Do leaf springs have track bars? I thought that was for coil springs. He would have leaf springs on the rear.

 

definitely something an unloaded small truck will do. my '84 could light up the tires in 3rd gear on a wet road, made for some fun times as a 17 year old! hell, i could even fishtail it on dry pavement, it was so light.

 

Thanks Rob!

Seems like a pretty good idea.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Your never too old to learn. I've never heard of having tires sniped before. Sounds like it would be good for rainy climates. Like here in florida. This year has been a rainy year. We've been getting rain on average. 3-6 days a week. I've worked in a few tire shops over the years. But I don't know of any that have offered this type of service. I may check into it. But I'm mainly interested in just getting some good wet traction tires on the truck.

Anyone have any reconmendations. On what is a good wet traction tire for 2WD pickups. The size that's on there now is 205/75/14.

 

One of the best wet traction tires ever with nothing but good reviews.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ler+A%2FT+Revo

 

Never had it happen in a pickup,but both 4runners(88' and 94') have a tendancy to hydroplane.

 

also if it just started raining the oil from the road will rise to the surface and this will make it hairy. the painted lines on the road also get very slippy when wet.

slow down in the rain, no abrupt movements, do not lift off the gas on turns.

 

Yea those are great wet traction tires. Too bad they don't make them in 14" for 2WD trucks.

 

Look for any Bridgestone or Firestone tire that has UNI-T AQ II technology as it is the same tech. used in the Revo.

 

I "mastered" my rear wheel drive drift technique driving trucks . . or was that my VW bus with dual carbs and slicks?? I think that skill helped me feel more comfortable going sideways through corners in full drift mode on my dirt bike. Using the throttle or brake to turn on public streets isn't safe. I get the best wet traction in my truck with tires in good condition and having them aired down a bit. Having a shell on the back of my truck helps too. Now, if I could just figure out "all wheel drive." You gotta love it when those WRC drivers drift around corners whether it's snow, dirt, or tarmac!

IMHO: poor tread condition + high pressure + little weight over the axle + heavy throttle/braking + slippery surface =

Sorry I don't have any good rally video links handy!

 

Ain't the 4Runners - its the tires.

The thing to look for in a good rain tire is proper escape channels for the water. In older designs, the best rain performance tires had circumferential grooving. Examples of good circumferential grooving:


An example of a tire that won't channel water out and hydroplanes horribly:


In modern designs, you generally see a lot of cool angled rain grooves. The miracle of computer modeling - these things work!! Be sure though that the manufacturer considers them all season - some summer-only tires may have this diagonal pattern (a variation on this pattern also reduces rolling resistance in the tread surface) but it may not shed rain well, and summer compound may not grip well at all in winter.
Modern design examples:

I was sceptical about the above - but I can attest - they are amazing in the wet!

and another good all weather design example:


Example of a tire that looks okay at first glance but hydroplanes horribly, doesn't last long, and is easy to punture...

 

I took a specialized tire course when I worked in parts and what he said is bang on

 

Phil

So you are stating that hydroplaning is made worse by the inability of water to escape from the front and back of the tire (as opposed to the sides)?

I can verify that BFG All-Terrains do hydroplane. I used to have them and hated driving in heavy rain.

On the last picture, you stated that it looks OK, but hydroplanes horribly. Can you explain the reasoning behind that? Is it because the grooves aren't straight as the tires in the first two pictures?

 

Not that I would know of, but as I said before I'm not too familiar with Toy trucks. I have seen specifically on GM trucks though with leaf spring rears with a torsion bar, but not a track bar.

 

I must agree with Flamedx4. While all the other suggestions are helpful, extra weight, SLOWING DOWN, it's in the tire. I spent 5 years working for a tire reseller. While must of use use M/S or A/T tires for better traction off road, they do not perform well on wet roads. The larger foot print usually does not allow the water to escape correctly, thus hydroplaning can happen easier. You should see an improvement using the narrower tire.

 

Just look at the difference between hard surface racing tires. Dry tires are slick or close to it. Rain tires have subtantial grooves to channel away the water. Even with rain tires the cars go slower when it's wet!!

Check out Michelin's circuit and rally tire range:

http://www.michelinsport.com/sport/f...ue=597&lang=EN

http://www.michelinsport.com/sport/f...ue=603&lang=EN

 

Yep, most of the water excapes behind the tire (look at new Assurance Triple Tread for example - one of the best rain tires in the world, has no open shoulder channels!) some is splashed out the front, very little has a natural tendency to want to go sideways. When the tire strikes the water, the tread blocks knock knock some of it forward. The channels must manage the rest. For channels to send the water out sideways they have to be angled, but the degree of the angle kinda needs to be different for different speeds. They have managed to maximize the angles these days, but not long ago it was all trial and error and therefore not too well done. Meanwhile circumferential grooves work great, they just can't provide the ultimate in handling on dry roads (fast cars, curvy roads - not much of an issue for SUVS and pickups.) In reality the best ones actually sort of 'pump' the water out in a continuous action, as opposed to just 'directing the splash' for lack of a better descriptive term. The water that gets 'splashed' isn't what you hydroplane on - the water trapped by the tire is what you hydroplane on. So a good rain tire actually "manages" the trapped water by sort of herding it into the channels then actively pumping it out.

LOok at this: http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...y/1266601.html
and here's a vid: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/site..._session.html#

 

That's because they didnt have a clue how to drive them. Most people who are used to cars drive them WAY WAY WAY too aggressively. In my buddies 01 trans am (12.4 @ 117) I am always holding onto stuff when he's doing turns. Same with EVERYONE I have driven with in car. They all wait until the last second to react, dont do anything smoothly, etc. When it's wet you MUST be smooth in EVERYTHING you do.... People dont get this for God knows what reason...

I've WATCHED a tundra do the above in front of me at 75 mph in the rain!! They gunned it and changed lanes, ass end passed the front end and off the side they went... I stopped to render assistance, and sure enough bald rear tires combined with driver error...

I have only lost control of my 2nd gen ONE time ever. I was making a left heading onto an on ramp, the road was wet, and as i was crossing the oncoming 2 lanes, I idoitically gunned the truck. She was doing about 35mph when she dumped back into 1st....of course both rear tires said "screw traction" and let go sending my on my first, last, and only unexpected high speed donut. The truck ended up doing a perfect 180* turn scribing out about a 120' or so 1/3rd of a donut. I came to a rest 10' from a 4' drop off into a culvert... Needless to say, I cleaned out my pants and got out of there much wiser with no damage to anything.

I am also used to driving full box, crew cab duallys towing....and towing is even more unforgiving, particularly in the rain. If only people knew that though...[/rant]



ps - ANYTIME someone looses control it is driver error, period. Im sure you were driving in a straight line and didn't do anything blatently wrong, but if your tires were 'soso' thats one error against you. The next is that you were going too fast for the conditions. Had you been driving slower, instead of hydroplaning (which is what happened) you'd have maintained control.

If you dont do a whole lot of offroading, Id very much recommend you try the Michellin X Radial LT in 235/75r15 (if you have 15" rims) They are damn near impossible to hydroplane with new and have sipes on them stock... Best wet tire I've ever had the pleasure of riding on.

 

One of the best tutorials of smooth driving technique I've found is Gran Turismo 4. I'm ashamed to say how much I've learned about driving technique from a video game. It's a lot cheaper too than going through tires at the track.

 

Just some food for thought:
That sand that youre using as weight to give you more traction during acceleration is more weight you and your vehicle has to work with during deceleration. Remember, the more massive an object, the more inertia is has, so itll be harder for you to stop your truck.