Scneario: You get stuck

[BRZED]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: BRZED

You are not doing it right in your hypothetical scenario. You are not supposed to brake to the point where the wheels lock. You are supposed to brake until the freely spinning wheel slows down and power is diverted to the wheel that has traction. You don't want a fast spinning wheel anyway. You are at or near full throttle and adjust wheel speed with the brake. I've done it, so I know it works.


Assuming it's a RWD vehicle, are you better off using your parking brake over the regular brake?


Yes, with a RWD you should use the handbrake, because you won't have to also overcome the braked front wheels by pushing. Although on ice it's not much of problem. Some FWD cars have handbrakes that work on the front wheels. That's also useful. And if your vehice is an old farm tractor you can use individual brake pedals.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: BRZED

Yes, with a RWD you should use the handbrake, because you won't have to also overcome the braked front wheels by pushing. Although on ice it's not much of problem. Some FWD cars have handbrakes that work on the front wheels. That's also useful. And if your vehice is an old farm tractor you can use individual brake pedals.


Or you just get the 4matic and drive through the Imperial Sand Dunes without worrying about getting stuck.

 

[BRZED]

If you have AWD, 4WD, differential locks, floormats, underbrush, wooden boards, gravel, a blanket, a dead deer or a cellphone and mommy with a tractor on standby, you may use them all.

 

[dishdude]

This whole scenario feels like it was stolen from My Cousin Vinny. Best scene ever!

 

[camrydriver111]

Use Royal Purple.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: TiredTrucker
Bizarre, but one method.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrLcRtyp8dQ&spfreload=10


Commercialized version of the "2x4 trick".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an6LhOcFUS8

 

[TiredTrucker]

Now that one would work even on the tight area of a car wheel well. get a bunch of those so one could put a few on each drive wheel and you could get thru a lot of situations.

 

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: dishdude
What do we have available in the trunk to work with?


Nothing. You don't even have a floornmat. And there's no scrap wood or similar at your disposal.


At that point, if you're in sand, you're getting towed out or it's going to be there until you come back with supplies to give you some additional traction. By the time you realize you're stuck and have lost momentum, you won't be able to get enough traction to get it moving without just digging it into a bigger hole.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'm debating throwing a hand winch (comealong) in the Focus this winter just in case. I have run across a few people that I could have helped if I had it. Or, if I get myself stuck with it, I can use it to pull the Focus out via Tow hitch. Or even on the Jeep, it doesn't have a real winch.

If it's starting to get buried and won't move much, I would try letting the tire pressure down a bit and starting out in a higher gear (if possible). A few years ago I had to do something at the mall and there weren't any parking spots so I made one. Of course, when I came out the car was really stuck. I could move about a foot. So back and fourth turned it into 2 feet, 4, etc until I got out.

I usually have a rule - if I can idle in, I can idle back out. Seems to work well for the Focus

When I was younger I was with my father in the 18 wheeler and we got stuck getting out of a loading dock. I remember we dropped the tire pressure real low on the tandems, locked the diffs together and I started out in the "hidden" gear in high range. It worked.

But, in this scenario where I don't have a shovel (I always carry that), a tow strap (generally always have that) ... I'm not entirely sure what I would do.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: Run
Apply brake while slowly giving it gas. Sounds counterproductive but might just limit the loss and help the tire with traction. I have done this on a F250 that was in some slick mud. However I'm not sure what type of differential is in it.


Actually, what you do is floor the gas and apply the brakes until the freely spinning wheels is being slowed down and the wheel with grip gets power. That should be enough to get the car going either forward or backward.


Like this?








If you can't get out, just blow the transmission!

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: Run
Apply brake while slowly giving it gas. Sounds counterproductive but might just limit the loss and help the tire with traction. I have done this on a F250 that was in some slick mud. However I'm not sure what type of differential is in it.


Actually, what you do is floor the gas and apply the brakes until the freely spinning wheels is being slowed down and the wheel with grip gets power. That should be enough to get the car going either forward or backward.

I've played around with the Tracker in RWD mode using the parking brake(only braking on rear axle) and it works to a degree. I can't ever imagine it would work using the brake pedal though, that's how you sit still and do a burnout on pavement as the front brakes are much stronger.
What really works well is dragging the brakes in 4wd while you are still moving, but that's more for off roading.
My Focus will brake individual front wheels with the TC on, but for hill climbing in snow its still better to turn the TC off and accept the odd tire spinning without killing your momentum.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Does your 07 have stability control? I can defeat the traction control but if it thinks I'm sliding sideways, it cuts power.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Does your 07 have stability control? I can defeat the traction control but if it thinks I'm sliding sideways, it cuts power.

