From: clare@snyder.on.ca   
      
   On Fri, 25 Oct 2024 15:44:23 -0700, Bob La Londe    
   wrote:   
      
   >On 10/25/2024 2:51 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:   
   >> "Clare Snyder"  wrote in message   
   >> news:g12ohjt801lb7phvn7c047l5jvegsiu8ee@4ax.com...   
   >>   
   >> My '96Ranger 4 liter 5 speed was my first "limited slip" vehicle.   
   >> SZtill have it at 392000km and still love it - but the first thing   
   >> that caught my attention was that when you got the rear wheels   
   >> spinning is you lost your "rudder". The non-spinner with an open rear   
   >> end keeps the vehicle going more or less in a straight line. When both   
   >> are spinning the rear end pretty much goes wherever it wants!!!...   
   >> ------------------------------   
   >>   
   >> The same happens to my 91 Ranger's light rear end on ice even without   
   >> limited slip. Dirt (and ice) biking gave me the instinctive reflexes to   
   >> stay in control with the rear wheels flopping around. Ice on the road   
   >> isn't limited to storms, melt water from snow banks freezes when the sun   
   >> goes down.   
   >>   
   >Pickup trucks in general (and some cars) are notoriously bad in dirt,   
   >sand, or maybe slippery stuff due to the lack of weight on the rear   
   >axle.  The addition of as little as a couple hundred pounds over the   
   >axle makes a huge difference.  I know this first hand.  My station wagon   
   >was better in the sand (with similar size tires) than most empty pickup   
   >trucks.  My first car was a very light 67 Ford Cortina (English Ford),   
   >It was intended as a "dune buggy" by a previous owner who installed 60s   
   >on the front and 50s on the rear.  It was terrible until I dropped a   
   >couple bags of concrete in the trunk.  It didn't magically turn it into   
   >a dune buggy, but it was pretty good after that.   
   >   
   >Crew cabs tend to have better weight distribution, but that is offset by   
   >increased overall weight.  Add some decent width tires and they aren't   
   >to bad in the sand.   
   >   
   >   
   >--   
   >Bob La Londe   
   >CNC Molds N Stuff   
   My little Ranger has a fiberglass cap, plastic bed liner and heavy   
   rubber mat totalling almost 300 lbs permanently installed. On ice, you   
   are right (on a slight slope it can go sideways with no power applied   
   - posi or no makes no difference. Howver in  snow or sand, or wet   
   pavement - a "one wheel peel" goes pretty straight, while a "2 wheel   
   peel" can go in circles. My old Fargo had an open dif and less weight   
   than the Ranger, and althogh there were times it would not get up the   
   slippery driveway (even just wet pavement could be a challenge) it   
   NEVER went sideways under accelleration. I can pretty easily put the   
   ranger sideways on wet pavement - not to mention loose gravel or sand   
   (or wet grass). Never had that problem with my open-diff rear wheel   
   drive Darts, Valiants, Ramblers, or Coronet (sedans or wagons) or the   
   MGB, TR7, Sunbeam Alpine or other rear wheel drive oddities I've   
   driven. The "non-friven" wheel makes a pretty effective rudder on   
   surfaces with any reasonable amount of friction - and you loose that   
   "rudder" with a good posi or a "locker"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)