guesses on handling characteristics in ice, snow, normal alaska road conditions...

[HN6]

Took my truck for a spin today after lots of new items. Lockers in all axles, manual hubs upfront, 6 new wheels tires 395 goodyears Mts, new brakes all around, new cylinders, new lines, 12 new bushings, swapped sprag transfer case for air engage case, installed both air ride seats..

road conditions: icy, light snow, bad conditions good visibility but at night.

Well, I white knuckled it for 2 miles one way and 2 miles back to the shop. It was not enjoyable. Not sure how it was suppose to handle but that sucked. With the new transfer case I felt like it was way high Rpm never went above 40 is my guess... Downshifted to 4th once and thought I was headed for the ditch but corrected the small slide. HMMMM... guess i have to wait for dry roads to really diagnose the situation. Definitely had some vehicles waiting behind me for the 2 mile trip back. maybe I was doing 35 but that is all I wanted.

I have built the truck for off road use 75% of the time.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Wow, that sounds unpleasant. A few thoughts. When you switched to the big radials, did you correct the front toe in and camber as recommended? Many members reported that this makes for a much more stable front end.

The speed sounds awfully low, especially with the tall rubber. Did the transfer case actually shift into high range?? You should be able to do 60 when you wind her out to redline.

The blocks on the 395 tires might need siping for winter use. The blocks are large, great in mud but sleds on ice or snow. Not enough biting edges.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[HN6]

Wow, that sounds unpleasant. A few thoughts. When you switched to the big radials, did you correct the front toe in and camber as recommended? Many members reported that this makes for a much more stable front end.

The speed sounds awfully low, especially with the tall rubber. Did the transfer case actually shift into high range?? You should be able to do 60 when you wind her out to redline.

The blocks on the 395 tires might need siping for winter use. The blocks are large, great in mud but sleds on ice or snow. Not enough biting edges.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

I have not corrected the toe in and camber. Will look into that. I drove around my lot in lo range some so I could tell a difference between hi/lo. I will take her for a spin again tomorrow in the daylight. I talked to a buddy with 53' on his off road truck /deuce frame and axles and he hates driving his in the winter as well.

See what I come up with.

 

[HN6]

Wow, that sounds unpleasant. A few thoughts. When you switched to the big radials, did you correct the front toe in and camber as recommended? Many members reported that this makes for a much more stable front end.

The speed sounds awfully low, especially with the tall rubber. Did the transfer case actually shift into high range?? You should be able to do 60 when you wind her out to redline.

The blocks on the 395 tires might need siping for winter use. The blocks are large, great in mud but sleds on ice or snow. Not enough biting edges.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

Thanks for mentioning the camber. I just read a bunch of threads on it. That sounds like the problem. I will flip them tomorrow and a little toe in. I have read the info before but it does not mean anything until one experiences it and then it is more understandable .

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Took my truck for a spin today after lots of new items. Lockers in all axles, manual hubs upfront, 6 new wheels tires 395 goodyears Mts, new brakes all around, new cylinders, new lines, 12 new bushings, swapped sprag transfer case for air engage case, installed both air ride seats..

road conditions: icy, light snow, bad conditions good visibility but at night.

Well, I white knuckled it for 2 miles one way and 2 miles back to the shop. It was not enjoyable. Not sure how it was suppose to handle but that sucked. With the new transfer case I felt like it was way high Rpm never went above 40 is my guess... Downshifted to 4th once and thought I was headed for the ditch but corrected the small slide. HMMMM... guess i have to wait for dry roads to really diagnose the situation. Definitely had some vehicles waiting behind me for the 2 mile trip back. maybe I was doing 35 but that is all I wanted.

I have built the truck for off road use 75% of the time.

I don't see mention of your engine RPM at your seemingly estimated speeds. It is presumed that your speeds were not from your now-uncalibrated-speedometer, without compensation for the considerably larger tires. Are the speeds noted from "visual guesstimations" of your ground-speed? If so, then it is nearly impossible for any mathematical analysis of your transfer case and/or vehicle speed performance.

