Thread: Scary moment on general grabbers

Originally Posted by alittlebitconcerned

There may be another element at play as well. Does your Defender have traction control? Mine is an 08' 110 and I've long since learnt to pull the TC/ABS fuse before going on gravel roads. I'm currently swanning around central and far north QLD and the 110 behaves much better without the t/c engaged when on unsealed roads.

i have never driven a car with traction control but thought you had to loose traction for TC to kick in?

is this with CDL dis-engaged?

maybe engage CDL and leave the fuse in place as ABS would be handy if say a roo jumps out in front of you

Originally Posted by alittlebitconcerned

There may be another element at play as well. Does your Defender have traction control? Mine is an 08' 110 and I've long since learnt to pull the TC/ABS fuse before going on gravel roads. I'm currently swanning around central and far north QLD and the 110 behaves much better without the t/c engaged when on unsealed roads.

Considering the TC doesn't function over about 50km/h I call BS

If you are getting TC cutting in on fast dirt- something is very wrong...

Hope you got the idea tyre pressures adjust and centre diff lock when on dirt .

I run 31/10.5x15 in a heavy D1 and i run 35 psi and centre diff lock on gravel roads

Our Disco handles way better on gravel at speed with the CDL in. Without it sometimes it will understeer, others oversteer depending on incline, camber, road surface and road speed. With CDL in the understeer is moderate if braking hard into a corner but it's very predictable and easily corrected with application of throttle.

However, it is ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that you have the same tyre diameter front and back if you're going to drive that way. Be aware that nearly all nominal tyre sizes measure slightly differently across the brands, so a BFG 225/75 R16 AT will be different to a Goodyear MTR of the same nominal size... etc etc.

As others have pointed out, tyre pressure is important.

If you are going too fast for the conditions, changing the tyre pressure, tyre size, tread pattern or brand of tyre won't help much.

There are plenty of gravel roads where 60 is too fast. Some surfaces that look reasonably smooth aren't much better than diving over ball bearings.

Originally Posted by Tombie

Considering the TC doesn't function over about 50km/h I call BS

If you are getting TC cutting in on fast dirt- something is very wrong...

I reckon he is referring to the ABS rather than the TC. I have had a few 's on gravel with the TC "skipping" over the top of the gravel rather than digging in.

But I doubt this is the problem with the original post. I would support the high pressure making the back end rather jittery.

Knock the tyre pressures down for gravel, leave the CDL disconnected for all hard surfaces and lock the CDL only when you find that you do have wheel spin.

Sock absorbers that are past their prime or too light for the job, are another cause of tail wag.
.

Yeah, like others I'd say tyres down to about 35 (my BFG ATs go best at 35 and my MTRs at 32) on skatey gravel, same size tyres front and rear and lock the CDL on the loose gravel.