I had this thought the other day since i have an open diff. the passenger side is the side that spins 99% of the time...

so heres what im thinkin. the gas tank, and my fat *** is on the driverside, and theres nothing on the passenger side, so naturally the driverside will have more traction.

so, using the pulleys in the shop, i loaded 2 80lb bags of sand on my bed, on the passenger side to kinda equalizr the weight, kinda give the passenger side more traction....

does this sound logical or no?

 

when you need the traction, push the ebrake in a couple clicks. will lock up the rear a lil.

 

not with an open diff^^^....that works with a limited slip when you get 1 wheel in the air and the other on the ground because the L/S will not engage like that....

the wheel that spins really depends on which side has less traction......so both sides could spin equal amount of time....BUT being that there is more weight on the driver side, yes the passanger side will spin more often...

the only thing the weight will do is to keep the wheel on the ground.....just like when it snows, you want weight in your bed to give you better downward traction....

 

yes but being that that Oass side is lightrer, adding weight to that side, will make it heavier and when it spins itll have more traction

 

just get a limited slip then

 

its not weight thats the factor, its just to do with your differential...

 

i have the same problem as you...you could have equal weight on each side ok. Imagine you have one side in the mud and one on the street which one will spin? It all has to do with the terrain. Do what i do and get a friend to jump on the side thats not getting traction to allow the other wheel to spin.

 

one of the guys on here has a ls for $65...cant remember his name, cant beat that...i would get it but im thinking of jus going locked and be done with it

 

After driving trucks with open diffs for years and thinking they were fine, I will never go back to that mess. My dad has a 48 (I think, it may be a 47) ****** jeep that is locked front and rear. That thing will could probably climb a vertical wall. The LS I have in mine works well, too. Of course it isn't nearly as agressive as the jeep but, at least my tires don't scrub when I go around a corner. If you ever wheel or anything of the like, I recommend a LS or a locker before ANYTHING else (maybe, a winch, maybe). 35 inch mud tires don't do a darn thing when they are in the air spinning.

However, in response to your question, the idea sounds like it makes sense. I have a used a friend or two to get traction before while out wheelin'.

 

This should work in situations where the passenger side is the lighter side and requires more weight to gain traction. However, don't rely on it to give you MUCH better traction. The only way to do this, is to get rid of the open differential. No matter how the weight is distributed, if one wheel loses traction (for lack of gravity or lack of "bite" on the surface), all the power will be transmitted to that wheel and you will lose more traction exponentially.

 

Because your suspension distributes the weight you are not getting the full 160 lbs (2x80lbs bags) over that tire. I don't know what the percetage would be. When you have someone standing on the rear bumper you get more of their weight on the side that they are on because of the position of the weight to the suspension.
Same thing goes for you being on the driver side. First your wieght is distributed across the suspesion plus most vehicles distribute more weight to the front.
If you put your truck so each tire was on a scale empty and then you got in the driver's side the 2 scales on that side would not show an increase of 100 lbs each if you are a 200 lb person. Each scale would show a percentage increase and each scale would be a different percentage.
When I bought my Ranger I wanted LS and they didn't have one in stock. They gave a one hell of a deal on my 4x4.
For weight purposes it's best to put the weight behind the rear wheels. This cuts down the amount of weight distributed to the front end. The problems comes when the rearend breaks loose all that wieght really changes the way the vehicle handles in the slide. Your rearend will pass your front really fast and you don't have much time to react. It's a whole different handling experience. So like I tell people don't do it unless you spend a lot of time practicing driving in an empty parking and letting your back end break loose. It will teach you never to let it break loose so you drive slowly and carefully and think about if you should really be out it the bad weather.

 

i have had the ranger side ways before i have also had our 1995 E350 cube van sideways as well!

I have the weight on the pass side rear, one bag is direclty over the axle on the pass side and the other is up against the tailgate on the pass side.


If i could afford to buy a LS i would. some of us are poor! ill be lucky if i still have the truck past september 07!