I have a 79 XC Fairmont project car and I'm going to be replacing my full suspension and steering soon.
It has a blown rear shock and sagging leaf springs and an open diff and it's a bit difficult to get up my concrete drive. It's got (probably) quite old BF Michelin tyres, 245s on the rear. I'm planning on getting an LSD at the same time I replace my suspension, but what I'm wondering is how much the faults I have affect the ability of the car getting up my drive.
I know worn suspension will affect driving on the road, etc, but I'm talking about slow wheel spin when I touch the throttle crawling up my drive at 5kph.
The wheel isn't hopping as it spins and it's hard to feel that it actually is, but you can hear it, so to me it sounds like the worn suspension isn't affecting it, as the tyres are firmly on the concrete at all times.
mugenb20b,
Jun 6, 6:38pm
So, you have a steep driveway!
fordcrzy,
Jun 6, 6:44pm
soft suspension will not allow the weight to transfer to the ground properly resulting in (shock horror dont tell the cops) loss of traction. the stiffer you r suspension the more weight it will transfer to the ground.this will resut in more traction up to the point where you lose traction if that makes sense.
xacoon,
Jun 6, 6:47pm
i have run steeper driveways in my coons no problem, maybe the tyres are too far past it! rubber hardened up a bit much!
ryans,
Jun 6, 7:28pm
Thanks for the feedback, they tyres are pretty worn, which would indicate they're pretty old.
Actually, come to think of it, I've only driven the car up the drive 3 times, the first time was forward, with no problem, second time was backward, which was harder (as you'd expect) but achievable when I loaded the boot and back seat up with some weight, the 3rd time was after I moved the BFs to the rear axle.
Looks like it'll be the tyres, after all.
I think I'll stay with the open diff for now, which will save some money and mean I won't have to wait around trying to find a reasonable price one and can do some work sooner.
jason_247,
Jun 6, 8:49pm
give it heaps at some point between old and hard and exploding tyre im sure it will a sweet soft spot and grip a little
danchop,
Jun 6, 8:54pm
you have 2 recycle bins!im envious
ryans,
Jun 6, 8:55pm
That picture is from before I bought the house, we only have one.
sr2,
Jun 7, 9:18am
Ahh, a question from a man with not only discerning taste but an eye for detail. I too have pondered running a ???dual recycling bin??? setup but am worried by the public humiliation I would face if I ever failed to have both bins filled on collection day, can anyone help!
gunhand,
Jun 7, 9:27am
unless theres some of the shot missing that driveway isnt that steep.Are you able to get abit of a run at it! All good till you have to slow at the top but it might help. Let more air out of your tyre it may help. sounds lik there knackerd anyway. I assume you dont want to go up and down all the time but just getting her in for the rebuild!
ryans,
May 16, 3:43am
Yup, it'll be the tyres, it was last night while typing out a reply that I realised I had switched the tyres from front to back, I had already let down the tyres quite a bit, so they must be well past it now. Atleast now I don't need to worry about flat spots from having the car parked up for a while.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.