Traction getting it to hook

[94stranger]

what is the best method to keeping traction and keeping the truck from just sliding?

any suggestion?

[jbaer619]

like how do you mean sliding, IE. dirt, snow, street? i'd go with lockers and good gripping tires, i dont know what style your truck is, but mines lifted a little so i got 33in bfg mudders, and they work awesome on the dirt.. also in dirt mud or sand, droppin a couple psi goes a long way. i dont really know about snow or ice cause ive never really driven in it

[cgrey8]

There's no substitute for wider tires and a posi or locker. But don't forget about the spring wind-up which causes wheel hop.

If your budget can handle it, a 4-link is THE way to keep control of the axle and prevent the wheel hop, but that's just not always a practical option.

When a 4-link is not in the budget, traction bars can go along way to keeping the wind-up in check. I use James Duff bars and I have to say they do a decent job of preventing the bad wheel hop I used to have. Others have used Lakewood bars with similar results.

[94stranger]

I was thinking about a 4- link I acctully orderd up one on monday. Can you use Traction bars with a 4 - link?

My buddy has a '93 ranger 5.0L and he suggested the foul link cause he keeps breaing springs, my other buddy has a '83 5.0L ranger and he keeps breaking shocks.they are both pretty rough with there trucks.

[cgrey8]

A 4-link doesn't need traction bars. Having a true 4-link controls the axle rotation far better than a single traction bar can...not to mention, is much stronger too.

What I don't know is if there are any negative side effects to 4-links. If there are, I've never heard of them. But that doesn't mean much. I also have to admit, I don't know whether a 4-link is required for both sides of the axle or whether installing 1 will suffice. Since I never looked into one, I never bothered to ask.

[94stranger]

thaks cgrey.

I was just wondering if it is the best method since the ranger is so light in the back it will tend to just spin and slide on the street!

[cgrey8]

Well, the traction bars and 4-link are not going to prevent that. All they will do is reduce/prevent the hop-hop-hop of a spin-out when you take off. You still need traction to maintain control and without traction, you'll be sliding. And with a limited slip or locker, you'll slide that much worse because loosing traction will mean loosing BOTH rear tires, not just one which will enhance a slide where an open diffey might just pull a little 1-wheel-wonder action, but not send the rear end all over the road. With a locker and stock tires, the rear of my truck shimmys all the time when it rains. I just have to accept that until I get wider tires...and even then wider tires are no guarantee of more traction in the rain.

If you want max traction, AWD is the way to go. But since I don't go hunting or mudding and it snows 2 days out of the year here, I just can't justify the expense right now.

[twinturbor]

I have james duff traction bars and 255 drag radials and mine hooks pretty good.

[MalcolmV8]

I made mine full time all wheel drive

[v8ranger]

Stay off the things that make is loose traction and go sideways is the best way

[gorgo]

i have 17x35x12.5's and anything 35mph and less in the rain you could beat me on foot for the first 300'. the posie makes it real fun in the rain. all i have is a stock motor

[Ryans5.8ranger]

And here i thought my ranger was sposta go down the road sideways smokein the tires........Put a block of wood under the gas pedle that will fix yer problem...

[spoolinranger]

My 331 dynoed at 370rwhp, I ran et streets, and nitto drag radials and never had a problem with traction..

[v8ranger]

I cant say that I have had a big problem with traction. If I want I can smoke the tires, but to drive it on the street tractions is not a problem at this point. I have a posi stock rear with 373 gears and a T-5. Maybe your just running allot more HP than I am. but like I said, driving on the street, I have no traction problems even with my 225/60/14 tires.

[cgrey8]

I still have the stock 225/70R14 tires which are affordable, but not the greatest traction tire for power or for turns. I'll be much happier with a lower profile tire on a set of 15" or 16" rims. The truck is just about to need new tires. I was really hoping the next set of tires I bought would be in conjunction with new rims. But until the economy turns around, I just don't have the disposable income to spend on the luxuries.

In the dry, I don't have much trouble with traction unless I intend to break the tires loose. Although 1st gear often will get the tires chirping a little without popping the clutch...just under the torque of the engine. However the stock Explorer engine seems to run out of torque around 3800-4000 RPMs, so the chirping ends about when the torque curve starts going down.

The rain is a completely different story. The truck has never gotten great traction in the rain even as a V6. The locker helps and hurts. It helps in that takeoffs in a straight line require that both tires turn together and thus break loose together. As long as I don't break them loose, I can take off faster than I normally could without the locker. But if they break loose, it's hard to get them to grab again without just completely taking off the throttle and "starting over".

Turns are annoying wet or dry which is the #1 thing I don't like about the locker. The inside tire will start to break loose, the locker will lock up, and the inside tire stays scuffing around the turn. At that point, the inside tire's traction is weakened making it easier for the other tire to break loose if I push it. A turn is a really nice time to loose traction on both rear tires particularly in the rain. To combat the annoying rainy weather loss of traction, I put bags in the bed of my truck to get better traction. That helped A LOT. It's like night-n-day driving in the rain with a couple of 25lb bags over the axles. With those bags, dry pavement WOTs rarely chirp the tires loose which is not a complaint. The less the tires are spinning, the more power I'm planting.

When/if I ever get the 331 in there, all that will likely change. Not much will keep 1st gear tame at WOT. I'll just have to learn restraint when in 1st during any driving condition. But for the other gears, I'd LOVE to think that my 2nd gear will have the take-off pull 1st does now. And dropping down to 4th or 3rd to pass will pull like 2nd gear does now. And if I can do all that without hurting my daily commute's fuel economy, I'll be even happier.