Thread: Traction Control & brake wear

I reckon it would be horrendous on dry sand.
I once lost a rear pad completely on a trip to Fraser in my old 77 and that is without ABS or traction control.
I would look at the rear pads especially as the sand would get thrown up from the front, If the traction control was braking all the time.
All sand driver training says avoid using the brakes. Maybe you should pull the fuse .
Regards Philip A

Originally posted by mrapocalypse
What do you guys reckon the brake wear would be like on a DII with no cdl that's getting TC used a lot.

I spent a day climbing dunes with heaps of gas pedal on my unlocked DII and the smell was amazing. It now pulls to the left on braking but it does that occaisionally. There was also a noise like metal pad backing on disc but it's gone now too. Probably just foreign object...

Interesting thread. I have thought about it before but it hasn't been a problem. If you read your manual you will see it has someway of not overworking itself... ie it only works for 2 minutes continuous and switches off for a break. I don't know whether it works on heat or time...

At anyrate, our fender has etc, and in 10 days in the desert climbing dunes it only ever worked occasionally. My experience of it has been you are in a situation where you feel the car start to dig in, and then you hear a clatter and then the car climbs up again and proceeds, so it only operates for a couple of seconds at a time. I don't think it's as good as proper difflocks, but I think it's much better than none at all.

Have you got a CDL? If you don't that might be why it's working hard? If the going is hard I always swing the lever to lock on the fender.

Our fender has now done 15k, and if you calculated the hours has probably done more than most 4wds will ever do in difficult sandy conditions. So far, there is no evidence of brake wear... pads look good, and no disc lip.

EDIT: sorry I re-read and see you said you don't have CDL. Maybe you should look at fitting it if possible. Perhaps have a drive of a disco with it fitted on a club outing and see what diff it makes (Pun intended )

I need a whole new transfer case for a CDL, so I'm happy with swapping a few brake pads.

The TC actually works well enough in sand, as long as you pour the power on, which I think is why I smelt the burning. Your problem as with most TC troubles is on hills with no momentum.

When the front end has locked itself up and the weight of the car and the friction from locked front end is all on the back wheels.
In sand it's when you dig deepest I found. Didn't get stuck once although I took car not to dig in.

A v8 auto with ETC is an advantage as i found all that low torque kept me moving and hitting the dune at speed in high gear low range is a winner.

I'd definately recommend the CDL retro fit.

Les Richmond can supply the few parts required to convert (it doesnt require a complete TC)

There are several situations which are outright dangerous without CDl - hence LR Aus refitting it later in its model run.

I have an appointment to run to now, but will post examples upon my return.

Definately get the CDL, you & your vehicle will be much happier for it.

You stress wise, the vehicle wear wise.

Cheers
Mike