I almost lost my B2 last week...

[mr_manny]

The other morning I gathered some tools and headed to my moms, who lives 1.5hrs away.
She wanted me to install some mosquito lamps on her front porch. I also brought some pruning gear, cause she also has a bunch of that kinda work at her place.
I encountered some rain along the way, perfect excuse to use my Bronco's intermittent wipers.
My other vehicles don't have this feature, which I appreciate when it's a light drizzle.

Rainy season is almost upon us, so the weather wasn't a surprise.
I felt the rear slip a little, which caught me off-guard. I slowed and thought I should remember this section for when I'm headed back.
A few curves later I was in a FULL slide. I don't have much experience in full-on slides, or black ice for that matter.
I started pumping the brakes, thinking It might promote some steering vs brakes being locked.
As I was pumping the brakes, I slid across the on-coming traffic lane and headed towards the edge of the country road.
I thought I'm going over, I was repeating this in my head...I'm going over.
The edge got closer and closer...finally coming to a stop with the Bronco completely off the asphalt. I think I had about 1-2feet to spare, before I would have gone over.

I tried to back up, but wasn't getting any traction (rear passenger tire was just digging a hole).
I carefully got out and reviewed the situation, and next steps. Still startled and thanking my lucky stars, I proceeded to lock the front hubs.
Just as I finished, I heard a sliding noise getting closer and closer. As I backed away, a Nissan truck came sliding off the road and rolled down the embankment. Initially I thought he was going to slide into me, but somehow managed to slide just behind the Bronco.

The cab of the Nissan was crushed, so I went down and pried on the door for the driver to get out.
When I went over what had happened, I wondered if pulsating the brakes got me further down the road...out of the impact zone?
That night when I went to sleep, I kept seeing myself sliding across the road each time I closed my eyes.
Super fortunate as this could have gone very wrong.

Here is a pic I took, as I was on my way back (you can see the totaled Nissan on the flatbed).

A short video of my bronco and the Nissan driver on the side of the road.

IMG_5092.MOV

drive.google.com

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Just an fyi....if youre sliding pumping brakes is one of the worst things to do.

Let off the throttle, if youre in a manual get the clutch down, and make gentle steering movements to correct whatevers going on.

Sounds though like you kept the panic to a minimum. Which is a big plus. So many people in that situation just panic, spike the brakes, and wildly start cranking the wheel.

Glad you and the B2 made it out ok

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The other morning I gathered some tools and headed to my moms, who lives 1.5hrs away.
She wanted me to install some mosquito lamps on her front porch. I also brought some pruning gear, cause she also has a bunch of that kinda work at her place.
I encountered some rain along the way, perfect excuse to use my Bronco's intermittent wipers.
My other vehicles don't have this feature, which I appreciate when it's a light drizzle.

Rainy season is almost upon us, so the weather wasn't a surprise.
I felt the rear slip a little, which caught me off-guard. I slowed and thought I should remember this section for when I'm headed back.
A few curves later I was in a FULL slide. I don't have much experience in full-on slides, or black ice for that matter.
I started pumping the brakes, thinking It might promote some steering vs brakes being locked.
As I was pumping the brakes, I slid across the on-coming traffic lane and headed towards the edge of the country road.
I thought I'm going over, I was repeating this in my head...I'm going over.
The edge got closer and closer...finally coming to a stop with the Bronco completely off the asphalt. I think I had about 1-2feet to spare, before I would have gone over.

I tried to back up, but wasn't getting any traction (rear passenger tire was just digging a hole).
I carefully got out and reviewed the situation, and next steps. Still startled and thanking my lucky stars, I proceeded to lock the front hubs.
Just as I finished, I heard a sliding noise getting closer and closer. As I backed away, a Nissan truck came sliding off the road and rolled down the embankment. Initially I thought he was going to slide into me, but somehow managed to slide just behind the Bronco.

The cab of the Nissan was crushed, so I went down and pried on the door for the driver to get out.
When I went over what had happened, I wondered if pulsating the brakes got me further down the road...out of the impact zone?
That night when I went to sleep, I kept seeing myself sliding across the road each time I closed my eyes.
Super fortunate as this could have gone very wrong.

Here is a pic I took, as I was on my way back (you can see the totaled Nissan on the flatbed).

View attachment 144259

A short video of my bronco and the Nissan driver on the side of the road.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S4KTvzrzIn4c2caRjdpFeOr6enXgph7K/view?usp=drive_link

Youneed to allow access to the file.

 

[mr_manny]

Updated file permissions.

Thanks for the kind words, and sliding tips...hope I won't have to need them

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The most important thing you can do when things are heading towards disaster is to not panic. Also trying to shove the brake pedal through the floor is usually the wrong move, yet it’s the most common mistake most people make.

I’m going to sort of disagree with Rusty. Pumping the brakes is usually better than shoving the pedal through the floor. Depending on the situation that can give you some element of control. Really low traction situations though, usually absolute minimum to no braking is usually best, downshift (even with an automatic) and stay off the gas unless you need some throttle to try and bring back control. It’s a whole balancing game and no two situations are exactly the same.

I remember way back when I was in college and driving the 89 Eddie
Bauer B2 that I had. Was coming up to a light that had just turned red and every time I touched the brakes I went into a slide because of the ice on the road, so I couldn’t stop even though I was only doing about 20 mph. I was already in 4x4 and there was a nice big snowbank next to the road so I cranked the wheel a bit and tapped the gas enough to change course and catch the snowbank to stop. Then I backed out and crawled the rest of the way to the light in first.

Glad you and your B2 are alright!

 

[Uncle Gump]

I can't get the video to load. But I see your tires... well tire... RR. Appears to be a mud terrain... and maybe the center tread is worn out a bit? Not a good combo for wet black top.

Glad you're ok... and the truck. The only other thing I'll add is when that Bronco II settled ... your first move is to get out of the "zone". As you now know... trouble was following you.