Poor 100 snow+ice handling. (3 Viewers)

[1loudLX]

ats4x4dotcom....are you supporting my thoughts of driving my 100 like a WRC Rally car when its snowing? Thank you finally someone is on my side when i decide to get it slideways in the snow.

When you force the 100 to break traction, you still have a pretty good control over the vehicle, very much more so over the other cars ive driven, including heeps and and fwd enconoboxes.

The only other car ive driven in the snow that can compete with the LX was the 911, but thick powder and i was pretty screwed.

Any thoughts?

You must be insane for endangering 6 children! jk

Lock the center diff and have at it. you should have seen what i did the otherday withOUT the diff locked...i made it break traction so much, TRAC/VSC couldnt even do anything! Was awesome.




Does anyone know how to countersteer and use the throttle to control the truck in snowy conditions? With just a little finese, you can really do some amazing things in the snow with the 100.

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

Interesting thread; one question however, can you disable ABS on a 2000?

Also I had six kids; part of my soccer team with me yesterday & when we pulled into the fair grounds they begged for some donuts; so I headed into the empty lot & started a hard turn & finally got the rear to break loose as the ATC started beeping away, but the scary thing is as I let off in one of the turns the truck felt like the rear was a sling shoot & kept breaking out. Fun for the kids, but felt a little nerve racking to me.

Conditions were 4-5" snow with a 1/2 crust of hard ice pack-virgin terrain. No lock.

Any thoughts?

That's not ABS or A-TRAC kicking in. It's VSC. VSC is only disabled with the CDL locked. I'd not do it. VSC saved us from crashing and rolling last Sunday.

 

[1loudLX]

VSC saved us from crashing and rolling last Sunday.

What happened? Was it in the snow?

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

What happened? Was it in the snow?

Yesterday, Becky and I had our first TRUE TO LIFE experience regarding this issue.

We had finished our trail run and reached the main dirt road (one that I had not been on before). We were running late so I was moving. Bad boy.....at about 50MPH. Ahead in the road I noticed a slight dip followed by a big rise. I hit the brakes to slow, the 100 tracked stright UNTIL we were launched airborn by the dip. The danger factor was that the dip was "cross cut" so we were airborn in a "twisted" direction......we landed at about 30* heading for the ditch on the other side of the road. We knew one of two things would happen:

1. In my 80 we would have went off the road into the ditch at an angle then launched up the hillside at 40MPH and probably rolled due to the terrain, the angle and the speed.

2. In the 100 yesterday, the second we landed at that angle, VSC kicked in and straightened the thing out in an instant. We entered the ditch straight, coasted in it until we slowed and I could re-enter the road.

So, I was in error because I missed the dip and was going to fast. Other than that my driving was spot on. I don't see ever driving out of that airborn landing without the VSC...80 or 100 Hail to the 100! I thought we were going to wipe out. We didn't.

And by the way....if we were in the 80 I'd a never been going 50MPH in the first place. Maybe it's safer after all.

 

[cruiserheadrat]

And they don't do donuts worth a damn either, but not going to trade mine off. My last cruiser was a 64 fj40, which ment carhart insulated coveralls standard wear in the winter and a razor blade wall paper scraper on the passangers seat for a defroster. It would go damn near any place within reason, it was winched, but creature comforts forget it.

 

[LXPearl]

My first thought on reading the thread was that the 100 Pskhaat was driving did not have TRAC, because my experience has been different. I spend last week in MD with the snow/ice storm and never did loose traction even in glaze ice. I had one occassion when ABS kicked in because a driver pulled over right in front of me and I had to hit the brakes - stopped straight and quick. I did not have time to get into the Blue Ridge Mtns to try out some icy roads this year, but in the past have always been impressed with the stability and sure footedness of the 100.

 

[r3run33]

hello all all i can say is the newer models with the trac etc are great! Just got back from vermt with all the snow and the vehl handled great. Our friend recmded chains which i got but never had to use; his drive way (unpaved) is about1/4mile lots of ruts but the lx handled everything! I had trouble stopping several time on the mush and ice but with proper steerng and throtle control it was not problem; I was the biggest complainer about my 06 with quality problems but this is the best 4x4 out there. i have not driven the new range rover in snow or off road but would venture to say it may be close. My friend has an expedition which has a lift and studded snow tires; mine still has the crappy fact tires which i think are street only the only problem from the trip a branch fell onto my hood and the kids tried to help so they pulled the big branch off and it scratched the hood a bit not really deep (you cant feel it if you run your fingers over it just see it) any suggestiongs how to get it off? rubbing compound maybe??

