4wd low traction

[2019RamInSC]

Living in a snow belt, hearing that people use 4wd in the rain blows my mind.

Sounds wierd, but. Depends on the vehicle and tires. I had a brand new 95 Dakota 318 4x4. In the rain at a stop with normal acceleration it would break the rear tires. The rear end was so light. No traction. So I generally put it in 4x4 hi in the rain. I did try to get out of 4x4 when I made a hard turn. Keep it from binding.

Your mileage may vary

 

[JoeCo]

No lies on that one man I had no idea how bad they were. Thanks for the help!


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Anytime, good luck on your tire search, plenty of good ones to choose from. And welcome to the ram forum.

 

[Marshall]

Up where we have lots of ice sometimes, I see young city people driving highway speeds with their cruise control on, that is a real bad idea. The standard Goodyear crap tires that came on my '14 sport where fine first winter, 2 nd winter , at about 30K, you could go, but they would not stop . Got winter tires with wheel and switch, PITA, but better than a wreck.

 

[runamuck]

mine came with the 20" wildpeaks and they seem to grip pretty well. in fact, I have made 3 trips to northern new mexico this year and the truck handled fine on snow covered twisty mountain roads. I normally use 4wd auto for that stuff and even during the summer while driving a cpl. hours in torrential rain on a trip to big bend..all good. in about 25 years of owning 4wd trucks, I have only needed 4wd low a cpl. times. once to pull a friend back onto the road and once crawling thru a field in water almost up to the running boards. I doubt you could throw it into low/low while moving very fast..or would ever need to

 

[Simpleman]

Check out Goodyear adventure all terrain with kevlar just put them on my truck i had the sra's and hated them. Night and day difference with the adventure all terrain

 

[Summit1]

...I have the stock Goodyear tires. Seems i need to upgrade them based on what I’ve seen today.

Most OEM tires are cheap, both in price and quality, but can exact a high cost (usually due to poor traction) as they become the least bit worn. My Firestone Transforce AT's were OK for the first ~10,000 miles, but then showed signs of loss of traction, getting a bit "goosey" on wet roads at ~24,000 miles. I managed to get about 27,000 from them before switching to Cooper Discoverer ATX3-series. Now, the truck rides and handles better in all conditions.

 

[steve pollcat]

Most OEM tires are cheap, both in price and quality, but can exact a high cost (usually due to poor traction) as they become the least bit worn. My Firestone Transforce AT's were OK for the first ~10,000 miles, but then showed signs of loss of traction, getting a bit "goosey" on wet roads at ~24,000 miles. I managed to get about 27,000 from them before switching to Cooper Discoverer ATX3-series. Now, the truck rides and handles better in all conditions.

you are right on. I am at just about the same mileage on the same tires and the same thing is happening. I also researched the Coopers as well and thought they would be the next tire I would put on.

 

[Marshall]

I had some Coopers on the last one and they where good, Toyo's where better in the mud and snow.

 

[aaviator]

Allow me to chime in on hydroplaning with a quick physics lesson. Using 4wd will NOT reduce or help with hydroplaning. Here's why:
All vehicles and all tires WILL hydroplane once they exceed a certain speed. That speed can be determined with a formula:
Vhp = Tt X (Square root of Pt)
Where: Vhp is the velocity when hydroplaning starts
Tt is a value for the tire tread. (Depends on the tire, depth of tread left, etc. but average is around 9-11)
Pt is tire pressure

So, if we use a Tt of 10 and a tire pressure of 36 we find that that tire will begin to plane at about 60 mph
My ram uses a tire pressure of 41, so the sq root is about 6.4. If I have good tires with a Tt of 11, then I will hydroplane at a speed of about 70 mph.

This is greatly simplyfied, because road conditions, water depth, etc all play into it, but it is a good general rule of thumb.
The takeaway is that, even with new, good tread tires, you are susceptible to hydroplaning at highway speeds. The only practical way of preventing it is to SLOW DOWN!!!

 

[eddie046]

Thank you I’m sorry I meant 4wd lock not low. I didn’t know what 4wd auto was before today but I’m now in 4wd auto constantly.


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4WD Auto is great in my opinion when you are driving in reduced traction like heavy rain or in winter where you may be going from dry pavement into snowy/icy patches. Use mine a lot.

 

[Marine Les]

If 4WD Lock actually locks all 4 wheels with locking differentials that would be a huge problem on the highway and make steering control very difficult. If the differentials are not actually locked it sounds like hydroplaning. I would never go into 4WD on the highway just for rain, bad idea.

 

[Firetruck41]

If 4WD Lock actually locks all 4 wheels with locking differentials that would be a huge problem on the highway and make steering control very difficult. If the differentials are not actually locked it sounds like hydroplaning. I would never go into 4WD on the highway just for rain, bad idea.

The front/rear differentials do not lock.

 

[Jendsley06]

I mine came bridgstone duelers. They suck as well

I have the Bridgestone duelers as well. 49k miles now and absolutely no complaints at all. I pull a box trailer sometimes, but everyday driving is mostly highway. Can't recall having any trouble with rain/wet pavement. have picked up a couple of screws which required repair, but definitely better than the Goodyear tires on my sons Ram. Same size tires and his were almost ready for replacement at less than 30k miles when he totaled it.

