Nasty skid

[patzx12]

Had a nasty skid with my 3rd gen intercooled, I think it was the front wheels that broke away. Worst skid I have had and this is my third Surf.
Doing about 30 on a greasy West of Ire road missed the stone walls and ran up a grass banking. No damage.
I could do nothing about it.
I am going to replace the Tyres fronts are a bit thin and start using 4WD in the wet or damp.
Do you 3rd gen owners use full time 4WD ?

[welshsurf]

Ref Skid

No...use 4 wheel only in the wet stuff or the white stuff and loose surface
Is your ABS working ok....Try some 50/50 tyres...

[patzx12]

Center diff

Looking at prev posts I think we should be in H4 on wet surfaces.
The 3rd gen does have a center diff.
H4 is permanant 4WD.
H4L is diff lock, not for tarmac use.
My 3rd gen runs OK in H4 on tarmac and safer.

[Morr]

You can certainly run in 4wd with the 3rd Gen permanently if you wish.
Personally I only use 4wd on tarmac when we have a heavy downpour after a dry spell leading to greasy roads, in addition of course to ice & snow etc.
I also find one or two other uses, when crossing main roads where the side-road your on will have a lot of gravel etc at its mouth, 4wd will help you get across the main road quickly without the risk of spinning your rear tyres and sitting still. Of course you have to engage the 4wd as you approach the crossing so this use is really for roads you already know well, and know will benefit from its use.

If your skid was due to your front wheels sliding, then its doubtful having been in 4wd would have prevented the slide, as the front wheels slid thru lack of adhesion rather then the application of too much power.
The main reason 4wd is useful on tarmac is it distributes the power over a greater number of wheels thus reducing the possibility of a wheel loosing traction due to the application of too much power and thus sliding. It does not actually increase your overall traction or grip. (obviously off-road its a different story)

[patzx12]

Thanks Morr, I may not have been the front that broke away just a gut feeling. I will always use H4 on wet roads.
Glad I wasn't on my motorcycle that nite the rural roads in Ireland are a disgrace. I am just back from a 3000kl spin around Europe on the bike and hardly saw a bad road.

[max6674]

My ex Mrs had a nice skid in my first Surf (gen 2).


Look to your left and you will see the damage... he he



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[andrewlee31]

if your still on the rubber it came into the country on then the first thing i would do is skip it and get some fresh softer compound tyres on. jap stuff is hard as marble

[coolsv650]

if your still on the rubber it came into the country on then the first thing i would do is skip it and get some fresh softer compound tyres on. jap stuff is hard as marble

Nah there not...........




............ Marble is much softer!!!!

I had a few "brown trouser" moment with the jap yokohama's on, swopped to kumho power 70's and it's much better

[davidwilson666]

Had my Surf for 3 months or so now and is still on jap rubber, great in the dry, dreadful in the wet, really have to tip-toe round roundabouts. I've just come back from a 3,000 mile trip round France, and had a brown trouser moment in the wet, when I tried to make a slight correction going round a corner and the Surf decided to fishtail!

[Tallyman]

I've got Yokohama Geolander H/T's on mine which came with it when it was imported in 2003. I've had no problems at all with them, wet or dry, but I do take it a little bit easier in the wet.

I know what you mean about Jap tyres though. Had a little jap m/c in the 70's that had Yokohama World Tour tyres on and they were almost lethal, even in the dry.

[plumb bob]

I had Bridgestone Duellers on mine when I got it, ( Jap tyres I'm pretty sure) and had no probs wet or dry, also have Bridgestones on my 35cwt van and it's as sure footed as one could expect from a vehicle of it's size, although it does have ABS, whereas my Surf don't so I'm a bit more cautious even with my new Coopers on.

The only reason I fitted the Coopers was I couldn't get the Bridgestones in this country.