Well, we finally had our cold snap here. And its been pretty interesting. I've been wondering how the new X will handle the slick roads and yesterday I found out! I was out on a back country road, clipping along probably a little faster than I should have. There was no snow on the roads, but the temp was about 22 degrees outside. Anyway, I went around a slight bend, hit a patch of ice, and my rear end decided it was time to be in front for a while. I got about perpendicular to the road...saw the dashed lines in the middle of the road running right between my front and rear wheels. Counter-steered, and the back end went back behind me and kept going to the other side, this time heading for the drainage ditch. Finally got everything under control and straightened out. I was pretty proud that I didn't end up off the road or worse...something to be said about keeping calm...especially with my wife screaming and smacking me in the shoulder. Though I'm lucky there was nobody else on the road...it was like wrestling a school bus and taking every lane available to do it.

Anyway, is there anything I can do to keep the back end more stable (aside from slowing down, that is)? I tested it out more carefully this evening and the rear end seems very squirrely. It seems strange, given the long wheel base and heavy rig and all. Would better tires help? I do miss the Auto 4WD in the Expy because of this....I usually keep the X in 2WD unless I really need it.

Any thoughts? Thanks, and sorry the story took so long!

 

Forgot to mention, it snowed for the first time this evening, and it was a circus on the freeway! Very funny! I think I saw an average of a wreck a mile! Lots of vehicles looking backwards on the freeway. The funny thing is that the freeway didn't seem to be slick at all! Or maybe I was just being overly cautious because of yesterday. The back roads, however, were quite slick. Tomorrow morning's drive to work will be a zoo, I'm sure!

 

Hey deadfish,
So ya found out what "pucker factor" is all about eh? Welcome to my world! LOL!

In answer to your question, weight. Pure weight. Get yourself a couple hundred pounds of sandbags for the back end. What I did on my old trucks (and may do on the Ex) is get a sheet of plywood cut to conform to the dimesions of the back end and use it as a shelf so the sandbags can be below it and I still have cargo space above it.

Studded snows would help too if sandbags are not an option but the sandbags are your best bet.

 

Not much you can do for it that you couldn't do to a truck. One thing to keep in mind is that extra weight to help you GO only help syou to go, when you try and stop or try and correct yourself it works against you. My first winter as a sheetmetal worker and HVAC tech my boss told me that one, my service truck would go and had awesome traction, but only for going, stopping it works against you bigtime.

 

What you say here is true....momentum is not your friend in this case.
However, you usually know when you want to stop. Unless an animal jumps out oin front of you on the highway or something - in which case you probably couldn't do much to prevent that, weight or not.

But when the back-end of your vehicle kicks out from under you unexpectedly, it can be quite amusing...fond memories of carnival rides flow leisurely through your mind as you experience sensations last felt as a child on the playground's merry-go-round.

And if you are real lucky, all it will take to get you pointed in the right direction again is a friendly yank on your yellow tow strap!

 

On ice nothing helps, studded tires used to until it was decided they protruded to far and
shortened them(road damage). The extra weight will help getting you going but remember it helps to whip that back end around a little harder once it starts to go. Drivers seem to hate this but this is the time to slow down, and if it gets real bad sometime on the shoulder parked waiting for the cinder truck may be in order.

 

Heavenound, I guess you're on snow and ice almost all year up there aren't you?

And yes I do know what a white out is, my dad was in the navy up there and he has told me about white outs.

 

The sandbag/plywood trick is a great idea. I bet I could build a some legs for the low shelf in the back of the X, so that I could slide sandbags underneath..and then have additional storage space during the warm months...plus if I needed to remove a sandbag for traction, I wouldn't have to unload the back end... Looks like I found a weekend project! Thanks for the tip!

The whole carnival ride was pretty fun, once the whole pucker factor dropped back to normal! Though, I will be slowing down a bit on the back roads...

 

...always a good idea on bad roads deadfish!

Birdhunter, we aren't on snow and ice ALL winter...it just seems that way sometimes! LOL!

 

If you are going to add extra weight back there, try to concentrate it directly over the rear axle. If you apply it too far back, your truck will do an impersonation of a pendulum on a grandfather's clock next time you get into a curve a little too hot.

 

I've just been putting the 'X in 4WD when the going is marginal. I find the vehicle is more balanced in 4WD and this helps with how "happy" the back end is. Unlike some lesser trucks, the 4WD drive system in these trucks is real. Real big shafts and real big joints. The manual cautions against 4WD on dry pavement, but I don't see any admonishment about leaving it on when you're in snowcovered or worse territory.

I realize 4WD doesn't help you stop, but it does help you when you go up a grade ... in 2WD, you have the possibility of fishtailing (even with limited slip) .. where 4WD seriously limits this (if you actually spin all 4 wheels ... you tend to laterally rather than fishtailing).

A more balanced vehicle is easier to drive. The only real deficit to 4WD is that the vehicle tends to "plow" if you're off the gas in a tight corner.

 

I agree with Zbeeble
also i think putting it in tow/haul mode and 4x4 2gether gives you major traction on windy roads when its snowing or raining. Instead of pressing the brakes just release the gas, or coming out of a turn you could just punch it with no fear of sliding over onto on coming traffic.
Or you could always just take it slow and make it slowly but surely.
On slippery surfaces 4X4 is like having traction control a lot of german cars are equiped with All Wheel Drive for snow driving (i.e. BMW 330xi, Audi quattro).