Road traction. interstate. in the rain..

[jzjames]

I was thinking of some of my trips on I-5 in WA and OR. When the road was wet, and I'm keeping up with traffic, my Flareside's rear tires loose traction going down a grade with a curve. Terwilliger curves in Portland comes to mind. Really have to watch it or it seems like it could easily fishtail into a slide. Bridgestone tires with good tread. Its kind of unnerving, is this just how it is driving a pickup in the rain?

[rjewkes]

As i recall Terwilliger is tough on all vehicles and tires, pickups and semi's i'm sure are hit worse. I do remember when i lived in oregon even as far south as Grants pass and medford and takilma/ Cave junction we always heard horro stories every year of xx amount of drivers dead or serously injured by Terwilliger.

And when they was using F-patch to patch the pot holes and sink holes it was even worse for traction. it would patch wet and cold but then it would be slick as all get out in that same condition even after fully curing.

[jzjames]

Mt Hood in Oregon. The best state.

[1971ford]

Load up the bed.
I race my '71 as most of you know and one of the big things was getting the power to the dirt (as well as, in your case, braking power to the wet road). A 32 gallon fuel cell (250 pounds when full), 2 fullsize 35" spare tires, jack, tools, battery, all in the bed.
If only i could put my 429 back there...

[ezernut9mm]

all i will say is never lift down hill in a curve! . i almost died in my 99 lightning doing about 80 into a downward sweeping curve and i just let off the gas and the ass end started to come around. i like to be in control at that speed and i was not. almost kissed a bridge pillar that night.

[averagef250]

Handling that bad doesn't sound right to me. I never had that problem with my F100 2wd bumps. Though, I always had 215/85R16 tires on them with about 5" of tread contact so they kicked butt in rain.

Running wide tires without enough weight to keep them planted is on the dump end of things.

I drive Terwilliger everyday and have driven I-5 from SF, CA to Marysville, WA quite a bit. Within a month of getting my license I raced a 13 second 5.0 Mustang in my SWB chevy from the old illegal drags in Vancouver to Wilsonville and lost my driver's side mirror to the concrete median on terwilliger going about 95. I still remember the "Oh sh*t" feeling I got when I hit those curves at about 110 and how much muscle it took to pull the wheel to steer it. Many years later a short in the trailer brakes on my car trailer locked the brakes right in the worst place through terrwilliger, that puckered my butt too.

[flyboy2610]

Within a month of getting my license I raced a 13 second 5.0 Mustang in my SWB chevy from the old illegal drags in Vancouver to Wilsonville and lost my driver's side mirror to the concrete median on terwilliger going about 95. I still remember the "Oh sh*t" feeling I got when I hit those curves at about 110 and how much muscle it took to pull the wheel to steer it.

Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly. Death has no minimum age.

[BobbyFord]

Within a month of getting my license I raced a 13 second 5.0 Mustang in my SWB chevy from the old illegal drags in Vancouver to Wilsonville and lost my driver's side mirror to the concrete median on terwilliger going about 95. I still remember the "Oh sh*t" feeling I got when I hit those curves at about 110 and how much muscle it took to pull the wheel to steer it.

Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly. Death has no minimum age.

dyin' ain't healthy either

[TheEskimo]

Since we are on the subject of the rear of the trucks being too light with no load, anyone ever tried one of those water bags that are made for the bed to keep it weighted down? If I recall correctly it is made by a company called Surtraxs or something simmilar.

[cdeal28078]

The only problems I have had in the rain is when I give it too much gas and the rear ends locks up and comes around. That is usually for fun though. I can't say I've ever hydroplaned in my 71 F100.
I also have to say that my truck has always been pretty good in the snow without a bunch of weight in the back. I always thought it was due to the front tires tracking wider then the back and leaving fresh snow for the rears. It was always kind of strange to me how I could get stuck in a flat yard with wet grass and go about anywhere I wanted on a snow covered road. We don't get that much snow here in NC so I'm not talking about 12" of snow but still a snow covered road say about 6-8" I go where I want. Haven't tried it since I got the Richmond Lock-Rite in there
clint