My first 4x4 please help

15 Z71 · October 20, 2016

I have never had a problem with any car until my sierra. I also have a stock mustang 5.0, with 412hp, it gets much better traction in the wet.

I have to baby the throttle so much in 2wd when it's raining in the sierra. Traction is so poor I can spin the tires at WOT doing 75 mph. No vehicle that runs a 14 second quarter mile should be able to roast the tires at highway speeds.

It's probably the goodyear sr-a's at fault, once I need new tires hopefully I won't have the same issue, but as of right now, it's just safer to turn that dial to 4auto.

I do agree prob your tires as bad as everyone says they are (sra's). My truck came with the bridge stone dueler A/t's and I have no problems in rain.

cbrsilv15 · October 20, 2016

The end of my road is uphill. When I get some good snow I couldn't make it up to he stop sign. I had to floor it and go through the stop sign. Pretty sketchy. I can't wait to try my 4x4 out this winter. It's my first 4x4 as well.

Willyone · October 20, 2016

Not sure what you guys mean by "SRA" tires but I'm guessing they're the ones with the passenger type tread, like all season radials? My '07 Sierra SLT came with that type of tire. They were ok in the rain but totally sucked in the snow. And on the highway with a light coating of slush, even a minute amount, the truck would float, and that scared the crap out of me more than once. Went thru 1 winter with those POS tires then replaced them with decent ATs or MS...I don't recall which.

My '16 Z71 came with Bridgestone A/T's which is part of the reason I bought a Z. For me it's 2WD in the rain. C'mon now, someone hate me!! (o:

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · October 20, 2016

I'll say again that I have the factory SR-As and it still does perfectly fine in the rain.

I think the people that use auto 4 for plain rain are just people that want to drive the same in the rain as they do if it's hot and sunny outside because they don't know that theyr'e supposed to adapt to the condition (which again, I thought was common sense and was taught in driver's ed).

A Mustang does better in rain? Probably just the tires, that's simple. But, wait until those tires wear down. A full size truck that weighs over 5,000 lbs will get and keep traction better than a 3,500 lb car.

truckguy82 · October 20, 2016

The end of my road is uphill. When I get some good snow I couldn't make it up to he stop sign. I had to floor it and go through the stop sign. Pretty sketchy. I can't wait to try my 4x4 out this winter. It's my first 4x4 as well.

I go up to VT a lot, our house has about a 400ft long driveway with a pretty nice grade on it. It's very difficult to leave the house during winter. I have a hand crank winch at the top of the hill for getting stuck.

Needless to say over the last 20 years I've gone up for lots of ski trips with buddies, and we have taken a lot of different 4wd/awd vehicles. Every single time I never learn my lesson, thinking we are in some capable awd vehicle. Nope can't get up the hill. Subaru's, audi, VW, bmw, mercedes, honda, hydundai, acura (sh-awd), toyota (including 4runners, tundra, t100, fj40, fj60 landcruiser) you name it I've put their car/suv's awd systems to the test (in snow)

The only vehicles I've never once had any issue with were a '97 tahoe and a '04 yukon denali, both bone stock, both 4x4, both had g80's. You can literally drive straight through 36" of snow, I've tried it.

So my point is, enjoy it, between the ground clearance, weight, and locking rear diff, you may lose your air dam, but you're not getting stuck.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · October 20, 2016

So my point is, enjoy it, between the ground clearance, weight, and locking rear diff, you may lose your air dam, but you're not getting stuck.

I don't like how low the front end is factory, but the first thing I did was remove the plastic air deflector because I think I scrapped it on a normal parking spot curb. I do want to do a small 2" lift all around, not just a level since I want to keep the rake.

When I had my leveled '98 Z71 it had the G80 and it did get me out of a hole so deep that the water came to the top of the bumpers and ahd water coming in the cab. I actually didn't care that water was coming in the cab other than worrying the water would get to the CB I had mounted on the transmission hump. I was able to get it out on my own. It took about 5 minute and rocking it back and forth but I got it out. I believe the G80 in these '14+ K2 trucks seem to function better because in my '98 I would feel it lock up in rain and my '14 I haven't felt it in rain. I just hope the G80 is beefier than the one in my '98.

Knotsure · October 20, 2016

I don't like how low the front end is factory, but the first thing I did was remove the plastic air deflector because I think I scrapped it on a normal parking spot curb. I do want to do a small 2" lift all around, not just a level since I want to keep the rake.

I am with you on this. The front sits far to low on the 1500 in my opinion. I almost bought a set of the rancho quick lift struts but I didn't like negatives reviews I read. There were far more positive reviews for them but the negative ones were mostly the same complaints so I bought a pair of the Bilstein 5100 series struts and had them installed at my local Goodyear. They are adjustable from 0-1.85" lift. I went with the highest setting and I am absolutely thrilled with how my truck sits now but I guess you could go with one level lower to keep a little rake. The ride is also far superior to the ranchos that came off.

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SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · October 20, 2016

I am with you on this. The front sits far to low on the 1500 in my opinion. I almost bought a set of the rancho quick lift struts but I didn't like negatives reviews I read. There were far more positive reviews for them but the negative ones were mostly the same complaints so I bought a pair of the Bilstein 5100 series struts and had them installed at my local Goodyear. They are adjustable from 0-1.85" lift. I went with the highest setting and I am absolutely thrilled with how my truck sits now but I guess you could go with one level lower to keep a little rake. The ride is also far superior to the ranchos that came off.

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I guess I should have said factory rake, or close to it. My '98 was leveled so unloaded it looked good, but having so much weight in my toolbox pretty much any kind of real weight made the truck look like it was dragging ass. Kind of like that stupid "Carolina lean" BS where they make the rear sit way lower than the front. It makes the truck look like you have 3,000 lbs in the bed. So I'll probably do a level on the front and either add 3 inch blocks in the rear (factory is a 1") or replace with leaf springs with the 2" or 3" lift made into it. I have even more weight in my toolbox now than I did in my '98 and I swear it lowered the rear a tad.

Knotsure · October 20, 2016

I don't have any exp raising the back or installing a full blown lift kit. If I ever do add some height to the back I like the add a leaf kits over the blocks. Seems more usable and legit than blocks to me but again I don't know personally.

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CueBaller · October 21, 2016

It is also beneficial at high speeds incase front end lift happens the added traction added when in 4wd is immense!

Tyler

No need for 4WD there... just need some wheelie bars!

As to the actual topic of the thread (and this is personal opinion only), driving normally in the rain should be no different than driving normally on dry pavement. Gradual, even acceleration, don't take turns like you're riding on rails, give yourself plenty of time and room to slow down and/or stop, etc. Some people honestly don't realize how aggressively they drive in different situations.

Yes, the manual mentions "slippery" surfaces, but rain doesn't necessarily make a road "slippery." What can make it slippery... is if it's raining hard enough, and the road is uneven enough, that there are pockets of standing water, such as in the grooves where everyone's tires ride on heavily traveled roads. Or... if it's been a long time since it's rained, there can be a lot of build-up on the road that does make it slippery for a brief time when first rained on.