Comments on: Braking on Ice 101: When Rubber Meets Ice on the Trail

By: JCWages

JCWages — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 03:58:54 +0000

[QUOTE="Lassen, post: 78211, member: 4414"]Quick question regarding cold weather. At what point, if any, will cold begin to impact tire elasticity so much that tire "hardness" might become an issue and impact its "grippiness?" If at all. I'm a Californian, so I don't deal with this much. Just curious if it does.

Sent from my iPad using Overland Bound Talk[/QUOTE]

I realize this is an old revived thread but since no one has answered the question above I wanted to contribute to the knowledgebase.

The commonly accepted temperature at which "all-season" tires begin to harden and traction levels drop drastically is 45F/7C. However, traction levels actually start to drop off well above 45F. According to America's Tire, traction levels may start dropping at 75F depending on the specific tire and compound. https://www.americastire.com/learn/tires-below-45

This also helps explain why traction boards like Maxtrax become less effective in very cold temperatures. The rubber is just too stiff to mechanically key to the spikes on the boards.

[MEDIA=youtube]ktNgMdcpCdM[/MEDIA]

Another good video by Continental

[MEDIA=youtube]clSC7APitaQ[/MEDIA]

By: Gary Danis

Gary Danis — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 16:49:55 +0000

Tire compound has a lot of influence on braking. summer / all season compounds do not have as much grip as pure snow tires. So go slow when the tmps drops if you don’t have a cold weather tire compound. Be Safe.

By: Doug2003

Doug2003 — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 14:26:16 +0000

Thank you for taking your time to make the video.

By: drrobinson

drrobinson — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 21:44:36 +0000

Great demo, thanks for the effort.

By: OkiGoose

OkiGoose — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 08:24:20 +0000

As a driver from the North and a multiple time non-ABS owning driver, these skills came with learning the road. Always good to refresh though.

Meanwhile I’m looking at your wheels and tires for my 80 series… truck looks really good!

By: AKBushDag

AKBushDag — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 18:31:15 +0000

[QUOTE="atIOIYIOI, post: 80684, member: 8494"]David, any time a diff is truely locked, the computer has no choice but to disable the ABS, or disable the diff lock (not sure any do that) - it can't control wheels individually when they are locked together.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for that info! I appreciate the feedback!!

By: atIOIYIOI

atIOIYIOI — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 03:18:43 +0000

In reply to David Plant. David, any time a diff is truely locked, the computer has no choice but to disable the ABS, or disable the diff lock (not sure any do that) - it can't control wheels individually when they are locked together.

By: Jim Harrison

Jim Harrison — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 21:18:23 +0000

In order of worsening conditions:

winter tires
Lock the centre diff
studs
chains
stay home

And remember that at most, it’s only 6 months til spring, more or less, I hope.

But then the muskeg thaws and it’s a whole different ball-game!

50.05’09.32″ N 95.22’31.44″W

By: Christian

Christian — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 07:08:49 +0000

[QUOTE="David Plant, post: 78710, member: 7693"]Thank You. I'm able to do that on dry surfaces, but on ice it's different story. The ABS kicks in but fails in that the wheels lock up and the sires slide, hence no steering.[/QUOTE]

ABS is made for wet surfaces, snow and ice. It just maintains wheel spin for the tire to provide you with cornering force. When push comes to shove, it's very likely to work more reliable then threshold braking. It's dumb, ok, just knows 0-1-0-1-0-1- .. binary brakes on and off. But it works. Never had any issues.

By: David Plant

David Plant — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 03:10:34 +0000

I thought I would pass this on to anyone who is interested. After reading the various posts on this subject, I looked into finding the ABS fuse on my 07 4Runner. Turns out that was not an option. I dove into the Owner's Manual and learned that the ABS system is part of the Vehicle Stability Control System (VSC). My 4Runner (as well as a number of other 4 buys) has an option to "Lock the Center Differential," when in 4WD. According to the manual, when the Center Differential is locked, all of the systems in the VSC are disabled. So, it sounds like (at least when in 4WD), engaging the Differential Lock will presumably deactivate the ABS system. Going to give this a try!!