what is the best nanny setup for driving on snow covered streets

[Madcowranch]

I drove over half my life without tcs/stab. ctrl. and now I'm potentially guilty of negligent homicide if I turn them off?

Well **** me.

 

[Humvee21]

Well **** me.

No thanks.

 

[Madcowranch]

No thanks.

Me love you long time.

 

[swoop1156]

I drove over half my life without tcs/stab. ctrl. and now I'm potentially guilty of negligent homicide if I turn them off?

Well **** me.

This deserves to be 6.2's new signature quote. This. Was. Funny. To. Read.

 

[JP7]

I'd like to back up a bit to Bad Company's post, without quoting it all. By all means - shutting all the nanny stuff off and letting your rev limiter decide your progress is not a safe way to operate any vehicle on the road. I'm pretty sure some of us contributing to this one were not trying to imply that as good practise (I know it wasn't my intent).
Yes, the nanny controls are there for a reason, and they do a good job once you're used to them.
Some of us old farts learned to drive in hazardous conditions without the computer crap, and to re-learn to drive takes some getting used to. Things you were so confident with like fishtailing, whether planned or unexpected, were easily compensated by easing off the gas and countersteering (in most situations). Now, the truck starts doing shit all by itself and you question "who's really in control"? When you countersteer, the ABS has already compensated (well in advance of your reaction time) and sometimes that can put you in a different precarious situation such as an involuntary lane change.

The overall suggestion I was trying to imply was to play with the damn truck. Know what it does compared to the other vehicles you have experience with.

Moving forward, and I think this is the best place to continue, let's share what we've learned so far driving in slick conditions. I know since this thread started, I have been challenged to play with different scenarios to learn little things about the electronics and how they react. (Well, to be frank, how to beat them...!).

1. 2wd - all nanny stuff on - hard packed snow/ice covered roads with -5C temp. This is almost like a slow motion movie of how your truck can fishtail, powerslide at 20mph, and other things. Today I learned that with careful pressure on the gas, you can do full fishtails, and even slow motion donuts as long as you don't mat it.

2. Same conditions - higher speed. When in slushy snow travelling 40mph, if you accelerate moderately you can cause the rear wheels to spin without the ABS or electronics slowing things down. Good to know if you are trying to pass someone.

I have a few more, but want to test more thoroughly before I share what has worked for me. The past few days though, I've learned that the nanny controls are much more harsh at slow speeds or when you're aggressive with the gas pedal, than at higher speeds or when you feather the gas.

I'm hoping others can play with their trucks in the snow and add some posts here of their experiences. It's intended to be a positive reference for us all who have to deal with slick conditions.

 

[Raptoyd11]

Try drifting corners in a Volkswagon bug with stick in a snowstorm, good time.

 

[Bad company]

I'm hoping others can play with their trucks in the snow and add some posts here of their experiences. It's intended to be a positive reference for us all who have to deal with slick conditions.

Great point JP7. It's a great idea to play with the truck and get a feel for what it does and doesn't do.

Due to the wheel and tire mass (I think), the stability control doesn't feel quite as sophisticated as some, but it still works. My buddy, an MIT grad, worked on developing the algorithms for the traction and stability control at Ford.

I've found that the stabiltiy control does allow for some slip before engaging, with a large throttle input, it may take a bit to slow those big tires down. The ABS works pretty well, I do not think you are losing much over well applied threshold braking. If you are sliding using ABS, I think you'd be sliding worse without it.

On cold, wet, or slippery surfaces, the truck is tail happy, which is solved with 4x4 selected. The BFGs are surprisingly good in the snow. With the 5.4 I had trouble spinning all four from a stop. Powerslides were possible, but the tires performed awesomely.

For regular driving, I leave the nannies on. I have gotten stuck once, high centered on a sand dune. Never stuck in the snow, including a 40' stretch of 3-4' deep snow (nannies on).

Given the mass of the tires, I think the nannies perform pretty well, allowing some slip before preventing a slide. Good luck out there, and have fun!

