"Doug Kanter" <ancientangler@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:xiatf.716$qg.188@news02.roc.ny...[color=blue]
>
> "Brad Taylor" <BradTaylor@ev1.net> wrote in message
> news:11r9i05faaauqb3@corp.supernews.com...[color=green]
> >
> > "Doug Kanter" <ancientangler@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:RXVsf.2268$OU3.714@news01.roc.ny...[color=darkred]
> >>
> >> "Brad Taylor" <BradTaylor@ev1.net> wrote in message
> >> news:11r6hdm30klg380@corp.supernews.com...
> >> > Even so, my truck still complains at 30 mph. The steering is[/color][/color][/color]
snappish[color=blue][color=green]
> > and[color=darkred]
> >> > the groaning is unbearable.
> >>
> >> That's why you're not supposed to use it on dry pavement. :-) It's[/color][/color][/color]
also[color=blue][color=green]
> > the[color=darkred]
> >> reason why there are too many 4WD vehicles sold, without the customer[/color]
> > being[color=darkred]
> >> informed of their limitations.
> >>[/color]
> > I don't. However, I was able to use it on my Jeep CJ-5 on wet pavement.
> > It
> > was great for traction. My Toyota won't even let me use 4x4 on wet
> > pavement
> > without griping.
> >
> >[/color]
>
> Are your tires much different than the ones on the Jeep? And, when you say
> "wet pavement", are you talking about driving on days when the road's
> intermittently "just wet", but still icy in some areas?
>[/color]
Well, we rarely have ice here in Houston. When we do, I stay off the roads
because nobody here knows how to drive on ice. When I say wet, I mean from
damp to flooding, but not alternatively dry and wet. Even the Jeep would
hop on dry paving. The tires I had on the Jeep were National 11x33/R15 bias
type tires and I have BFG 235/75R15 All Terrain's on the Toy. I've learned
to live with the difference. When it was a rainy day, I would lock the hubs
and drive all over the place in 4wl-hi at speeds up to 50. I never had a
problem with gripe, but it was noisy. I could power around corners with no
fear of do-nuting or sliding. On wet, rainy surfaces in the Toy, it's like
wrestling a bear, even with power steering. The Jeep was a neat off road
vehicle, but it was cramped and I couldn't haul anything with it. I had
planned to buy a Scrambler, but I was disappointed with the build quality in
1984 and had to look elsewhere. I ended up on the Toy because of the
quality of craftsmanship that I saw. The Nationals were very stable and
greatly increased the handling and stopping safety of that extremely short
wheel base CJ-5. In short, they were sticky tires on dry pavement, and
therefore must have been sticky on wet. The only thing left is the
difference in drive-line construction between the Jeep and the Toyota. Both
vehicles were plain jane and no auto slippage devices. I don't know what
the difference is, but I wish that could drive the Toy the same as the Jeep
on wet surfaces. I'm preparing to do some major suspension changes and all
the other linkage upgrades that go along with that and am wondering, myself,
if there is a way to correct this problem.
I also learned some time back, that the Mud-Terrain's were no good for that
truck because there wasn't enough rubber meeting the road. The truck would
fishtail violently when braking at freeway speeds. When I applied the
All-Terrain's the handling improved tremendously. In fact, I don't
experience any fishtail, unless the paving is worn and slick.
Well there's my ten cents.
