Notice I said accidental! Last Sat. night coming home I was behind some small white car moving to right turn lane for making a right turn. He applies brakes strongly, so do I since I want to leave plenty of room between us, not knowing what he's going to do. Making the turn while foot on brake. Just after turn, my foot slips off brake onto gas,but not that hard. No wheel chirp or blower whine. Then it starts to fishtail, I let off gas, correct steering and it straightens out. Wheel hop jumped the rear end to left and then back to right when I corrected. This was all done at pretty low speed. Has this happened to any of you guys?

Search indicated wheel hop might have been problem due to LSD? Some are saying a friction modifier can help this problem. One unknown is if steering wheel was totally straight when foot slipped off brake onto gas. I'm an old feller like Lightningrod,except my truck is stock & never been to the strip!

Is this common? Without getting drastic, any suspension or alignment cures? Would really appreciate hearing of any of your experiences and remedies. Thanks!

 

I once had a New S-10 that the rear pads would be "sticky" on. It caused me to get the rearend loose a few times. But that was only under braking lightly.

Only other thing I could think of was just the circumstances might have been just right for you to see this? Road surface, chassie pitch, timing of the braking release, throttle, ect...

You might want to see if you can re-produce this and then take a service manager for a demo ride.

Rich B

 

i like to let the rear kick out on the 2nd gear shift. FTVB rocks!

 

The only accidental fishtail I remember is passing someone on a 25mph road: I punched it to go around some tractor doing 15, and never realized I was fishtailing until I got in the other lane, and my rear-end tried going for the shoulder. Never heard it spinning, only saw the cloud of smoke behind me after the somewhat scary incident was over.

I fishtailed so bad, when I corrected, it almost felt like the backend was going to come around and take out this poor farmer on his tractor!

Never again will I punch it like that in cold weather to get around someone. Really scared the p!ss out of me!

 

how can you not tell?
I can tell when the air pressure in my tires are different.
(One tire was 4 pounds under the rest)

 

jake:

Happened by "accident" early this am.....was in Athens going at 40 mph....another F-150 wanted to play....the temp was cold...
Nailed it at 40...fishtailed immediately...I caught it in time since by now I know what cold air does to these beasts...needless to say the F-150 driver had a shocked look on his face...these trucks behave quite differently at 80 degrees vrs 30 degrees...the first winter when had my 2000L...it was the the first time that season the temp dropped to 30 degrees....was backing out of my garage like I do every morning...neighbors were outside getting ready to go to work also...layed a patch of rubber BACKING DOWN the driveway......did not expect the HP difference from the warm day before to the COLD next morning...I was embarassed and understandably my neighbors looked at me rather oddly......
SO be carefull.

 

I was turning up a hill one night and gradually punched it. She went to the left then to the right. Before I knew it, I did a 360 in the street and ended up in a driveway facing the road. If someone saw it, they would have thought I was a professional driver. Scared the hell out of me. I was lucky I didn't hit anything. Note to self, don't punch it when the wheels are turned.

John

 

i did something like that once in my xlt, i was just taking a normal turn, not going fast or anything, i had actually stopped and was taking a right turn and suddenly i did a 360. No tire smoke or anything, never figured out what happened.

I think for the most part unless your getting it regularily, it's was probably just a road condition. Realize that you are a front heavy truck, with more power than traction, and you have a lot of torque in the back end there.

I-menace, if you really can tell difference of 4 lbs in your tires that is badass, i wouldn't notice, in fact i didn't a couple times, i check my tire pressure and oil every fill up tho.

 

I had my back end kick out on an offramp when it was raining. Wasn't even going fast even. Other then that, it only fishtails when I want it to.

Although large bumps can give it a squirrely feeling

 

With new F1's I never hear the tires spinning. ESPECIALLY in cold weather. They seem to just "float" on the concrete streets out here. Look back, and you typically don't see any tire marks when it's this cold.

 

Yes I agree. The F1's don't make any sound that I can hear above my going wooohoo.

It sounds to me like the original thread starter my need to take a good sport driving class or maybe get a AWD vehicle instead. These L's are high powered with limited slip and lots of weight on the front and not the back, add in cool damp weather and you've got a recipie for loss of control. Sometimes it would be nice if the L's came with a defeatable traction control light the mustangs have. BTW not intended to flame anyone.

 

jakemarietta, the fishtailing was probably due to the weight shift to the front under braking. This unloaded the rear, reducing traction. Also, approaching stoplights/stopsigns is where you find the most oil/antifreeze/ect on the road, which can exacerbate traction problems, whether braking or accelerating.

For those who say the L loses traction quickly, and is hard to control, try driving a modded 5.0 mustang (especially in the rain!). When you get back in the L, you'll think it's a piece of cake to keep straight.

 

Monday morning I was on myt way to work at 0500. I'm at this stoplight and a guy turns onto the street in front of me as the light turns green. This minivan next to me floors it so I will get stuck behind the car and I slowly ease into the throttle about 3/4. I didn't even know I was burning the tires till it starting sliding right, then left. I was passing the guy in the minivan as the tires were still burning up. I love the cold weather this time of year in Pensacola.

 

venomous that's awesome!
Shane

 

yup..i have. I was on the way back to CT after Dyno day in LI. There was some rain that had fallen early in the AM - like 4 or so. I was at a toll booth and pulling out behind a buick lesabre (probably going like 40 mph or so). The guy was like 190 years old, so i went to pass him.....bad idea. I literally saw my tow hitch! I straightened it out and continued along at like 55 since i had scared myself *****less and thought that a cop was waiting at the toll booth for someone like me....