Ideas for better driving in the rain

[adsm08]

I used to do that. I've drifted on the street, whipped a 180* U-ie with tires squealing and smoking. I used to go to this gravel road near my parent's house and do long peel outs there so I didn't dink up my tires.

 

[straycat]

My truck's BFG/AT tires hydroplane like crazy, even at low speed. Terrible in rain. They spinout & skid on wet pavement so easily, cuz back-end is too light. So I switch on 4x4 mode in rain, which helps. BTW, my daily commute is all under 35 mph, w/ gentle driving, and these tires still scare me.

The car has Goodyear Tripletread tires which are awesome and do NOT hydroplane at any speed. Darn good tires in snow too. These tires are kick-ass! But not so sexy on a 4x4.

Aside: those yellow eye-glasses from A/C leak detector kits are great for enhanced visibility in rain, overcast, or at night. They improve contrast & make clearer vision. At night, they eliminate glare of oncoming headlights (no squinting).

You know, I have 33x12.5x15 BFG KO tires and they never hydroplane on me. I drive at 60 mph in the rain and never had any issues. I am on my second set in 12 years on my 99 Ranger and I love them. I have several buddies who have them and never had any hydroplane issues. Very strange. This is why I chose them again since we get a lot of rain here in Florida. I feel safe on the roads here in the rain. Great traction and great handling tires.

 

[shane96ranger]

Hehe one time I was screwing around on a loose, pea gravel road in the 94 2.3 2x. Trees on both sides, only room for 1 car...

Was doing 45 and slammed on the brakes... I rock-planed to a stop. That was pretty scary, but to hell if it didn't make me a better driver. Just held the wheel steady and rode it out.

Used to go to a flea market parking lot in off hours and do power slides on the gravel. I had that truck going sideways at 30mph with my hungover buddy about to puke out the window, he wasn't happy but I was entertained. Steering out too fast and whipping the rear was fun too.

Now remember that that was for fun, if you did that on the road, especially in poor conditions, people would be going to the hospital if not the coroners office.

I used to do that. I've drifted on the street, whipped a 180* U-ie with tires squealing and smoking. I used to go to this gravel road near my parent's house and do long peel outs there so I didn't dink up my tires.

Pretty much what I mean right here. These experiences have made me one hell of a defensive driver. I still don't know how someone can drive right next to a semi for miles and miles.... especially right in their blind spot. You always have to assume everyone else on the road is clueless - because most of the time that's true.

You know, I have 33x12.5x15 BFG KO tires and they never hydroplane on me. I drive at 60 mph in the rain and never had any issues.

Same here. I think they are the best looking and performing tire I've ever owned.

 

[FritzTKatt]

I hate being around semi's period. I know they can't see me and that's what scares me. I don't know if that guy's stupid, intoxicated, a real professional driver, or what... People on the road scare me anyway. Especially in Jersey here. They're so damn stupid, and in such a rush to get no where. Bottom line, don't trust anyone on the road but yourself, and until you know what you're doing, don't trust yourself, just rely on your training.

Don'tcha love the retards who pass you, to slam on the brakes, to hit a red light?

Sometimes I play a little game with myself when there's noone out on the road. Come up to a redlight, and from where you would "normally" brake at, pick a spot, maybe 30 feet short. Stop at that without losing control. Learn to be able to stop quicker and more controlled. Then when some idiot cuts you off in the pouring rain or that little kid goes and chases his baseball...

Watch out for people riding your ass too. If your vehicle can stop faster than theirs, and trust me, if your brakes are good, that ranger will stop faster than at least 2/3 of the cars on the road when you need it to. So when idiot is riding your ass like a cheap whore, and you have to stop... you may get some "custom" body work done courtesy of idiot.

Not that anyone else should take this ideology (rather, at your own risk), I'd rather use a tree to help my braking than somebody's rear end. I'd put my truck in the ditch before hitting someone if I had the choice.

 

[shane96ranger]

Don'tcha love the retards who pass you, to slam on the brakes, to hit a red light?

[Tangent]

I was riding shotgun one time and my buddy was driving. Some douche bag went flying by us just to hit a red light 100 yards ahead. At the light we all had our windows down, and my buddy says really loudly "Did you see how fast that Bastard got to the light? That was effin' amazing". That was the longest lights that guy ever sat through.... I literally watched him sink in his chair.

