Driving tips and tricks

[bigredbird]

By the time your car has stopped moving from a collision, you are already over at the other car involved, beatin the snot out of the offending driver.

The last three collisions I've had have been with my F-150 and two different Rangers. In the F-150, my back bumper got gently pushed down about an inch on one side, but the girl who hit me (at a stop sign!) totally destroyed the front end of her Pontiac Sunfire, along with her nose when she bashed it into the steering wheel. In the first Ranger one back bumper end cap fell off, but the guy who hit me (at a left-turn light!) mangled his Toyota's grille into his radiator and needed to be towed home. And in my current Ranger the guy who swerved into my wife's lane put a 1/2" dent in our truck's side bumper while tearing his own bumper and facade clean off the Chevy HHR he was driving.

All of which is to say that (1) Ford builds some pretty solid road armor, and (2) if you do it right, there's no need to beat on the other driver at all. They can kick their own asses easy enough. :icon_twisted:

 

[egrand1508]

I could be on here all day about this, and many of my big ones have already been mentioned. So, I'll just add a few more. I drive 20 miles to work, most of it interstate, and I'm on swing shift. So, I do a lot of daytime and nighttime driving. The last few years I have noticed this being a big problem: people driving with their brites on the interstate and not dimming them even for other cars in their own lane. I guess its more annoying than dangerous, but I figure if that driver is too bone headed to realize they have them on then they are probably a lousy driver anyway.

Another one is people in suv's who think they can drive 70 mph in the winter in the middle of a snow or ice storm. I have seen a couple flip over and believe me it is a scarry site. Not only do they crush like a tin can, I always worry they are going to roll into my lane. Thankfully I haven't seen anybody killed, but I did see a family with small kids get pretty beat up and taken to the hospital. They always say the same thing, "I had it in 4 wheel drive!"

 

[pabster]

Yeah, the SUV invincibility thing is scary as hell, egrand. I was driving across the country in the middle of winter, hit some nasty snow and ice on the interstate in Iowa. Way too scary for me, so I pulled over for the night. Next morning, for the first 20 miles I drove I saw at least 30 vehicles off the road- mostly SUV's. Many flipped, some fatalities. I can't believe that people have blind trust in the words "4 wheel drive", that it's somehow a magical system that is impervious to the laws of physics.

 

[kb67mopar]

I could be on here all day about this, and many of my big ones have already been mentioned. So, I'll just add a few more. I drive 20 miles to work, most of it interstate, and I'm on swing shift. So, I do a lot of daytime and nighttime driving. The last few years I have noticed this being a big problem: people driving with their brites on the interstate and not dimming them even for other cars in their own lane. I guess its more annoying than dangerous, but I figure if that driver is too bone headed to realize they have them on then they are probably a lousy driver anyway.

Another one is people in suv's who think they can drive 70 mph in the winter in the middle of a snow or ice storm. I have seen a couple flip over and believe me it is a scarry site. Not only do they crush like a tin can, I always worry they are going to roll into my lane. Thankfully I haven't seen anybody killed, but I did see a family with small kids get pretty beat up and taken to the hospital. They always say the same thing, "I had it in 4 wheel drive!"

Yes these people are just plain mental midgets. I am sorry but 4wd gains you 0 extra traction in snow or ice. It only helps with acceleration and slightly braking. It DOES NOT provide extra traction at speed, cornering or swerving. Oh and if its snowy out and you see a deer run in front just hit the damn thing. I promise you, it will do less damage then when you are crawling out from your upside down truck or suv wondering what the heck happened after you swerve....seen it enough times and they always crash. (and usually hit the deer too)

 

[306Doba]

Yes these people are just plain mental midgets. I am sorry but 4wd gains you 0 extra traction in snow or ice. It only helps with acceleration and slightly braking. It DOES NOT provide extra traction at speed, cornering or swerving. Oh and if its snowy out and you see a deer run in front just hit the damn thing. I promise you, it will do less damage then when you are crawling out from your upside down truck or suv wondering what the heck happened after you swerve....seen it enough times and they always crash. (and usually hit the deer too)

4x4 can help in cornering on ice, been quite a few times I have been driving on ice down the highway and began understeering towards the ditch going around a turn and the only thing that saved me was hitting the gas so the front wheels would pull me out of the slide. I also used to drive my old chevy 4x4 on frozen lakes that had huge courses plowed into them. Could hardly do 1 lap in RWD but with 4x4 it was no problem flying around the corners because with the front wheels pulling you your *** end doesn't end up flying all the way around sending you into a 180 spin. Breaking with a 4x4 can be worse too because a lot of systems will deactivate ABS with 4x4 engaged

 

[440roadrunner]

I could be on here all day about this: ........................... people driving with their brites on the interstate and not dimming them even for other cars in their own lane.

That's what 4537's are for. They work

"Back in the day" a couple of us had 'em in our high beams, but the CHP "didn't like them" so I put them down in the bumper

First time I ever saw them, the guy who would become the first owner of my 70, at the time had a nice 65 Chevelle (67 350, 4 speed, 350hp cam) with them mounted in the high beams. This was the fall of 68, and I remain TOTALLY impressed.

My '70, about 73-74, now with a 340, and landing lights in the bumper. Not as effective as in the high beam buckets

 

[kb67mopar]

4x4 can help in cornering on ice, been quite a few times I have been driving on ice down the highway and began understeering towards the ditch going around a turn and the only thing that saved me was hitting the gas so the front wheels would pull me out of the slide. I also used to drive my old chevy 4x4 on frozen lakes that had huge courses plowed into them. Could hardly do 1 lap in RWD but with 4x4 it was no problem flying around the corners because with the front wheels pulling you your *** end doesn't end up flying all the way around sending you into a 180 spin. Breaking with a 4x4 can be worse too because a lot of systems will deactivate ABS with 4x4 engaged

Yes it helps in situations but my point is it does not give you extra traction when it comes to braking or cornering. So there is no reason to think you can fly down the road faster in a 4wd then a 2wd. I think ABS is about one of the worst systems invented. I have never had an abs system that seemed to actually do anything for me. I guess part of that is knowing how to drive. Things like traction control, abs, etc are for people who don't want to have to gain skill.

 

[440roadrunner]

When I lived in Coeur d Alene, commuted to Spokane, over 90% of a morning's "slick road slide offs" were 4x4's of some description, some of 'em on their side or on their tops. The things can give you a REAL false sense of security, and really don't handle substantially better.

There has been accidents involving 4x4's up in this area in the past, typically older ones with hubs, someone would be tootin' along with the hubs IN and the thing in 2x4, and the front axle can cause enough drag in a "situation" to start a skid. If you aren't quick enough to get the damn thing into 4x4, you're "off."

 

[Pops1967GTX]

"Sometimes you have to Turn left to go Right"...........