 

[raleigh_bronco]

ats4x4dotcom....are you supporting my thoughts of driving my 100 like a WRC Rally car when its snowing? Thank you finally someone is on my side when i decide to get it slideways in the snow.

Does Tokyo Drift come to mind?

 

[SWUtah]

the only problem from the trip a branch fell onto my hood and the kids tried to help so they pulled the big branch off and it scratched the hood a bit not really deep (you cant feel it if you run your fingers over it just see it) any suggestiongs how to get it off? rubbing compound maybe??

Take it to a professional detail shop and let them fix it. Unless you know what your doing you can cause more problem then you fix.

 

[SamoL]

Interesting thread; one question however, can you disable ABS on a 2000?

No. But if you use the search button and if you have some do-it-yourself skills it's quite easy.

I didn't think I need it either. Then once I was unable to brake on gravell piste and went airborne after driving over the obstacle....

Regards
Samo

 

[tech_dog]

I took my 06 to Yosemite and Tahoe, and thought it did exceptionally well on the snow and ice.

In one case I was rounding a blind curve, needed to turn to the inside of the curve for a driveway, and hit a patch of ice as I was braking and turning.

The TRAC fired off, did it's job, and I proceeded in the chosen direction. I was impressed.

T.

 

[ats4x4dotcom]

WRC style for sure, but it takes some skill, and knowing when your past the point of no return when you chuck it in, and the speed you carry means you dont just spin, but spear off the road, if you get it wrong.


To do good donuts, you need centre diff lock out, and rear locker in

 

[bcripe]

I have driven my 99 extensively on snow and ice covered roads. The stock tires were crap. But then I bought another set of wheels and some nokian studded Hakkapeliitta LT's. Wow, what a tire! On corners that I used to have to slow up on in my 4runner with VCS, no problem in the 100!

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

In my 100 with new cooper M+S tires, which I am going to run the year around, I usually get good control. A few weeks ago when I came to a stop sign, I realized that the road had sleek ice on it. My vehicle slipped for a good ten meters before it began stopping. Lighter vehicles slipped less, but every single vehicle did slip.

Unless you have studs or chains, if it is sleek ice, I do not think you can stop, if there is no traction that any of the wheels can get. It was around -30 with windchill that day, and no snow at all - just ice.

 

[Surfy]

I`m waiting on my (285/70 17's) 33" Cooper STT, ARB Bar, Kaymar Bar - the whole stuff is delayed for 2 Months

So i drive stock with stock tyres in the starting winter - here in Switzerland.

The last two days we have a lot of new snow, and i drove with normal tyre pressure.

The car feels like he has Winter tyres, great ride & performance. Better Experience than in my Nissan GT-R with Wintertyres and too 4x4.

I dont try to slide/drift, but tryout hillclimbing in Snow and so on. With this experience with my 200er, i dont would think about winter tyres. Maybee it comes a need, when i got my Cooper STT...

 

[patrickfinley]

I've had quite the opposite experience on the snow. It could be contributed to the fact that I have an 04 which has a 5 speed and ATRAC/VSC. On the decent, 5 speeds give me a greater range to slow the vehicle without braking. Then with ATRAC/VSC it helps bring me in line when things start to spin. I've been quite happy with it's snow performance, I don't have winter tires but Michelin LTX MS.

It handles much better than my 2000 4runner in the snow which did not have ATRAC/VSC.

That being said, ice is ice, no vehicle can do much on a patch of solid ice.

 

[Pskhaat]

I found this to be only applicable to the 98 & 99s. My 2004 does NOT exhibit the same behavior, and I do attribute this to ATRAC modulation in said situation.

 

[marshotel]

The title of this thread is misleading.

My 2000 LC is awesome in the snow and ice.

Cooper M+S siped tires with ATRAC.
Lock the center diff to disable VSC.

Lots of snow and ice around here lately, and I am very satisfied with the 'cruiser.
It is a stomper in the winter.

 

[Nottajeep]

Yeah, it's true. All Land Cruisers from FJ40+ years (especially FJ80’s (Thanks Shotts for pointing this out)) suck in the snow and ice. It wasn't until the formable year of [STRIKE]2004[/STRIKE] 2000 that Toyota invented the VSC and allowed the meak LC to traverse the snowy mountains around the globe. That is when a Land Cruiser first made it to the top of a mountain in winter.
Thank you Mr. T for VSC.

 

[rusty_tlc]