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this car sucks on snow and ice

T

three57mag

New CEG'er
Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Messages
20
Location
carol stream IL
well yesterday i was going about 15mph around a 30mph curve and my ass end kicked out and nailed a curb. it pushed the right rear wheel in and back.... now i know that both the lower arms and the tie-bar is bad, along with the wheel. What else is going to be bend that i wont be able to see when i get it up on the lift, and will it ever have the right alignment numbers ever again? i know that, outside of toe, there is nothing to adjust back there.

thanks
Kuz

P.S. does anyone have any E1 wheels out there? or a cheap 4x4
 
Not the car but the tires (and the driver :laugh: ). I had the ABS working overtime this evening when I ran out to grab some food. We had maybe 3 inches and it iced up in the evening. I should have gone with the snow tires instead of Performance all season radials. I was lucky as the two times I was on a downslope intersection, there were no cars in front of me.

You should be fine after changing those few items (sway bar, end link, maybe LCA, wheel). And of course, an alignment.

Edit. There is a cheap 4X4 in the Classifieds now. 1997 Ford Explorer XLT.
 
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We just got another snow last night, so we're up to about 10 inches in my area in the last week. I researched my last tire purchase and went with a set of all-seasons that had a lot of positive marks for snow handling. They're wearing a little fast, but my 'tour handles great. I was able to get out of two snowed-in parking spaces until I was finally thwarted by a two-foot high snow bank covered in ice.

My only issue is that I wish I had ABS; I tend to be a late-brake'er and I'll lock up the wheels a little often.
 
yea my Yokohama avid H4 all seasons suck in the snow. and those are on my 15" snow rims. there was maybe a 1/2" last night on the roads. started to head out then turned around and went home.
 
I wrecked today too. In a 45, slightly down hill, tapped the brakes for traffic ahead and the back end slid to the left, then more to the right, then full 180.

Snow tore off my sideskirt but that's all. I mowed over a mile marker with only a tiny scuff on my bumper. Now I have the endless searching for a new sideskirt.

Sucks :rolleyes:
 
Berkel said:
I wrecked today too. In a 45, slightly down hill, tapped the brakes for traffic ahead and the back end slid to the left, then more to the right, then full 180.

Snow tore off my sideskirt but that's all. I mowed over a mile marker with only a tiny scuff on my bumper. Now I have the endless searching for a new sideskirt.

Sucks :rolleyes:
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If your car is fish tailing from just a tap of the brakes you probably have a brake problem. You might want to go check your rear calipers out and make sure they aren't hanging up at all or dragging.
 
The car itself is never the problem, it's the driver and the equipment. Put a good set of tires on the car. And if it's icy, slow the hell down. Ever hear of driving the correct speed for conditions? Yeah, it may be slow, but'll stop you from crashing.
 
Thinkmoto said:
If your car is fish tailing from just a tap of the brakes you probably have a brake problem. You might want to go check your rear calipers out and make sure they aren't hanging up at all or dragging.
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As I said it was snowy.. slightly downhill, and I have two different sets of tires front n back. :cry:

Worst case scenario.
 
Tony2005 said:
I found out last night :eek::mad: . And they were less than 3K miles old.
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i swear i had no problems last year. wtf.

i slow way way down. i would rather not have my car totaled from a fender bender.

i also try not to get the abs to work. i find the car stops better if i slow down soon enough so it doesn't engage other wise im going to be in an intersection. and if i cant get the car down the street with relative ease i come back home.
 
I still had my summer tires on when the first snow hit (only about 1" of accumulation) and the car handled fine.

Now that i've got my Blizzak's on, the car handles exceptionally well in the snow!
 
I drove my yoko avid H4S's in unplowed highway snow for 30 miles and I didn't have any problems really :shrug:

Also, I've concluded that I'm almost positive I don't have ABS. The removed ABS dash bulb when I bought the car and the fact that I locked up my wheels on the highway the other day sort of give that fact away.
 
hotdimmes said:
I drove my yoko avid H4S's in unplowed highway snow for 30 miles and I didn't have any problems really :shrug:
...
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Highways are designed differently than regular street intersections on a slope. :shrug:
 
well i got my rent a car today. and i don't care what anyone says the SVT's are crap on snow and ice. the PT looser that i am driving now is like a dream come true on ice. just do the math you have a 2500 lb car with a 225 wide tire (thats what i have anyways). that comes out to a fraction of the weight per square inch of contact area with the road. compaired to a taurus that is 3500lb+ car with a 205 on it. it all adds up to a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty car on ice
 
SVTJON87 said:
i also try not to get the abs to work. i find the car stops better if i slow down soon enough so it doesn't engage other wise im going to be in an intersection. and if i cant get the car down the street with relative ease i come back home.
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I HATE ABS for this reason. I always slide into intersections if braking anything more than "slightly" because the ABS activates. It's the worst in my dad's Forester. Thank God for manual transmissions and engine braking.

The fact that my SE did not have ABS is one of the many things I miss about that car.
 
part of it is the driver, part of it is the tires.

my winter tires absolutely blow, I think these are the worst set of all-season tires I have ever owned. yet I managed 65 mph for 80 miles in a snow storm, no trouble.

You have to understand how traction works, driving a stick is completley different in the snow...

the BEST way to keep traction is to constantly have the car in gear, downshift when slowing down, give yourself more time to slow down and always assume the road is in the worst shape.

Here is an example to work with... I was on the highway doing about 60 in top gear (OD, 5th), car started to drift to the right, I let off the gas, and downshifted to 4th gear, instantly the car regained traction, I pulled myself out of the bad lane on the highway, went back up to 5th and held it from there, if you start to slide or slip at high speed, rule of thumb is to just let off the gas, slamming on the brakes will make control even more minimal, and if you dont get control back after letting off of the gas, downshift.
 
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