This past saturday i went to go do hiking with my class. Well, the road was kind of wet, because it did rain, and there was some loose gravel. when i was going home, I had a stop sign so i stopped. Turned to the left and i fishtailed. Nothing to bad. Well, i stopped by my friends house. road was kind of wet. Just rain nothing like puddles or anything like that. I turned to the right and i fishtail again.

And it happed a third time going from my friend's house to my house.

I am on the stock tires.

I don't think it is operator's mistake.

my tires are not bald they have about 75-85% tread.

i just don't know

 

So you still have the Goodyears Wrangler RTS's? Thats your problem right there!

 

one problem is, you have an open differential if your stock. Thats why I fishtail.

 

I don't know if you had fresh rain but when it rains after a long dry spell all the oils from the ground come up and its very slippery...

 

Rangers will fish tail easily on a wet road. There is no weight over those back wheels. I fishtailed my first time driving it on a wet road. It takes some time to get used to but you will get the feel soon enough.

 

Yes the first hour or so of rain is the most dangerous, since the oil is still washing away.

More than likely, though....you're experiencing the effects of having an open differential on a 2wd truck! Throw some weight back there and you'll be okay.

 

I think I have these Continental ContiTrac, and i do have open differential.

Sorry i did not put it in but I did check to see if there was oil, and there is non. I go to my firends house almost daily. But i usually take the car.

Should i get better tires, or change the diferentials?

 

How much weight do you guys recommend, and what part of the bed do i put the weight on?

 

If I were you I would first get better tires, and then if you're still fishtailing get a limited slip diff. I wouldn't want to be driving around all the time wiht weight in my bed. My BFG A/T solved my problem with the rain. It's also your driving style. In the rain just take it a little easier on the skinny pedal and it also takes a little bit of getting used to driving these feather llight rear end trucks in the rain.

 

In the winter months, I would pick of 4 or so bags of sand. Normally 250 pounds or so will give you lots more traction.

Otherwise, you'll have to replace the whole rear-end to get rid of that 7.5 open diff. I'm in the middle of an 8.8LS swap with a 3-link set-up....

 

Weight should go directly over the tires so in the middle of the bed. Bigger tires wont help much but BETTER tires will. Look for overall great traction tires. Changing the differential is harder than it may seem to you.

 

BFG A/T are horrible in the rain from my experience. He can get a L/S 7.5 unit from a Mustang or similar 7.5 and still be fine.

 

I will have to put up with the oem tires till, August. Then i will have cash. If i do get better tires like BFG A/T could i put them on the original rim?
This is DCRVP Truck
Those are the rims that i got.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...y/DSC_8447.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...y/DSC_8446.jpg

Do you guys think it will fit on my truck, with out a lift? Or what do you guys recommend?

And how will the BFG A/T do with my 3.73 open differential?

 

my 4wd with limited slip did it when i had stock tires... now it's a better but will still fishtail if i'm not paying attention and it's wet

 

You can fit a BFG but it depends on the size. They will do fine but only be a little better than your stock ones. Do some research before you settle on them.

 

Standard cab, short bed? They're terrible for that. That platform is inherently light in the rear and when it breaks loose the "time constant" of the swing is too fast to easily correct. In addition, it is very unforgiving -- there's no warning, it just goes.

Better tires helps, but doesn't solve it.

If you have an extended cab, it's not as bad. I've had both in Rangers 1 year apart and of the same generation running the same tires and it's like night and day.

If you have a standard cab Ranger, you HAVE to keep this in mind in the rain or you'll be toast like I was!

 

Yeah, my old reg. cab S10 was the same way, allot of power and no weight or wheel base for it....

 

technically a open diff would be less likely to fishtail, since only one tire is likely to get power the other will tend to spin less and stay planted, but with a L/s you get the tendancy for both tires to spin, increasing the chances of fishtailing. I know that my 2000 when stock didnt fishtail much at all, but my 05 Lvl 2 does it all the time when the L/S kicks in.

 

i got open rear i cant remember the last time i fishtailed.

now. the crapyear wrangler rts tires and the no contitrac or whatever the hell their called are both total garbage. think of them as 'accident rated' tires. if you dont want to spen $800 for a set of overrated offroad general purpose tires, pick up a set of general at2 tires for 1/2 the price with the same/better performance. and they even come with a warranty unlike the bfg's

just my $.02

 

John said it is standard cab, and with the 6foot bed. I am usually careful in the rain but this time it was crazy. I don't romp on the gas.

 

that is exactly what i was thinking but was not going to call him out on it.

 

Not calling him out just correcting misinformation

 

Well if the power is transmitted to one wheel, you will indefinitely lose forward traction in wet conditions.

 

I have Kumho tires on mine, and the only time the rear will slide is when I make it by really getting in the gas while making a sharp turn. And like said above, there is no warning......once it breaks loose, it will come around. (it hasn't happened yet, but close).

 

Yes, but that DOESN'T cause fishtailing.

The simple rule is this: lose traction in one direction, lost traction in ALL directions.

This is why L/S and lockers are famous for fishtailing: anything that breaks both tires loose in the FORWARD direction, also breaks them loose to the SIDE.

This is why open diff's are less likely to fishtail -- one wheel can still anchor the transverse traction.

Now, if the L/S or locker distributes the traction and keeps ANY wheels from slipping, then the L/S or locker can be said to prevent fishtailing. However, it's considered true that in most cases the L/S is more prone to fishtailing than the open.