So... this might be REALLY dumb. But I have a problem with my E150.
I have problems getting traction when driving.
Several times I give it gas and the tires spin and the van doesn't go anywhere.

The worst incident was going up a steep hill around a very sharp turn (in the rain). My tires started spinning and I started sliding backwards down the hill. VERY scary. And I didn't even have anything heavy in the back.

I have never had this type of problem before, in any car I've driven. My chevy truck when it was running, did not do this, and I never had weight in the back. Sure it has 4wd but I never bothered to use it. The truck had a G80 locking differential did that help?

Thankfully it doesn't snow here or I'd be completely screwed. LOL!

 

Sounds like Black Ice.

Just stay home!

 

What kinda shape are your tires in?

 

get some new skins your van should not do this

 

Get four 60lb sand tubes at Home Depot or Lowes, and put two on each side behind the rear wheel humps. Massive improvement.

Sent from my Brigadier using IB AutoGroup

 

Put a Ltd slip in the rear axel and get some good tires.

 

Unfortunately this sounds like someone who's not very experienced driving--vans or anything else. I mean uphill, raining and on a curve----are there any more conditions that don't demand maximum attention and driving to suit the conditions?

Having once owned an '88 E150 that spent most of its life unloaded adapting my driving to suit road conditions etc etc was a lesson I learned very early.

Adding ballast to this van with this driver only increases its mass which makes it even more difficult to control if caution and forethought aren't exercised.

Tires might help.........slowing down would do even better.

 

Well said, better slow than dead

 

Any possibility one or both of the front brakes is dragging? Does one of the rear tires spin (is it worse in a right or left hand turn?)--if you have a really weak or broken spring, you could have very little weight on one of the rear tires. Otherwise, are the tires bald/old and hard, was there possibly oil, fuel oil, or black ice on that one road, etc?

Are you sure it's not the transmission slipping or something else like that?

George

 

My van is stuck right now. Of course it's right where I park it...the last few days of rain have made it very muddy, and the wheels slip in reverse, and going forward there are 3 inches of asphalt that the front needs to overcome... It'll either dry up or freeze up in the next day or two and I'll be able to get it out. Single digit temps on the way!

 

Actually it could have been my transmission. It made a horrible grinding noise and something smelled bad. I put it into park and shut off for a few minutes before I could calm down. I just assumed that was the diff??

The front tires are pretty bad but the back ones are not so bad, and it's RWD, so the front tires wouldn't affect that...

 

Well, Happy New Year and good luck with that. I think you should enlist the help of a mechanical friend/relative/paid mechanic to work with you in trying to diagnose what you've got going on. None of this sounds like normal behavior.

George

 

RB 250 cargo van, usually empty, I don't experience any problems like this at all. Even with 3" of snow we had in the last weeks.
BUT ! I always invest in good tires, 235/85R16 General AT2 right now, and the van has a LSD in the rear.
Growing up, and learning to drive, in the Bavarian Alps also helps a bit

 

 

You look familiar. I keep finding SMB'ers over here