I have a 2000 Ford Explorer Sport 4wd. I was attempting to pull the vehicle up a small hill in my yard and all it would do is spin. The passenger side rear tire would spin and the driver side front tire would spin and it just would not get over the hill. My friend tried it in the same location with his 1997 Chevy Blazer and it pulled it without even breaking traction. The first attempt I made my ABS light came on, but I read in a post somewhere this was normal if you have a lot of wheel spin. Does Ford suck as a four wheeler, or is Chevy just better?

 

isn't your friends truck the full size chevy blazer??? If so then why would you pit a smaller truck against a full size blazer. then again who care about gooing up hills. At least i don't.

 

Its the S10 size Blazer. What I am trying to figure out is if something may be mechanically wrong with my Explorer. I would think that no more of a climb that was occurring that the Explorer would be able to handle it but... I am concerned about how this vehicle is going to perform in snow and ice also.

 

Sorry, your observation has no vaildility as you are not taking into account the difference in tires.

Any 4x4 is only as good as the shoes that are on it.

 

The tires I have are Dayton R16 255x70 and my friends has Goodyear R15 245x75. My tires actually have better tread (I have about 85% of tread remaining). Could this still be my problem?

 

Well, tire size alone means nothing when it comes to traction. As an example my summer tires for my car are the exact same size (effectively, same width same outer diameter) as the all weathers I run in the winter. However, the all weather tires are much better in the snow, my summer tires (by design) would pack heavily in snow and mud and would be worthless. However, in heavy rain or on dry roads the traction of the summer tires are much better.

So.... while you may have more tread the question is what kind of tread? If you're tires are more road oriented (all weather) and his are more off road oriented (mud and snow) then it would be a no brainer who is making it up the hill more easily.

Additionally, while I do not know what the setup is for the 4WD on either of your trucks there could be a difference there as well. It sounds to me like the 4x4 on your truck is not a limited slip setup as you had two tires spinning (one front and one back). Could it be that the Blazer has limited slip or locking differentials? That would also make a huge difference.

 

The Chubby most likley didn't have power enough to spint the tires!!

 

I was thinking the same thing concerning the limited slip. My Explorer is not limited slip as far as I know (the code in the driver side door is rubbed off, and I can't make out the number on the differential tag). If it is, it's not working! I am not sure about the chevy. I did jack rear of the Explorer up and turned the wheel and the other wheel turned in the opposite direction. But, it would still do that if the LS wasn't working correctly. So, I don't know!

 

Remeber what the Good Book says!


"...lest ye forget the importance of tire pressure. To attain a greater contact patch, ye shall remove air from thyne tube..."


Works for me everytime on my JCPenney lawn tractor!

 

Was the Explorer in 4WD low? My '94 has no problem on a hill with wet snow on it!

 

I agree with K2JJB, tire tread and diff's are a huge difference. I am pretty sure that any type of locker, limited or full, the tires will spin the same way when off the ground. And even if you did have one, they don't work that well. One thing that may coax them to work a little is applying some brake pressure while keeping the tires spinning. If they feel some resistant on the spinning tire, they'll at least start to make the other spin.

My hobby it rock crawling and I didn't know how much of a difference tires made until I found out for myself. Goodyear AT/S came stock on an F-150 I had. The tires looked great, but performed poorly, even in the snow they were designed for. I replaced with some Yoko Geolander AT's and they made a world of difference. On a 74 bronco I wheel now, I have a set of Swamper SSR's and they will get me further than any tire I have ever owned.

 

There are too many unanswered variables in the equation. Another thing to consider is the Load. Did the Blazer for example have a bunch of tools in the back... Weight plays a very important role in Traction. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. An Explorer without Limited Slip, will lose every time to any vehicle (even a front wheel drive Sedan) with Limited Slip in the Mud. Also I would Try 4 Wheel Low and see if you get better results.

David

 

The two vehicles were pretty equal as far as weight. I agree, the main difference is one having limited slip and the other not. I am looking in to converting the Explorer to limited slip and then having a re-match! Does anyone know how much labor cost usually average for the conversion?

 

Please, please don't waste your money with a limited slip!! You will be disappointed. If you want traction, go to a 4x4 shop and see what they recommend for your vehicle. I had a detroit in my F-150 and off-road, it was awesome. Performed flawlessly, but it didn't have very good road manners. There are others, but hands down the best manufacturer of lockers is www.tractech.com who makes the legendary Detroits. The E-Z locker might be for you.

If you are set with a limited slip, go with a detroit like the truetrac.

 

I was thinking about going with a Powertrax limited slip. I just occasionally go off road, so road manners is still important. I am trying to find something that has a good mix of the two. Powertrax (made by Richmond Gear) offers a limited slip that isn't too bad on the highway, and does a pretty good job off road. I found a web site where this guy used it on his jeep and it seemed to work very well for him. I really appreciate your information on this subject.