What vehicle do you drive?

pharmakos

soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
<Bronze Donator>
16,306
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Yeah, that's right. I put a bunch of sandbags in the rear during winter. Hopefully this improves my braking power.
the benefits of weighing down your back end are kind of an urban legend... the only situation where it is beneficial is when the only thing on the roads is fresh powder and you need a bit of extra weight to push through to the pavement. if there is any amount of ice on the roads, then extra weight is a bad thing.

source: driving a 2002 ford ranger in michigan winters.

tho i suppose it might be a decent permanent solution in a place with mild winters...
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
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Well, as the ABS brakes on my truck are only in the back, I thought getting as much traction with those brakes seemed logical. You guys are blowing my mind.
 

pharmakos

soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
<Bronze Donator>
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if the road is adequately slick then extra weight just ends up being extra inertia.
 

Eomer

Trakanon Raider
5,472
272
Well, as the ABS brakes on my truck are only in the back, I thought getting as much traction with those brakes seemed logical. You guys are blowing my mind.
Only being in the back makes sense on an older truck, because it's the rear wheels that will get you in trouble if they start sliding under braking. No different than only putting winters on the front wheels of a FWD car. Sure you can accelerate better, but good fucking luck when you slam on the brakes under low traction conditions, because the ass end is going to end up in front.
 

Borzak

Bronze Baron of the Realm
24,645
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the benefits of weighing down your back end are kind of an urban legend... the only situation where it is beneficial is when the only thing on the roads is fresh powder and you need a bit of extra weight to push through to the pavement. if there is any amount of ice on the roads, then extra weight is a bad thing.

source: driving a 2002 ford ranger in michigan winters.

tho i suppose it might be a decent permanent solution in a place with mild winters...
Never tried it in snow, but it helps a LOT in our area in the winter for a very thin set of circumstances. We don't get snow, but we will get up to an inch of ice at times. We get ice a lot. I tried to make it to work 2 years ago when the interstate was closed and basically no traffic. I couldn't get up on the road at the house. Went and put a few bags of cement and corn I had on hand and I could get enough grip on the ice to at least make it up the slight grade. Got far enough I could meet the state police escort I had. Had close to a 1,000 pounds in the back.

It helps on ice, no idea on the braking.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
23,446
33,694
There is no doubt in my mind that the only way dirk can survive the winter is to purchase these:

88m1a1-big.png
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
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Only being in the back makes sense on an older truck, because it's the rear wheels that will get you in trouble if they start sliding under braking. No different than only putting winters on the front wheels of a FWD car. Sure you can accelerate better, but good fucking luck when you slam on the brakes under low traction conditions, because the ass end is going to end up in front.
Yup. I may just need to suck it and buy a newer truck. But do you know how nice it is to not pay for a new vehicle?

There is no doubt in my mind that the only way dirk can survive the winter is to purchase these:

88m1a1-big.png
May work. I shall look into this. Or perhaps chains at least.
 

Cad

<Bronze Donator>
24,487
45,378
I'd be curious to see a scientific test on the impact of sandbags on RWD trucks. To me, it's more about stability/balance while cornering under light throttle to maintain speed and getting weight on the rear wheels so you can actually get going from a standstill. But adding mass to the rear axle wouldn't really do much for stopping distance, because most of your braking power is going to come from your front wheels no matter what, and you've just added a few hundred pounds or whatever to the overall vehicle weight. Why not just jam a bunch of sandbags under the hood up front if you're concerned about braking? That would make as much sense.

I know when we were doing Chevettes on ice racing 10+ years ago, any ballast in the rear was 100% to do with stability and throttle traction, and had very little to do with braking.
When we get to add ballast to race cars we always do it as far back and low as possible, almost all cars besides 911's benefit. More weight in the back means when the weight transfers forward, some of it still stays on the rear. Especially if the sandbags are actually behind the rear axle. That probably does help.
 

