New lift now no traction????

[the great him]

Weight distribution and weight transfer are not the same thing. Let's use your numbers of 5,000lbs, and 50/50 weight distribution for an example. When the truck is sitting still, there is 2500lbs on the front and rear axles, with stock springs when you take off the truck sags in the rear, transferring a huge amount of that weight towards the back of the truck, let's say 3500lbs onto the rear axle, very hard to spin the tires. With stiffer aftermarket suspension, you don't get much rear sag at all when taking off, so lets say you get 2800lbs weight on the rear axle, big difference. All other factors being the same (tires, road conditions, etc) it will be much easier to spin the tires with the stiffer suspension. But then these trucks aren't for drag racing, so who cares.

As for FWD cars, if you've ever been around FWD drag racing you'd know that you look to minimize weight transfer to avoid the front tires unloading and just spinning when you try to launch. Guys use much stiffer spings in the rear than you would ever want on the street, as one way of maximizing the traction available on the launch.

When I ditched OEM rear springs for OME 906's I found the same thing to an extent, but the characteristics of the diesel and the bigger/better tires made it so it was never an issue for me.

no i get the weight transfer issue. what im saying is that im pretty sure his rear springs are not so stiff that he isnt getting any weight transfer, and if he is and that truck has "no" springs then the op is and idiot for running those springs, as im sure the ride is unmercifully painful and harsh.

i still think the issue is the traction surface itself weather that be the tires or the ground, or the combination of the both. a simple rule that works for both racing(on or off road) and daily driving(on and off road) is that no matter how much power you have, if you can not put that power to the ground it does you no good. its where the rubber meets the road thats the problem. those cooper ht tires are just a hwy tire, i think that is the issue. i think they were marginal at best to begin with with the stock set up, but yes now that he has lifted the truck it has "upset" the stock chassis setup and now that has pushed him over the proverbial edge... if it was truly the lift that now gave him no traction, dont you think that every one with a lift would be here complaining about how crappy their traction was???

im pretty sure its the tires. i dont know of one person on here with a lift and hwy tires. everyone has upgraded to a decent set of ATs at least. the tread compound on those tires is a hard compound intended for longevity and high miles, and they sacrifice traction to get that.

 

[1985taylor1925]

no i get the weight transfer issue. what im saying is that im pretty sure his rear springs are not so stiff that he isnt getting any weight transfer, and if he is and that truck has "no" springs then the op is and idiot for running those springs, as im sure the ride is unmercifully painful and harsh.

i still think the issue is the traction surface itself weather that be the tires or the ground, or the combination of the both. a simple rule that works for both racing(on or off road) and daily driving(on and off road) is that no matter how much power you have, if you can not put that power to the ground it does you no good. its where the rubber meets the road thats the problem. those cooper ht tires are just a hwy tire, i think that is the issue. i think they were marginal at best to begin with with the stock set up, but yes now that he has lifted the truck it has "upset" the stock chassis setup and now that has pushed him over the proverbial edge... if it was truly the lift that now gave him no traction, dont you think that every one with a lift would be here complaining about how crappy their traction was???

im pretty sure its the tires. i dont know of one person on here with a lift and hwy tires. everyone has upgraded to a decent set of ATs at least. the tread compound on those tires is a hard compound intended for longevity and high miles, and they sacrifice traction to get that.

Me. Im running Cooper Discover 265/75/16 HTs and have been for going on a year now, and I love them. Go on treaddepot or discount tire or tire rack and look at the reviews for this tire. The reviews are excellent. Ive found them to work great in rain. If the tires are the problem for op, they must just be worn out.

 

[the great him]

i stand corrected :hiding:

 

[1985taylor1925]

mforce, if you problem started when you installed the lift, you can assume the tires are not the issue - assuming you had better traction prior to the lift.

What is the issue exactly? Are you literally spinning the tires off the start? Does it feel any different around turns? I dont think anyone here can just diagnose the problem without getting some better details

 

[IanB]

no i get the weight transfer issue. what im saying is that im pretty sure his rear springs are not so stiff that he isnt getting any weight transfer, and if he is and that truck has "no" springs then the op is and idiot for running those springs, as im sure the ride is unmercifully painful and harsh.

i still think the issue is the traction surface itself weather that be the tires or the ground, or the combination of the both. a simple rule that works for both racing(on or off road) and daily driving(on and off road) is that no matter how much power you have, if you can not put that power to the ground it does you no good. its where the rubber meets the road thats the problem. those cooper ht tires are just a hwy tire, i think that is the issue. i think they were marginal at best to begin with with the stock set up, but yes now that he has lifted the truck it has "upset" the stock chassis setup and now that has pushed him over the proverbial edge... if it was truly the lift that now gave him no traction, dont you think that every one with a lift would be here complaining about how crappy their traction was???

im pretty sure its the tires. i dont know of one person on here with a lift and hwy tires. everyone has upgraded to a decent set of ATs at least. the tread compound on those tires is a hard compound intended for longevity and high miles, and they sacrifice traction to get that.

I'm certainly not suggesting the lift is the only thing to blame, I fully agree that the tires likely aren't the best, and there may be other factors at play as well, but all rear lift springs I've seen for these trucks have higher springrates than stock, with the possible exception of the LC80 fronts (but even those were designed to support more weight, so I'd guess they are also a higher springrate), so ANY rear lift will be stiffer than stock, and transfer less weight to the rear tires than stock. It is definitely a factor, but not likely the only one at play here.