Braking for more traction?

Ok guys, I just wanted to see if this was common knowledge. I was talking to a guy about wanting to lock up my rear, and he said that until then, if there was time that I was starved for traction i could pull the E brake just hard enough that the engine still overcame the brake, but that it put enough resistance on the free spinning wheel that it would force the one with traction to move.
The concept seemed sound so I tried it and it seemed to work.

Well the gears in my little brain started turning today and realized if it worked on the rear axle why wouldnt it work all around. Wheelin today I got in some spots with my new/used RE4.5 lift that flexed me out bad enough that I couldnt crawl over them. So open diffs were the downfall. I wasnt moving forward at all so I tried it. I pushed the brake pedal pretty hard and gave enough gas to overcome the brakes and It crawled right over the Rut i was hung up on. Later on a steep loose climb, same deal. I lost forward momentum, put some good pressure on the brakes and gave it some gas and it went right up the climb I was working on.

Now I know theres no replacement for being locked up, but for those of you who like to get off the pavement without a locker, try it! It helped me out a ton. Maybe im one of those guys thats trying to reinvent the wheel, but Ive never heard of this before and I'm sure others havent either so I thought id share my bit of giddy discovery that worked so well for me today.

Happy wheelin,,, ( p.s the RE SF 4.5 is amazing, I shouldnt have settled for a stock armed 3 inch lift for sooooo long)

Jeremy

I do that a bit, except instead of the e-brake I just keep both feet on both pedals and keep constant pressure.

X3 its a cool trick i would have never thought of it on my own, glad someone told me on the trail once

I use that trick as a poor man's locker, of sorts. Usually works.

lol never thought of it but good idea, makes sense

sounds cool, Ill have to try it.

I did that about 5 different times until....



The strain placed on the tiny d30 spider gears was a little too much. It was a great excuse to put an Aussie up front, though.

:scared:

TRSCobra said:

I did that about 5 different times until....

The strain placed on the tiny d30 spider gears was a little too much. It was a great excuse to put an Aussie up front, though.

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2-footing is the first thing i teach newbies on my trail rides.. not only does it increase traction by reducing wheel spin, but it also keeps vehicles speed down when you need to crawl and the automatic trans just wants to let the speed creep up.

I used that method for years in the snow in an old (BIG) buick and a 2wd S-10 I used to have.

Ok shoulda listened to Cobra. A picture does speak a thousand words and in my case it was a thousand cuss words when it happened to me. :spin1: yeah do be really careful doing this. I was stuck in the snow and tried to use this to help me get out. Well it worked but my one of my side gears blew up while doing so. Lesson learned right, dont be a cheap sucker and try to circumvent getting a locker.

My 98 8.25 came open rear, I used the EB trick a couple of times the first 2 years I had the XJ. I did not want a full locker so I went with an Auburn pro, 8 years later and over 200,000mi and it's still going strong. I'm probably going to go with the same in the 97ZJ we just picked up, it needs new rear gears in it's D35 anyway so both will get done at the same time this month hopefully. I'll have to poke around and see whats out there for a 35.

http://img146.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc06753wc2.jpg



Makes a great paper weight after welding them together.

So how would this work in a standard? 4lo in 1st i could see it working probably second 2 or would i need to heel toe it?

I tried this a few years ago, breaking a path through the snow for the neighborhood. Heard a pop and lost front traction .
Well, I busted the front output shaft in the 231 xfr case.
I don't recommend trying this unless you have a beefier output shaft like I got from AA with the SYE kit. The stock output shaft is definately the weak-link in the XJ's driveline, as it tapers down to less than 1/2 inch thickness.

sidriptide said:

2-footing is the first thing i teach newbies on my trail rides.. not only does it increase traction by reducing wheel spin, but it also keeps vehicles speed down when you need to crawl and the automatic trans just wants to let the speed creep up.

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what if i has a stick, do I need to grow a 3rd leg?

IslanderOffRoad said:

what if i has a stick, do I need to grow a 3rd leg?

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You don't have one?:shocked:

You should have seen the mess this caused in a TJ D44 I repaired several years ago. Mangled the brake backing plate, blown apart gears. I think he was really honking on the ebrake and the throttle. In small doses this technique works... small doses...

When I did it it's when slipping and I'd just bump the brake handle up for half a second, this makes both sides sping and sometimes gets you out of the slippery spot. Granted I may bump that handle all the way up a snow/ice covered hill but not long enough to stop the wheels. Doing brake stands with the foot pedal is to me kinda nuts...

IslanderOffRoad said:

what if i has a stick, do I need to grow a 3rd leg?

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Nah, overdose on male enhancement pills and throw in some Viagra.....THAT should do the trick:laugh3:











May have to give this a try if I'm on ice bad enough this winter.