My lsd rear-end is causing scary handling on icy roads...

[Dma251]

I have a 1991 SE that I swapped in a MT, and have been bring it back to life. I have changed all the fluids, and put new bilsteins and 31" Toyo open country AT tires within the last month.

 

This morning I was driving on very lightly frosted roads, and the back-end was coming around on every gentle turn. Pretty spooky.

 

I did put in a tube of LSD additive to the gearlube.

 

I wish I had an ARB.... THe best of both world. Maybe later this year.

 

[Precise1]

My first Pathy was a 5 speed with LSD, and I pirouetted that thing through a couple of intersections in the rain until I learned not to give much gas while turning in 1st or 2nd gear.

Then I got the hang of letting it swing a little...

Are those ATs good for the snow? Maybe a winter tire would help?

 

B

[Slartibartfast]

Either you guys put a lot more gas into corners than I do, or my LSD is getting weak. I don't think I've ever had the rear end on mine step out when I didn't mean it to, except for a little shimmying once in snow on a mountain pass with summer tires. I've had more issues with understeer than I have with oversteer.

 

I notice you're both running five-speeds, and I've got an autotragic. Maybe that makes it easier to break the rear end loose under power.

[bushnut]

tires might be part of the problem...but when it's slippery out thats what 4x4 is for.

[Pav]

x2 with Bushnut...having run AT's in the winter...they are really horrible on slick surfaces. The only thing they would work well in was deep power snow.

 

Since I've switched to full winter tires (Yokohama Geolanders IT/S) I've only used 4wd once so far to break myself out of a parking spot that had snow piled up to the bottom of the door.

 

In my neck of the woods where winter tires are mandatory all my off road friends swear by the Goodyear Duratracs. They seem to be the only winter rated AT tire that can handle the snow and ice.

[Precise1]

Either you guys put a lot more gas into corners than I do, or my LSD is getting weak. I don't think I've ever had the rear end on mine step out when I didn't mean it to, except for a little shimmying once in snow on a mountain pass with summer tires. I've had more issues with understeer than I have with oversteer.

 

I notice you're both running five-speeds, and I've got an autotragic. Maybe that makes it easier to break the rear end loose under power.

First one was a 5 speed, second one is automagic. The 5 speed got sideway easily and the automagic doesn't doesn't, but when it does, it is gone...

Miss the 5 speed, other than in traffic.

 

B

[Dma251]

I drained and refilled the rear fluid with fresh lsd-safe gl5. I have driven it about 100 miles now, and noticed it was much harder to break the rear end loose on my nearby test-area, (the sharp-righthand, uphill turn onto a 10 degree grade). We haven't had much frost yet, though.

 

It is definitely behaving better, though.

 

Here's what I think happened. I added too much lsd additive, causing the diff to lock much firmer then it should. When I am off the throttle or just maintaining speed, it seems to be locked. I'm serious. I also drive a 98 toyota sienna van that has 10 year old tires on it, and it never drifts like this.

 

Anyway, it should frost up soon again, and I will update.

[adamzan]

That makes no sense, when you add too much additive, you would lose the effect of the LSD, not make it tighter.

[bushnut]

the toyota is a front wheel drive, the back end will never kick out around a turn unless you hit the emergency brake. the fact that you haven't had much frost lately is your answer.

 

I grew up driving front wheel drive vehicles, my R50 is the first SUV/4x4/rear wheel drive vehicle that I've ever owned, the first winter had a very steep learning curve of understeer and/or to much right pedal with average AT tires. I very quickly became a fan of the shift on the fly 4x4.

Now with good AT tires (treadwright guard dogs) I have to drive like a wanker to get the back end out.

Even still I use the shift on the fly almost every day. With the cold up here the streets often have snow pack on them where the plows don't clear all the way down to pavement. so when I see an intersection that is all snowpacked (read ICY) I shift into 4x4, proceed through my turn and once I'm through I'll shift back to 2wd. I feel that it is the safer option than just trusting my tires alone.

[SpecialWarr]

I have to agree with bushnut and pav on the cornering technique. Since the road clearing around here is hit-n-miss or it snows a bit the day after there is often a compact layer of ice 2-3" thick in braking zones. The 4x4 shift - on-the-fly keeps my 1990 pulling through the corners.

[adamzan]

I have the same yokohama geolander tires that Pav has. I never use the 4wd in the winter anymore, my duratracs were good as well but they are 12.5 wide, too wide for winter as you just float on top of everything.

[deerhurst]

Tires and driving technique really make a difference in the winter. My Les Shwab special ATs suck in every condition other than dry road or tarmac in the rain. My BF AT KOs dont do the best in the rain on tarmac but are pretty well amazing in most other things Ive tried. They are great in the snow because they like to dig. I rarely run in 4wd unless its just too slick to stand on the road, deep snow or I need to slow down faster using the motor. When it swings out the rear it goes really fast because the rig is so short.