Scneario: You get stuck

[linksep]

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.


I have done this to climb away from a stop sign in the middle of about a 30% grade after an ice storm. I used maybe 1/4 to 1/3 throttle and just brushed the brake with my left foot as needed to reign in the spinning tire as it would get to spinning too fast. No need for anywhere near full throttle, just steady throttle that would normally be enough to do the job if you weren't spinning. The key is *lightly* brushing the brake pedal just enough to reign in the spinning tire without causing excessive braking to the non-driven tires.

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
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?


I would say no, wouldn't want you leaving light impressions in the metal from pushing.

 

[Jetronic]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: Jetronic
Originally Posted By: IndyIan

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.


I tried it already.
Dynamic mode won't cut power either unless you're going pretty well sideways, but the "natural" setting is the most conservative, cutting power if you have any misbehaving.

Neither mode is a substitute for winter tyres though.

 

[hattaresguy]

My old truck which was 2wd with an open rear was stuck twice.

Once in a surprise late season snow, it was just warm enough to make it super slick. So I was sitting on a slight hill in 3in of snow just spinning. No way to get any kind of traction, the truck actually started to slide sideways so I stopped before I made it worse. I put it in neutral, rolled it down to a house my uncle was building at the time and left it in the driveway for a few hours until the snow melted.

The second time was on a muddy job site, but I knew I was likely to get stuck so I had the front pointed towards the road. I simply unloaded the concrete bags out of the bed, and pulled it out slowly with a dump truck and a chain. Luckily even though Chevy didn't give me a locking rear they gave me recovery hooks! So I just put the truck in neutral, had a helper sit in it to steer and brake, and than I just put the dump truck in gear and let it idle SLOW. It popped the truck right out I just didn't want to break anything.

The trick is reading the situation and not getting on soft ground in the first place. On questionable job sites I'll walk them first before going in. The 30 seconds it takes saves me a lot of heart burn. 4wd also doesn't always help, a lot of times it will make the situation worse because it allows you to go in further and get stuck even more!