got bad. The FJ40 was the only rig that was able to get to my mother-in-law's ranch. Everything else got stuck, including a Tahoe that wound up in the ditch. It was so slick between my sister-in-law's house and the ranch that it took me an hour and a half to do the six mile round trip. Was barely off idle in 4-lo the whole way. No margin for error because part of the trip was on a narrow one lane road carved into steep hillsides.
BTW, speaking of the feeling the rear end will come around on you.... I've never had that with long wheelbase vehicles, but while running fast on gravel, when the FJ40 (or my son's Bronco II) hits washboard, the rear does try to come around. Have to get off the gas quickly and let it settle down.
Even with 33x10.50x15 BFG A/Ts, my troopy (114" wheel base) is great in the snow - packed or fresh. Even before it had power steering, it was fine.
My '83 FJ40 was decent in the snow with tall skinnies, but I nearly killed myself when I put a set of 32x11.50x15 Dunlop mud terrains on it. I was on Mt. Hood with it in a fresh 3' snowfall and it was terrifying. I was OK in the fresh stuff but the hard pack stuff was like ice. I've never bought Dunlops since. I sold them immediately and bought another set of BFG A/Ts for her and she was just fine in the snow. I grew up in Boulder, Co. driving Cruisers with studded snows and they always got me where ever I needed to go.
I had power steering on my '83, but I think the moral of the story from the above and from my experience is that the tires make all teh difference. Wheelbase helps, but even a short wheel base does fine with decent sneakers. Unless you put a limited slip in the back like I did in my 40... that's another story. Let's just say that I now only use selectable lockers....
Josh
My '83 FJ40 was decent in the snow with tall skinnies, but I nearly killed myself when I put a set of 32x11.50x15 Dunlop mud terrains on it. I was on Mt. Hood with it in a fresh 3' snowfall and it was terrifying. I was OK in the fresh stuff but the hard pack stuff was like ice. I've never bought Dunlops since. I sold them immediately and bought another set of BFG A/Ts for her and she was just fine in the snow. I grew up in Boulder, Co. driving Cruisers with studded snows and they always got me where ever I needed to go.
I had power steering on my '83, but I think the moral of the story from the above and from my experience is that the tires make all teh difference. Wheelbase helps, but even a short wheel base does fine with decent sneakers. Unless you put a limited slip in the back like I did in my 40... that's another story. Let's just say that I now only use selectable lockers....
Josh
I can vouch for locker issues on slick conditions, spent 20+ miles literally sideways at 40mph in only 2-3" of slush on the interstate. The locker just made both wheels want to spin slightly and the drag on the front wheels from the slush made her sit sideways. Odd feeling, but I got there and back . ARB's are the only way to go !
Sarge
Sarge
