yes of course, you are right, i just thought people might become fed up hearing me say some of the same things like an old gramophone!
So for the original poster
BoscoTaylor
I live in an old Welsh farm/ Small Holding. It is completely off road. I have 2 ways of access just short of a mile. One way to the property is up hill all the way along something resembling a narrow green lane, in fact the fist part is a bridle way. The other way down hill is first part a trackway, then literally just across open fields, OK in the summer but gets boggy in the winter. Most of the way either way is not my land so I can not just pave it nor do really want to anyway. The fist way is old and broken in parts so a bit of up and down. I have larger off road tyres BFG 255/55R18 KO2 AT tyres which provide a good load of traction but just as important they are incredibly tough and easily absorb the nocks against hard stone and rock that lesser tyres might succumb. They are also tolerant of frequent low tyre pressures. In the wet season which over the last year or so, I have gone down to 6psi to prevent making deep tram lines in my neighbours fields top track also at that low pressure the tyres provide an incredible amount of additional traction. Wet grass is very slippery. Low pressures elongate and flatten the tyre track allowing more tread to grip and help with traction. I do not always go so low but vary it over the year depending on how wet the ground is or the going if your a horse person. The tyres I use because of size and construction also allow lower road pressure too. The tyres provided from new were I seem to recall something like 44/41 psi front rear more for a load The larger tougher xl BFG convert to 35/34psi front to rear on the road. So even inflated legally they are much lower pressure than OEM tyres of 255/45R18 helping with grip and preventing damage to fields. I may decide to run at say 20psi more frequently off road if I am going back and forth collecting coal from were the delivery truck may have left it, so long as the weather is not too bad other wise I drop to 6psi. That or I will go the long way and round and come up hill. Lower pressures say 20psi are good on rocky bump sections too. giving a smoother ride with good traction over slippery rocks.
My vehicle is not just 4motion it also has a rear Differential Lock as well and I do need that in the winter at times. It not only provides additional traction when needed but it also pre engages the Haldex so essentially making what is normally a part time 4x4 or all wheel drive vehicle into a full time 4x4 while the differential is engaged. One operating in this mode one really notices the togetherness of the vehicle off road its then very positive and grip is most excellent with virtually no slip. The Haldex is very good mostly it normally only requires a small rotation or slip of a gear before engaging the rear axle or wheels. In my case I prefer no slip at all to prevent damage to the field surface because constant toing and froing would very soon rip up a wet field
On the road in normal drive at normal tyre pressures the Haldex is unobtrusive very useful in the winter especially in the snow and on ice. It is useful when needing to pull away quickly from a road junction particularly a T junction in the wet. No I am not a boy racer though I don't hang around either. It The 4Motion is also useful on narrow roads where one may have to pull over to pass an oncoming vehicle or one left unattended in the snow. It often might facilitate a good neighbour moment in allowing one to pull over in the dirt to allow them to pass with out the fear of becoming stuck
2 wheel drive to probably all that might be needed most of the time but 4Motion is very useful OH and great for towing people out of a mire as well, within reason. In fact most 4Motion vehicles are 2 wheel drive most of the time when on the road. Their is a slight weight penalty and fuel usage I understand? Not sure what the relevant figures are.
I would like to state a safety message on tyre pressures. In an emergency or off road, reducing tyre pressures can greatly aid traction when on mud or grass or when slipping and sliding in a valley in slush or snow but on the highway it is a legal requirement to have correct pressures but it might get one out of a jam. Please, please reinflate as soon as possible and in any case keep speeds low. A few pound down say 20 psi at slow speed is one thing but 6psi the tyre can come away from the rim when negotiating a bend or hitting a bump on a track. If a tyre comes away from the rim it needs more than a cheap tyre inflater to put it back and then to safely inflate quickly. Speed is of the essence then. So if at a campsite for example and needing to go anyway near that low don't unless you have a good fast inflation tool. By the way Halford's do some that are quite good and will reinflate a tyre that comes away from the rim but true off road sites and stores do much better ones at a price. If the tyre goes over the rim then that is an entirely different matter. Just do not travel any distance or speed underinflated on a public highway!
For many years I have driven off road and visited many delightful places using a verity of off road vehicles and done some cross country vehicle trials also, many years ago.
I hope that their are not too many spelling mistakes, unlike a post that I recently posted, where the spell checker made a field day and fun at my strange spellings. It was only a few hours before being admitted to intensive care for a week. Extremely low SATs, massive O2 depletion and so on, oh and amazing what muliple PE does to ones perceptions, everyone I met I presented with those dejavew feelings of having met everyone before, very, very wieard and strange. My spelling is poor at the best of times but I usuall manage to struggle through and not depend entirely on spell checker.