Nope, no stability control, its pretty easy to toss sideways actually, so of all the Foci the wagon perhaps could use stability control. With ABS though it never seems to do anything silly in normal driving.

 

[Andrew1972]

A $20 bright tow strap is an amazing thing to have.

You can hook to your vehicle and stand there and find the next person so proud of their truck to pull you out. When I owned a fwd I found folks so helpful especially rednecks (they had the sticker on truck window not insulting them).

I have returned the favor to folks in light peril in parking lots and odd situations with my MDX.

 

[exranger06]

I would get my recovery strap and use one of my 4wd vehicles (either the Ranger or the Bronco) to yank the stuck vehicle out. I've used both of them to yank out stuck vehicles (some of them my own) several times last year.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: madRiver
A $20 bright tow strap is an amazing thing to have.

You can hook to your vehicle and stand there and find the next person so proud of their truck to pull you out. When I owned a fwd I found folks so helpful especially rednecks (they had the sticker on truck window not insulting them).

I have returned the favor to folks in light peril in parking lots and odd situations with my MDX.


I liked dragging cars around with my Tracker, not out of a ditch of course but it pulled some heavy cars out of snow banks. It beat pushing and getting your boots full of snow anyways.

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: Run
Apply brake while slowly giving it gas. Sounds counterproductive but might just limit the loss and help the tire with traction. I have done this on a F250 that was in some slick mud. However I'm not sure what type of differential is in it.


Actually, what you do is floor the gas and apply the brakes until the freely spinning wheels is being slowed down and the wheel with grip gets power. That should be enough to get the car going either forward or backward.

I've played around with the Tracker in RWD mode using the parking brake(only braking on rear axle) and it works to a degree. I can't ever imagine it would work using the brake pedal though, that's how you sit still and do a burnout on pavement as the front brakes are much stronger.
What really works well is dragging the brakes in 4wd while you are still moving, but that's more for off roading.
My Focus will brake individual front wheels with the TC on, but for hill climbing in snow its still better to turn the TC off and accept the odd tire spinning without killing your momentum.


I can select an "adverse weather" mode which brakes a spinning wheel down some but not completely, and won't reduce engine torque.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Jetronic
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: Run
Apply brake while slowly giving it gas. Sounds counterproductive but might just limit the loss and help the tire with traction. I have done this on a F250 that was in some slick mud. However I'm not sure what type of differential is in it.


Actually, what you do is floor the gas and apply the brakes until the freely spinning wheels is being slowed down and the wheel with grip gets power. That should be enough to get the car going either forward or backward.

I've played around with the Tracker in RWD mode using the parking brake(only braking on rear axle) and it works to a degree. I can't ever imagine it would work using the brake pedal though, that's how you sit still and do a burnout on pavement as the front brakes are much stronger.
What really works well is dragging the brakes in 4wd while you are still moving, but that's more for off roading.
My Focus will brake individual front wheels with the TC on, but for hill climbing in snow its still better to turn the TC off and accept the odd tire spinning without killing your momentum.


I can select an "adverse weather" mode which brakes a spinning wheel down some but not completely, and won't reduce engine torque.

Try it out before you really really need to get up a snowy hill. The Focus TC does initially just try a few taps on the brakes if the wheel spin isn't excessive, but if that doesn't help it quickly cuts power which is the kiss of death on my uphill driveway. The TC work very well higher grip surfaces like pavement as a few taps of the brake is all that's needed to get that tire to grip again, but in snow often some significant wheel spin will get your tire through the snow and onto something grippier without slowing you for an instant.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: madRiver
A $20 bright tow strap is an amazing thing to have.

You can hook to your vehicle and stand there and find the next person so proud of their truck to pull you out. When I owned a fwd I found folks so helpful especially rednecks (they had the sticker on truck window not insulting them).

I have returned the favor to folks in light peril in parking lots and odd situations with my MDX.



I live on a hill near a university. An expensive university. I have been "stuck" behind people in stuck Landrovers, BMWs and "regular" AWD vehicles on the hill. When I get too tired of waiting I'll pass by them in the Focus and offer to help push. They want no part of it.

Some people are apparently afraid of help?

 

[Benzadmiral]

I got my work van stuck in some mud once. So I used my clipboard. 'Struth. Took the papers off, slid the clipboard in under the tire that was stuck, and drove up and out.

The clipboard was a washout, but that was better than having to call for help and then wait for it, with no A/C in the van, on a hot summer day.