I understand your point of view. When I said "even" ratio, I meant
weighing the truck evenly according to factory ratio. Sorry if I confused
anyone. In the winter, steering and braking ability are more important
than going. Now in the case of rear ABS, that causes a big imbalance in
performance. Instead of fish-tailing during braking on slippery surfaces,
you now plow straight. Adding weight behind the axle will increase
traction and braking in the rear end but will help the front brakes to lock
up sooner and loose steering faster. Guess all the carmakers should have
put ABS on all four corners as standard. Except of course the T-Rex. It
should get ABS on all six. ;-)
Smitty
-----Original Message-----
From: Andy Callahan [SMTP:quasideedle@uky.campus.mci.net]
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 1997 2:46 AM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: Re: DML: RE: bed weights
At 12:18 AM 12/7/1997 -0500, you wrote:
>Not really,
>The pivot point should be assumed to be the rear axle. Putting weight
rear
>of the rear axle causes the front to lift slightly reducing steering
>efficiency on slippery surfaces while increasing rear end weight
>(traction?). In the winter, I put 450 lbs of play sand in bags and lay
>them flat from the rear axle forward. Putting the weight between the
front
>and rear axles will weigh down the front and rear keeping the
front-to-rear
>weight ratio more even for proper handling and better traction. Keeping
Yeah, but the front-to-rear weight ratio is no where near even to begin
with. If anything, a little weight behind the rear axle will help even out
the ratio. I understand what you guys are suggesting about lifting the
front of the truck, but what you propose as an alternative also requires 2
to 3 times as much weight in the bed. I'm trying to keep the weight down
as winters don't get too bad here, and most of the winter it will be
relatively clear on the roads. The weight is just for those few big storms
we'll get.
Andy
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Andy Callahan University of Kentucky quasideedle@uky.campus.mci.net
http://sac.uky.edu/~accall0/truckpics.html
'97, black/mist gray, 4x2, Sport, club cab, 3.55 SG, 5-speed, Tire &
Handling Package, all the little goodies
Mods: Firestone Firehawk SS10 275/60/15's, GT Classic steel tonneau
cover, "Super Sucker" FIPK by Air Meldrum, CC bed mat
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