5th gen Explorer issues stopping on ice | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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5th gen Explorer issues stopping on ice

You know...Tire age is a great point...I’ll check the date codes! I’m not sure they are “locking up”...at least not completely...I can hear/feel the abs system working...it just slides all over the place in the rear end.
I was looking at some studded tires on eBay earlier...may give that a shot if the hill descent mode doesn’t help.
What about using my suggestion of trying manual mode in a lower gear to see if you can use it to engage engine braking?
 



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Studded General Grabber AT2s will likely be your best bet for ice and also deep snow conditions. I had them on an Escape, last Mounty and my Subaru and they were pretty unstoppable. I plowed with them on my Mounty, and they were excellent. If they made a set I could stuff under my Kia, it’d be wearing a set right now.
 






Bilzak tires will help greatly. Try them from discount tire if you don’t like them in 300 miles trade them in for studded. I put a set on my 17 up here in OH last year after sliding around way to much.
 






Bilzak tires will help greatly. Try them from discount tire if you don’t like them in 300 miles trade them in for studded. I put a set on my 17 up here in OH last year after sliding around way to much.
Blizzaks are great tires, the best non-studded winter tire. I have a ten year old set I just put on for tonight's snow. They are still very very soft and nearly new/deep tread. Ice is a different monster, sometimes studs are the best answer.
 






What about using my suggestion of trying manual mode in a lower gear to see if you can use it to engage engine braking?
Yes Sir...I’ve tried that (in snow mode and normal mode)...manual gear number 1...works great in slush or dry gravel but a little to fast for ice on our drive. Nw I might could do all that and try hill descent with it and maybe find a winner!
 






I run General Grabber Artics -- FANTASTIC bang for the buck.

I believe they're studdable as well. I downsized to 18s on them. Very happy.
 






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It looks like your getting a good snow storm today. It looks wet and heavy too! Hopefully you can try out the hill decent and report back to use.
Thats a strange looking plow on that Polaris.
 






We ended up getting 12” +\-. Hoping to try out the hill descent tomorrow! The plow is a diy setup that I built from scrap steel and a plastic 55 gal barrel...lol! The irony is, I had a friends 45 horsepower Massey with a loader here for some repairs all the way up til Saturday evening...about 2 hrs before this snow came...lol! The Polaris and diy rig works good...just takes a little longer.
 






I did get a chance to try out some of the suggestions this evening. We left around 4:30 this evening...temps were around 28-29 with some crunchy ice and some slick ice on our road (similar to the last time that I had trouble...possibly a bit thicker and longer distances than before).
1. First thing I figured out was that hill descent will not engage in neutral.
2. So I put the Explorer in manual 1st gear, normal awd mode, and hill descent (set at around 4-5 mph). Not much change from before...maybe slightly better.
3. Second attempt...manual 1st, hill descent at 4 mph, mud mode....much better...minimal slippage, much more controllable!
4. Third attempt...manual 1st, hill descent at 4mph, sand mode...even better, only barely slipped once and corrected its self instantly!
***i also noticed that the brakes are somewhat grabby...didn’t notice that before but I’ll bet a very very light steady brake foot would produce similar results as hill descent. In other words...when my wife slid she probably nailed the brakes which put the abs to work over time. I’m thinking I probably got to aggressive with them as well after driving my truck which requires a firm foot.
***something else I thought of...a day or two before the first slick stuff we had, the battery was replaced. The evening before the second round of slick stuff, I had the battery unhooked to replace the positive cable clamp which was corroded. I’m almost willing to bet that the abs, awd, and traction control on these things have to “relearn” just like the transmission does anytime the battery is unhooked. That would explain a lot!
Anyway, I think with a good set of winter or studded tires we would be in good shape! I’ll keep the thread updated with brief reports as winter progresses. Thanks again for all the help!
 






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I did notice this symbol in the far lower right corner when in mud or sand mode. I believe this is “traction control off”. Not sure what exactly that means but I’d did still have torque distribution to all wheels as needed according to the message center on the left. I will say that mud/sand modes delivered torque to the rear wheels much quicker that snow/normal modes when accelerating.
 






Keep us updated, those are interesting conditions to be driving regularly. At least you do have some options, I'm still rocking the old original AWD no wiring transfer case.

But mine is locked up(toast), so I've had the front driveshaft out, until yesterday, for the snow that didn't come. I drove about 120 miles on clear pavement, which is hell for the CV joints and diff/gears etc. I took the shaft back out today, and it's got about a 1/2" of play in the front pinion shaft. Most of that is linear with the front CV axles, so it hopefully hasn't ruined the ring and pinion gears. I want to use them to rebuild with later.

Get some good snow tires, that will help a ton, a serious ton. True Winter tires have way more traction than any all season tire. Try a winter tire that has lots of great reviews.
 






Yeah, snow tires will solve all your issues without needing to be in the perfect mode.
 






They're called Winter tires now since that is more accurate as to their all-round capabilities.;)

Peter
 






It’s also winter in Death Valley. How great do they work there?:laugh:
 






Quick update...we come down this morning on areas of solid ice (22 degrees last night and the snow had been driven on...about as slick as it can be). Sand mode, manual in 1st and used the brakes very gently (no hill descent)...only slid once and was able to quickly correct. Looking at snow tires online...I believe with a good set of tires everything will be doable.
 






I had good luck with the Altimax 2 on my Escape.
 






Quick update...we come down this morning on areas of solid ice (22 degrees last night and the snow had been driven on...about as slick as it can be). Sand mode, manual in 1st and used the brakes very gently (no hill descent)...only slid once and was able to quickly correct. Looking at snow tires online...I believe with a good set of tires everything will be doable.
I always check out the customer reviews on www.tirerack.com and www.1010tires.com to get feedback from actual users of different tire brands and often use that as a guideline.

Peter
 






I’m sure this is probably covered elsewhere but I didn’t see my exact issue so here goes. We just got our 2013 Explorer a few weeks back. I’m completely new to the intelligent 4wd system. We live on a steep curvey drive. We have had a fair amount of light snows that turn to ice quickly overnight once it’s been driven on. I’m having trouble going down the drive. The car (especially the rear end) want to slide way to much. I’ve tried normal and snow modes and various ways of braking...no change. I have a 2006 f350 4wd that has no issues on the same drive. Maybe there’s something I could do differently??
Did you figure out a solution to this Explorer problem? I drove my 2014 AWD explorer on ice and snow for the first time today, and both the front and rear of the vehicle wants to slide out with my foot off the accellerator. Never experienced anything similar with 36 years of mountain winter driving experience in several different vehicles. Thank you for sharing any info you might have.
 



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Did you figure out a solution to this Explorer problem? I drove my 2014 AWD explorer on ice and snow for the first time today, and both the front and rear of the vehicle wants to slide out with my foot off the accellerator. Never experienced anything similar with 36 years of mountain winter driving experience in several different vehicles. Thank you for sharing any info you might have.
Welcome to the Forum. :wave:
Are you using winter tires? If not, that would be a start. The OEM tires are not designed for the conditions you described. I always use winter tires when the season calls for them and have never had the issue you described on any previous vehicle shown in my Signature.

Peter
 






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