 

[Hardracer]

I agree with everyone ..you cannot engage 4low whIle moving pretty much anything over 3-5mph..as said 4low light shows on the dash flashing but it is not engaged...I later read our trucks have to "meet certain criteria"for things to happen(like 4low engagement).. as for tires..I have nitto crosstec2 on mine..so far it's been good for me at about 40k now...price wasn't that bad..biggest thing that kinda blew my mind when I got them was in the balacing...I stood right in bay and watched the guy do all 4....a total of less than 1/2oz between all 4 tires...I was like whoa!...I get the rotations every 3-4k(it's free)and had a balacing done at another shop...all right on the money..am totally impressed with them...falkens are good as another has said also.2nd to michys i think in all perfomances from what I've read

 

[TestPilot57]

Side note:

Why does 4WD Auto work so poorly?

On both my '15 and '20, 4WA is 2WD until you start to spin. THEN it engages the front axel. This means that you start to spin, and, a DISCERNIBLE time later, you stop spinning as the front axle clunks in.

IMO, 4WA should work like AWD. I've owned 4 (Corolla All-Trac, Honda Element, GMC Safari and Ford Explorer) and they all work SEAMLESSLY.

Most notable is that you rarely lose traction, because (it seems like) you're always in 4WD!

Now, I'm sure, we're talking about REAL TRUCKS versus cars that wanna be trucks, but they all have the same basic components, why can't trucks be as smart?

I am always going into 4W-Lock to go up my driveway or I will start spinning. But then I have to go back to 2WD at the right time as I am going into my garage or I will get terrible wind-up in the drivetrain (I can't drive/back straight in, I have to go to/near full lock to maneuver to my spot).

 

[Travelin Ram]

Side note:

Why does 4WD Auto work so poorly?

On both my '15 and '20, 4WA is 2WD until you start to spin. THEN it engages the front axel. This means that you start to spin, and, a DISCERNIBLE time later, you stop spinning as the front axle clunks in.

IMO, 4WA should work like AWD. I've owned 4 (Corolla All-Trac, Honda Element, GMC Safari and Ford Explorer) and they all work SEAMLESSLY.

Most notable is that you rarely lose traction, because (it seems like) you're always in 4WD!

Now, I'm sure, we're talking about REAL TRUCKS versus cars that wanna be trucks, but they all have the same basic components, why can't trucks be as smart?

I am always going into 4W-Lock to go up my driveway or I will start spinning. But then I have to go back to 2WD at the right time as I am going into my garage or I will get terrible wind-up in the drivetrain (I can't drive/back straight in, I have to go to/near full lock to maneuver to my spot).

I’ll speculate it’s just poor programming on Ram’s part with respect to that function. The same auto 4x4 function worked perfectly in the Chevy I traded for the Ram. No discernible slip off road or on road before engagement; I expect because they’re monitoring throttle inputs and clamp the transfer case clutches progressively as soon as heavy throttle is applied.

Seems like modern vehicle operation rests on the quality of the software more than the hardware.

Now my HD does not have the auto function, so I can’t claim firsthand experience with Ram’s implementation. It’s possible yours has an issue based on the claims in Borg-Warner literature of “pre-emptive clutch locking torque with zero rear wheel spin”.

Found here: https://www.borgwarner.com/newsroom...r-case-powers-2019-ram-1500-4x4-pickup-trucks

 

[pacofortacos]

Side note:

Why does 4WD Auto work so poorly?

On both my '15 and '20, 4WA is 2WD until you start to spin. THEN it engages the front axel. This means that you start to spin, and, a DISCERNIBLE time later, you stop spinning as the front axle clunks in.

IMO, 4WA should work like AWD. I've owned 4 (Corolla All-Trac, Honda Element, GMC Safari and Ford Explorer) and they all work SEAMLESSLY.

Most notable is that you rarely lose traction, because (it seems like) you're always in 4WD!

Now, I'm sure, we're talking about REAL TRUCKS versus cars that wanna be trucks, but they all have the same basic components, why can't trucks be as smart?

I am always going into 4W-Lock to go up my driveway or I will start spinning. But then I have to go back to 2WD at the right time as I am going into my garage or I will get terrible wind-up in the drivetrain (I can't drive/back straight in, I have to go to/near full lock to maneuver to my spot).

If I had to guess, I would say the biggest reason is fuel economy. Why have it is AWD when 2 WD is all that is needed until slippage is detected?
The mpg hit isn't as big on a light car vs. a heavy truck.

So why not let it spin and engage? Or does that prevent you from making it up?

 

[TestPilot57]

So why not let it spin and engage? Or does that prevent you from making it up?

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. But more-so I just don't like the feeling.

 

[pacofortacos]

You can check to see if BrandonW has a switch for the 2020's yet.
He had one for the 4th gens that is rumored to have worked very well - just like you want it to basically.

 

[Justin33]

Yeah like others said my sra’s suck balls. The roads up here in Maine look like gravel pits. I’m trying to force myself to get some duratracs by turning off the TCL and getting sideways. Side note, how bad is that to be doing?