Whenever the streets are just a tiny bit moist my traction goes straight to hell. Im sliding all over the place. The other day I did a 180 in front of a cop, because the back end got away from me.

My tires (235's) are a little worn, but I still have a decent amount of tread left. They have some sort of all season, light duty truck tread. Does anyone else have a lot of problems with traction? My truck just like most other 2wd trucks sits lower in the front. I'm wondering if the reason my traction sucks is because my back end is getting all the power, but yet most of the weight of the truck is on the front. Say if I get a levler kit, will my traction improve on the back, because the weight of the vehicle will be more evenly distributed? Or do my tires just really suck? Ive heard of people actually putting sand bags in the beds of their trucks just to gain traction....

Thanks
Jon

 

Same thing happens to my truck, especially when I have the 235s on it. I now have 275/60R15s and that has improved some, but it is still bad. I want to get a Limited Slip rear end, so that maybe it can help that problem some more.

 

...and it works like a charm. i aactually had about 8 car batteriess in the bed of my truck last ssummer for about a week and i had zero traction problems with all that extra weight over the rear wheels.

 

Levelling the truck will not affect your front to rear weight distribution, so it will have little affect on traction. You are right that the lack of weight on the rear is the problem. Here in the Great Lakes snow belt, the hardware and building supply stores sell sand in 60# tubes that fit across the bed of a truck. Stick a 2 x 4 behind the wheel wells, throw 4 tubes in behind it and you're good to go all winter. If you get stuck, you've got sand for traction.

If your problem is on wet roads, a limited slip differential will help quite a bit as will softer compound tires. What does your tire wear look like? If you're seeing more wear in the middle of the tread, lower your tire pressure a couple of pounds, that will improve traction too. If you're getting wheel hop, you can try a set of traction bars.

 

The reason I said that about the weight distribution is because my friend with a 96 2WD ranger got a Baja style lift where the front sits much higher than the back. His traction improved greatly. I guess it could have been his new 31 BFG alt ko's, but
im not sure. Im looking for cheap solutions, and getting a non-slip differential is no where in the neighborhood of cheap. I dont know too much about these traction bars though....

 

An spring over axle like on our trucks doesn't work real well with slapper type bars. The Shelby style are much more usable as are Cal-Trax. JC Whitney has the Shelby type for about $70. Cal-Trax are several hundred. Bars are only going to help if you're getting axle hop; they won't do much for wheelspin.

 

Those all terrains are actually gonna help traction alot, i have the same, only the radials, and have minimal traction problems. They have a fairly soft compound, so i would assume those help, by the way, what brand tires do u have?

 

I have Radial RT's

 

If your talking about the RT/S Goodyears that come on the stock Fords thats your problem. The rubber is way to hard! You think they are bad in rain you should see them in snow

If that is the case get a softer rubber tire and you should not have problems. I have used Goodyear AT/S tires for the last 9 years and they are a much softer rubber. They are light truck tires also (RT are not) so your truck will have a better ride in hi winds because of the stiffer sidewalls... you wont get blown around the road as much. My first set whent 60,000+ miles with rotating them every 6,000 to 8,000 miles.

 

I couldnt seem to find the name brand on my tires. I'll look tomorrow, when the light is better.