[/Tangent]

 

[FritzTKatt]

Haha... I had a guy in a little POS wanna-be sports car bobbing and weaving traffic, but I ended up a car or 2 behind him at every light anyway... I got close and his mirror said (in matching color to the crappy paintjob) "objects in mirror are losing"... I thought he must not realize that I might be losing, but in the end I've won.

Driving safe and obeying the traffic laws (in some instances are 2 different things, hehe), will get you where you're going in one piece and every other sane individual on the road will thank you.

 

[bobbywalter]

you getting all of this kid




























.....yeah.....we are all crazy.

 

[killj0y]

I hate being around semi's period. I know they can't see me and that's what scares me. I don't know if that guy's stupid, intoxicated, a real professional driver, or what... People on the road scare me anyway. Especially in Jersey here. They're so damn stupid, and in such a rush to get no where. Bottom line, don't trust anyone on the road but yourself, and until you know what you're doing, don't trust yourself, just rely on your training.

This is what I used to tell my wife all the time, but she insisted she was a good driver. I always said "I trust your driving, i just don't trust every other as$hole on the road"

She always brushed me off until last year or so when she had a bad accident because of an idiot driver who jumped in front of her and she T-boned her. Now she is super cautious to the point of paranoia but mostly good. Before she drove fast and somewhat careless, hell she would start fights with people on the road lol. Now she she thinks twice cuz you never know if that other driver is gonna snap....

 

[AgPete139]

I'll agree to the above, in that people don't pay attention and they are going to hit you.

After riding a motorcycle, you become a very defensive driver. Very. People ARE clueless, especially now with phones available to everyone.



1237jjm, there really is no absolute secret. Just practice and get used to that curve/turn/hill. Go slow, and be careful. Over time, you'll get faster. There is no other way to do it.

People cause accidents, wreck their vehicle, and endanger others by driving outside of their limits. Pissing off the guy behind you is better than giving him whiplash with a lawsuit to follow.

Start off applying only a little bit of gas at a time, and use smooth, gradual pedal movement. Anything abrupt will cause you to spin out in the rain.


Now, let me ask you this: is there a lot of gas pedal play & movement? If so, you may have to shim up the pedal for corrected throttle response.




.

 

[cvar]

BJ's tire shop guy (who has a lifted 4x4 Ranger!) advised me that rubber tires harden after about 6 yrs (like pencil eraser), so old tires are slippery. I'll bet that's why my 10+ y.o tires are scary. Time for new tires. Big knobby ones!

 

[Mark_88]

I usually (more often than not) buy tires used from a scrap yard...and only recently learned how to tell what year they were manufactured in...so the set I have on my truck now are all withing three years old..

That's good advise about the age of the tire...the OP may just have old tires that need to be changed out...

 

[pontiacfieroguy]

for the benefit of the potentially uninformed the way to date a tire other than asking it if it comes here often and if you can buy it a drink is to look at the last four digits of the dot number the first two are the week and the last two are the year. often times the date code is only on one side of the tire even though they put a dot code on both sides. the dot code. is used to ifentify the manufacturer and batch in case of defects so that they can be tracked

 

[FritzTKatt]

Did jim? get any of this or did he forget about it? I did find it rude myself that some people told him he's just an idiot kid. We all were at one point, and the way i see it, he's trying to learn by teaching than bad experience and i don't blame him one bit. Better we give him solid advice and prevent bad fortune for him and hopefully he can pass it onto his friends when they start driving. We'll all be better off that way.

 

[wr250rdr]

How do you guys get more then a few years out of your tires? I'm putting new rubber on all my cars every few years. Though they all average about 20 to 30k per year

 

[--weezl--]

ok, about ls/open diffs, if the traction issue is spinning out around corners, do NOT go with a limited slip, it will make you spin out more, if it's going up a hill, and you get the 1 tire fire, then yes, it will help

tires are a big thing, as many others have said, and i've got 2 sets og bgf's for my ranger, super happy with both! 31x10.5x15 ko's and 33x12.5x15 km2's would recommend either of them hands down! never hydroplaned with either, but they both suck on ice, the ko's are not very good in deep snow, but a light dusting they are fine...