Fiat traction? (1 Viewer)

[Macytia]

Silver dreamers, this has got to the point where I am scared of taking the van out in any bad weather, even turning it round at home is a nightmare, last week we stopped at the Keswick C&CC site, I drove past my pitch and attempted to reverse in, a slight incline and one wheel touching grass and no chance, I then had to drive into the boggy field, use a variety of gears and steering directions to get back out of it.
Its really no joke, bread trays and tyre mats are an answer, but should I really have to with a 57 plate van in the days of electricery?

 

[dellwood33]

This simple conversion may be the answer to your traction problems, but god help the grass

 

[Spacerunner]

Right so that is the snow tyre idea out of the frame but my problem is that I have no grip at the red light grand prix, 3000 revs, 1st. gear, wet road, lights turn to green drop clutch, nothiing but white smoke from tyres. Now I do not have an overcab bulge but I do have an overbelt bulge plus I have cruise control sitting in the passenger seat who also has a similar bulge.
So what is this about bread trays and do you think they will help this traction problem.

John D

Why on earth are you driving a motorhome like a boy racer in a Corsa?

You don't need nobbly tyres, you need a reality check!

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[Frank772]

Why on earth are you driving a motorhome like a boy racer in a Corsa?

You don't need nobbly tyres, you need a reality check!

I would think beause it's fun, though 3000 is not really on without launch control
2750 would work without electronics.

 

[highwayman]

Change your tyres to anything other that michelin camping-cars
Weigh your van and contact the tyre manufacturer for tyre pressures.
Get a couple of bread trays and cut the sides-off, attach long lengths of para-cord so you can tow them to a hard surface once you're going and put them in a locker.
If they're anything like mine, you'll carry-em round the uk and europe for at least three years and neverever come close to needing them


cheers...nige

 

[pappajohn]

If they're anything like mine, you'll carry-em round the uk and europe for at least three years and neverever come close to needing them


cheers...nige

thats so true.....

i use mine occasionally under the wheels on soft ground but the only time I've used 'em for traction was to get the ride-on mower out of a boggy patch in the meadow.

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[Peter James]

@ Peter,

Does that mean that there will be no benefit of fitting grippier tyres? I got stuck in a snowy carpark in the Lakes and got out eventually in 5th gear, I suppose having the van Remapped doesn't help either due to the increased torque at the front wheels.

I spent years driving heavy lorries on soft ground and have made plenty of mistakes to learn from :Blush:
Admittedly some tyres grip a bit better on some surfaces. Snow chains, or spiked/knobbly tyres, cut into snow and ice to improve grip when there is a solid road underneath. But if on soft ground they will just dig the wheels in and make matters worse. Softer tread compounds increase grip (and reduce tyre mileage) on some roads, but make no difference on wet grass as far as I know. Reducing tyre pressures may help to spread the load to stop you sinking on soft ground, but will not be as good as cutting through rain/snow/ice to get to a solid road underneath, so can reduce grip on other surfaces.
I can't see that gearing or engine mapping has anything to do with it. Irrespective of those things you can produce the right amount of torque to just turn the wheels, and its down to whether the wheels have enough grip to move the van. The overwhelming factor there is the weight distribution - the weight on the driven wheels trying to move the van, and the dead weight on the undriven wheels holding it back.

I was thinking about this thread when I went to Brownhills looking at motorcaravans yesterday. Its surprising how much the bodybuilders have extended the van chassis behind the rear axle on many of them, greatly reducing the weight on the driving wheels and increasing the dead weight on the undriven wheels at the back. No wonder so many of them get stuck in the mud. We shouldn't blame Fiat for that.

 

[Peter James]

lack of traction has everything to do with gearing and torque.

the higher a gear the less torque is transmitted to the road...why do you think you change down to go up hill.....more torque in a lower gear for a given rev range.

Sorry, I misunderstood. When we said lack of traction I thought we were talking about insufficient grip of the tyres to move the van.

 

[jezport]

On our first trip out in our Ducato I made a wrong turn and drove up a mud path. The van sunk about 4" into the mud. I put it in reverse and it just pulled itself out using the traction control. My transit would have needed towing out.

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