Madikus

Knows nothing.
355
298
Suspension is done. New coilovers complete, new bushings on everything. Swaybars front and rear are done. Ride height is finally where I want it. Motor goes in next week, finally. More updates on that as I make progress. Still need to get the rear end cleaned up. Have to fab mounts for the CF bumper and remove the old bumper shocks. Will do that when we pull the gas tank to modify it for FI.

rrr_img_136751.jpg
rrr_img_136752.jpg
rrr_img_136753.jpg
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,040
11,506
With coilovers there is very little movement with the engine in versus the engine out. Right now my 86 is at the exact same height with the engine out versus when it was in the car, he might have more movement due to it being a much heavier engine but I would suspect it wouldn't be much.

Edit: Looking good Madruk.
 

Madikus

Knows nothing.
355
298
A motor is in it. I'm swapping the l26 in it with an l28et. Motors are almost identical. All L series motors are interchangeable. The weight difference is nominal.
 

Burren

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
4,053
5,342
Looks fantastic, Madruk. You may have explained a while ago, but what are you plans for this? DD, weekend cruiser, autocross/time attack, etc?
 

Madikus

Knows nothing.
355
298
Tldr: daily.


I started with the intent to have a weekend driver after I sold my 93 FD. After spending more time in the Z I just fell in love with everything about it. I've been in an Evo since 2004 as my daily. So I decided to build a daily z. The process involved many hours with several Z pros in my area go over every detail. I built a complete roadmap to get the power, handling and look I wanted, then started buying parts. And cars. And more parts. Finally seeing my hard work and hard earned dollars turn into this beautiful (to me) car is pretty fulfilling. I had never done a restore like this so was somewhat unprepared for some of the speed bumps I hit. Failing on the first Z ultimately taught me what I needed to know to build this one correctly.
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,040
11,506
You had an FD? You lucky fuck! I really want an FC Turbo II but they are so hard to find in decent shape.

Yeah, I've almost sold mine several times but glad I haven't. Not getting to drive it will test your resolve for sure.
 

Madikus

Knows nothing.
355
298
Yea but I lost my ass on it pretty bad. Spent a ton on bodywork then got hit by some idiot in a huge truck with no insurance. Mine covered but they didn't cover the 15k in custom fab work I had done to mold the widebody and other things. Ended up selling it at a massive loss. Bittersweet for me as the guy I sold it to put another 25k into it and it's perfect now. At least I still get to see it.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
23,446
33,694
Yea but I lost my ass on it pretty bad. Spent a ton on bodywork then got hit by some idiot in a huge truck with no insurance. Mine covered but they didn't cover the 15k in custom fab work I had done to mold the widebody and other things. Ended up selling it at a massive loss. Bittersweet for me as the guy I sold it to put another 25k into it and it's perfect now. At least I still get to see it.
Not to be a dick but why wouldn't you have that body work insured?
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
12,040
11,506
It depends on your insurance. There are companies out there that will cover all the extra stuff you do if you have receipts, some won't. I had to fight State Farm tooth and nail when my Integra with the JDM front got totaled. After three months of fighting them I finally got more than 1,500 bucks for the entire car, that was with 8k in receipts for the parts, labor, paint, etc. I still didn't get close to what I paid.

My 86 will be insured byHagerty, they don't fuck around.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
23,446
33,694
It depends on your insurance. There are companies out there that will cover all the extra stuff you do if you have receipts, some won't. I had to fight State Farm tooth and nail when my Integra with the JDM front got totaled. After three months of fighting them I finally got more than 1,500 bucks for the entire car, that was with 8k in receipts for the parts, labor, paint, etc. I still didn't get close to what I paid.

My 86 will be insured byHagerty, they don't fuck around.
Well, I would expect all insurance companies to require appraisal (receipts or not) and for you to shell out for the extra coverage, however many few dollars that may be. I just figure if I was going to spend THAT much I would definitely have it added as a scheduled item.