 

[SPRSNK]

I'd like to back up a bit to Bad Company's post, without quoting it all. By all means - shutting all the nanny stuff off and letting your rev limiter decide your progress is not a safe way to operate any vehicle on the road. I'm pretty sure some of us contributing to this one were not trying to imply that as good practise (I know it wasn't my intent).
Yes, the nanny controls are there for a reason, and they do a good job once you're used to them.
Some of us old farts learned to drive in hazardous conditions without the computer crap, and to re-learn to drive takes some getting used to. Things you were so confident with like fishtailing, whether planned or unexpected, were easily compensated by easing off the gas and countersteering (in most situations). Now, the truck starts doing shit all by itself and you question "who's really in control"? When you countersteer, the ABS has already compensated (well in advance of your reaction time) and sometimes that can put you in a different precarious situation such as an involuntary lane change.

The overall suggestion I was trying to imply was to play with the damn truck. Know what it does compared to the other vehicles you have experience with.

Moving forward, and I think this is the best place to continue, let's share what we've learned so far driving in slick conditions. I know since this thread started, I have been challenged to play with different scenarios to learn little things about the electronics and how they react. (Well, to be frank, how to beat them...!).

1. 2wd - all nanny stuff on - hard packed snow/ice covered roads with -5C temp. This is almost like a slow motion movie of how your truck can fishtail, powerslide at 20mph, and other things. Today I learned that with careful pressure on the gas, you can do full fishtails, and even slow motion donuts as long as you don't mat it.

2. Same conditions - higher speed. When in slushy snow travelling 40mph, if you accelerate moderately you can cause the rear wheels to spin without the ABS or electronics slowing things down. Good to know if you are trying to pass someone.

I have a few more, but want to test more thoroughly before I share what has worked for me. The past few days though, I've learned that the nanny controls are much more harsh at slow speeds or when you're aggressive with the gas pedal, than at higher speeds or when you feather the gas.

I'm hoping others can play with their trucks in the snow and add some posts here of their experiences. It's intended to be a positive reference for us all who have to deal with slick conditions.

Well put.

 

[JP7]

Great point JP7. It's a great idea to play with the truck and get a feel for what it does and doesn't do.

Due to the wheel and tire mass (I think), the stability control doesn't feel quite as sophisticated as some, but it still works. My buddy, an MIT grad, worked on developing the algorithms for the traction and stability control at Ford.

I've found that the stabiltiy control does allow for some slip before engaging, with a large throttle input, it may take a bit to slow those big tires down. The ABS works pretty well, I do not think you are losing much over well applied threshold braking. If you are sliding using ABS, I think you'd be sliding worse without it.

On cold, wet, or slippery surfaces, the truck is tail happy, which is solved with 4x4 selected. The BFGs are surprisingly good in the snow. With the 5.4 I had trouble spinning all four from a stop. Powerslides were possible, but the tires performed awesomely.

For regular driving, I leave the nannies on. I have gotten stuck once, high centered on a sand dune. Never stuck in the snow, including a 40' stretch of 3-4' deep snow (nannies on).

Given the mass of the tires, I think the nannies perform pretty well, allowing some slip before preventing a slide. Good luck out there, and have fun!

Glad you're out there playing with it too! Some of what I interpreted in your post refers to braking or safely stopping (contrasts with/without ABS). I haven't begun to play with that as I usually leave enough space to safely stop. Or bounce the Civic into the intersection - but hey, what'ya gonna do?

As for the tire mass and engineering crap - all that's beyond me, however I would expect the ABS and other sensors are geared toward the size of the tires.

I'm more interested in members input regarding the 'getup and go' factor with the nanny thing. More than one of us has had the pucker factor when trying to pull out into traffic or something - and the electronics shut us down even though there is traffic barrelling down on us.

So guys and gals - please share what's worked, hasn't worked, or your ways around it. Might save a life depending on circumstances.

 

[SuperRaptor]

The thing that tends to throw you off is like guy said that about when you go to correct the slide or whatever is happening the truck compensates and things can get worse.