dalej
texas
Full Member
Joined: 03/19/2006
View Profile
|
Can someone explain why shifting into 4 wheel drive helps. Cant wait to try it too. Dale
2005 Chevy HD2500, ext cab, 4x4, 8.1, allison,lb,srw, 265 75 16's, timbrens
2005 Snowriver 8-10 truck camper
|
JeffPritchard
San Diego California
Senior Member
Joined: 07/13/2003
View Profile
 Offline
|
CO2 in the tires? ??? Air pressure is air pressure.
Worst washboard I ever did in a camper was the one in death valley that goes out to that moving rock place. Even with the finding the sweet spot thing (which does help a lot), I pretty much decided that I would do my best to avoid such roads in the future. It's easiest to just go someplace else and skip the places that are going to wreck your rig.
cheers,
jp
* This post was
edited 07/03/08 11:58pm by an administrator/moderator *
|
jefff929
Pacific wonderland, wet side
Senior Member
Joined: 05/23/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
crashpilot wrote:If you shift into 4 wheel drive on washboarded roads you will see a significant improvement in the way your vehicle handles. Hmmmm... I'll have to see if this works too. Last time I about had my trailer pass me if I did more than 7mph. Yes, I do know this is the TC section, I'm just looking to see if someone knows something I don't already have an idea about. When we were on our way out of the boonies last time out, we saw the result of someone going too fast on that road, it really screwed up someones trip.
2001 Dodge 2500 QC, Diesel, Auto, 4x4 Shortbox, Stull running boards, 24.5' Prowler 5er
Diesel Bombers My Baby
Another NWBomber
|
Matthew_B
The boonies near Dallas, Oregon
Senior Member
Joined: 08/18/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
dalej wrote:Can someone explain why shifting into 4 wheel drive helps. Cant wait to try it too. Dale
When you're in the sweet spot, your tires are only on the road about 1/2 the time. You just don't feel your teeth rattling because the suspension hit resonance so it's not coupling the beating the axle is taking into the truck frame. You have significantly reduced traction so it's easy to slide around.
By shifting into 4x4, you gain a little more control so you don't feel like your going to go into a spin as much.
|
Matthew_B
The boonies near Dallas, Oregon
Senior Member
Joined: 08/18/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
JeffPritchard wrote:CO2 in the tires? ??? Air pressure is air pressure.
CO2 liquefies under pressure, so a lot of gas can fit in a little bottle. Some OHV people carry the CO2 cylinders instead of a compressor. The extraction speed is only limited by cylinder freeze up, and is much faster than portable compressors. When you have 4 or more big tires, filling with a compressor takes a long time.
* This post was
edited 07/03/08 11:58pm by an administrator/moderator *
|
|
|
DonCurley
La Sal, Utah
Senior Member
Joined: 12/27/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
I agree with Matthew on both counts.
I am often in 4WD on washboard roads as it gives you more driving wheels instead of just the rears pushing you. This adds the additional pull of the front end, which can also help with steering and overall stability (particularly if you are pushing your speed a bit for the "sweet spot" approach), where Matthew rightly pointed out your tires are effectively only in contact with the road surface about 50% of the time ... where things can get real squirrelly real quick. 
Jeff ... CO2 is used quite a bit off-road for airing-up tires as Matthew pointed out. For large off-road tires, you either need to have a honking big on-board air compressor or you go with CO2. Otherwise, air-up times can be excessive for really large off-road tires (i.e., 35" or larger). I have Staun internal beadlocks on my Jeep TJ, and with my 35" tires mounted on 15" rims aired down to below 5 PSI, air-up times can approach a half hour per tire with a cheapo 12V air compressor that might otherwise be fine for topping-off a passenger car tire.
-'07 Dodge 3500/QC/SB/SRW/4x4/6.7L CTD/6-spd auto/35" Toyo M/T's/Ride-Rite air bags/RS9000XL shocks
-'07 Apex 8 fully optioned w/220W solar/2 T-145's/2KW Prosine/Honda EU2000i/Tundra fridge/AC/etc
-'00 Jeep Wrangler TJ 4x4, highly modified w/5.9L Magnum V8
|
saltamontes
la, ca
New Member
Joined: 05/06/2004
View Profile
|
4x4 def helps smooth things out. it may have something to do w/ the frt tires "pulling" on the washboards and leveling them out so the rear tires have less of a bump to pass over.
the DV road to the racetrack (what JeffPritchard mentioned above) is very bad.
it helps to drive all over the road (ie, the shoulder on either side) to find the less washboarded rd.
the sweet spot can change w/ severity of the washboards but 30 mph seems to be a good target (also happens to be the speed limit on most of those roads)
re following the grader. Its actually more likely that you will puncture a tire on a sharp rock driving a recently graded road
if anyone has a load/speed chart or a temp range for delamination running low psi (loaded) at speed i would be interested to see it.
07 f350 srw shortbed 4x4
06 Northern-Lite 8'11" Q
|
JoeChiOhki
Keizer, Oregon
Senior Member
Joined: 11/20/2003
View Profile
Offline
|
I usually try and find the spot in the washboard where people's tires aren't. Usually there's a berm of gravel or smoother dirt and I can ride the tires on. It makes for an odd ride some of the time, but managable. One thing I've discovered is having airbags on your rear axle really helps dampen the amount of vibration being transfered up into the camper. My rear axle jars far less over bumps than my front end does because of the air suspension.
CB Channel 17 Space Ghost
'1991.5 Dodge W-250 Power Wagon - Club Cab Long Bed V8 5.9L 4spd H.D Auto 4x4 4.10 Gears
'1974 KIT Kamper 1106 - 11' Slide-in
'1987 Pullman Mini Camper
'2004 Bi-Mart 4x8 Cargo Trailer
|
EricCO
Gilcrest, Colorado
Senior Member
Joined: 04/16/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
I live on a road like this. 2 miles to pavement. We just go slow and curse the whole way. Then I spend the whole time camping searching for and tightening all the weeping water fittings.
2002 Ford F-350 CC LB PSD
2007 Travel Lite 960rx Ultra
1998 Starcraft Superfisherman 170
|
Matthew_B
The boonies near Dallas, Oregon
Senior Member
Joined: 08/18/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
saltamontes wrote:30 mph seems to be a good target (also happens to be the speed limit on most of those roads)
Uh oh, I've really been speeding a few times then 
Is this a FS road speed limit?
|
|
|