Still, it sounds like a fun truck to have an enjoy.

 

[HN6]

I don't see mention of your engine RPM at your seemingly estimated speeds. It is presumed that your speeds were not from your now-uncalibrated-speedometer, without compensation for the considerably larger tires. Are the speeds noted from "visual guesstimations" of your ground-speed? If so, then it is nearly impossible for any mathematical analysis of your transfer case and/or vehicle speed performance.

Still, it sounds like a fun truck to have an enjoy.

Speed and rpm: visuals and sound! to dark in cab to see while trying to stay on the road. I have driven manual for last 14yrs in POV and dump truck.


Problems all solved!

mistakes made: I actually had it in low range not hi range last night! ughhh.

Air pressure: Dropped fronts to 40psi and I will probably lower them more. Rear tires all at about 25.

Caster: Removed the wedges and ground it down approximately 5/32'' per other articles.

Drove about 15 miles today and she is back to normal. got stuck while in a turnaround.... snow/ice on bottom. Got out locked in the hubs and flipped the air switch. Front axle locked in and out she drove. Now I know that is fully functional as well.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

EXCELLENT !
Thanks of the update!

Happy Trails!

 

[dmetalmiki]

That seems decent and well worth it set of modifications you have carried out.

 

[CMPPhil]

Hi

Driving any of my MVs in the snow is great fun, 2 inches wet snow no problem, 2-3 feet of snow no problem, driving on road that has been plowed FORGET IT all my trucks have standard non-directional military tires.

Cheers Phil

 

[HN6]

That seems decent and well worth it set of modifications you have carried out.

I have enjoyed the learning and the build. It has been good for the mind. More stuff later but take a break for now and do some jobs.

 

[davidb56]

Mine slips around a bit on ice and slush mix. I had to chain up the front and one set of singles on one back axle to get around and pull trees for firewood. I have 11/20's all around. Im going out today after it snowed a little last night to pull a blown over big red fir I found quite a distance from the road. I'll likely have to chain up. these tires are not the "go anywhere" types like on a 4x4 truck. I think its probably because the ass end is light, compared to the front, so when I turn a corner too fast, the back axles try to pass me up. I cant put weight in the back because firewood goes there.

 

[davidb56]

OK. today I HAD to chain up the very rear 2 outside tires to pull a tree to the road. Without chains, the tires just spin and don't have the grip needed. After I was loaded, I removed the chains and drove out to the paved road, unlocked the front axle, and drove home. Note, with 11/20's I cannot run duelly chains, only singles on the outside because of trunion clearance.

 

[davidb56]

Speed and rpm: visuals and sound! to dark in cab to see while trying to stay on the road. I have driven manual for last 14yrs in POV and dump truck.


Problems all solved!

mistakes made: I actually had it in low range not hi range last night! ughhh.

Air pressure: Dropped fronts to 40psi and I will probably lower them more. Rear tires all at about 25.

Caster: Removed the wedges and ground it down approximately 5/32'' per other articles.

Drove about 15 miles today and she is back to normal. got stuck while in a turnaround.... snow/ice on bottom. Got out locked in the hubs and flipped the air switch. Front axle locked in and out she drove. Now I know that is fully functional as well.

You got stuck with lockers on the rear axles? I just bought a set of spiked chains for the front of my truck. I hate chaining up, because its never on flat nice asphalt road for me. Im curious on the locker performance. Im thinking we have a "tire" problem for traction.

 

[HN6]

You got stuck with lockers on the rear axles? I just bought a set of spiked chains for the front of my truck. I hate chaining up, because its never on flat nice asphalt road for me. Im curious on the locker performance. Im thinking we have a "tire" problem for traction.

To much surface area to weight in the ice ground and snow on top. Yes, if the ground has a layer of ice rink on it the lockers just spin all tires on both axles. I went and pulled a side dump out of the ditch today. I plowed off the road thru the ditch, snow, small trees and all. Not a single issue as long as no ice rink. I recommend a locker. very easy install and about $450-550 depending on the sales at the time of purchase. I used the Yukon locker.