Greg and Rainey Birch, who live in the Seattle greater area, have equipped
their coach with some aggressive mud and snow tires, and they go play in
the snow a good bit of the time in the winter. Greg says that he rarely
gets stuck with his setup.
Me, I get stuck on wet grass and slight uphills. It is all about
weight distribution and power to weight ratio. If your coach is heavy on
the front, and you have an engine that has no low end torque like a stock
403, you will do a bit better in limited traction situations.
If you have a more robust engine, and have a heavy rear end on your
coach, you will experience traction problems. On the West Coast, Manny's
driveway is a great test of traction. Heavily laden coaches with 455's have
a hard time getting up his hill. My weak 403 with a 3:70 final drive has no
problems with it.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Or
78 GMC ROYALE 403
> The poor traction characteristics of the GMC Motorhome go back to its
> introduction - I’ve heard of reports of traction criticisms right back to
> the original reviews of the GMC MH. It’s the design of the vehicle - you
> can’t change physics (comparatively lightly loaded drive wheels and an open
> diff, combined with a rearward transfer of mass when going uphill).
>
> I’ve had two or three traction related “incidents” - all of which I was
> able to eventually self extract. But one of them required me to take my 300
> lb scooter from the rear bumper carrier. I can’t imagine having my BMW GS
> on the back (but we’ve discussed that in the past)...
>
> So - my feeling is that if your GMC is not demonstrating traction issues,
> it’s because you either have something to combat it (aggressive tires or
> limited slip diff?) or your conditions weren’t that bad!
>
> If you want to experience it - try stopping and restarting on an uphill
> situation with low traction surface! My old Pleasure-Way could start and
> stop on most any hill - but it was a RWD with 3.73 posi.
>
> I’d like a limited slip diff in my GMC - but not enough to actually pay
> for it.
>
> Once I sorted out a few outer CV boot issues - I’m mostly happy with my
> 1-Ton frontend. The brakes are great - but as I’ve mentioned in the past, I
> do get some shimmy/shake in certain situations that I wouldn’t miss if it
> wasn’t there... I could be convinced that the handling isn’t quite as good
> - but I’m not changing back!
>
> Rob
> Victoria, BC
> 76 Royale - Rear Twins/Dry Bath
>
> >
> > I can not really comment on the efficacy of the 1 ton front end, but I
> do feel the need to comment on traction.
> >
> > I see so many complaints about traction, my honest feeling is that if
> your traction is that bad something is wrong.
> > With a 600lb motorcycle hanging 2 feet off the rear of my coach I
> climbed the gravel road to Curtis canyon without spinning (it's steep! it
> was a
> > TERRIBLE idea)
> >
> > I've had no issues in wet grass, no issues in mud or dirt roads.
> > The ONLY time I lose traction is when turning up a steep incline (like
> out of some gas stations) from a stop.
> > Or when I put my foot down and do an accidental burnout :d
> >
> > I am not educated enough on the suspension geometry to comment on WHY
> this is the case, but my 26' has zero issues with traction, so it's got to
> be
> > something off to make it bad enough to comment on.
> >
> >
> > My thoughts on the 1 ton (for what they are worth, near nothing :d) is
> that it's a good cheap way to replace all the worn out stock parts on a
> coach
> > that needs them. Just a few days ago on FB there's someone with a 6K
> bill for a suspension cleanup from applied. Tossing a 1.5K 1 ton in there
> is a
> > whole lot cheaper and easier than getting the stock stuff back to spec.
> > For those with a rougher front end, or higher mileage I think it's a
> good option.
> >
> > I also think the handling differences are overblown, sure 2 race car
> drivers in the same coach with stock vs 1 ton may notice the difference, but
> > ultimately it doesn't really matter enough to matter. I'd bet dollars to
> donuts that 99% of people would be perfectly happy with a stock coach in
> good
> > shape OR a 1 ton coach in good shape. The key being "in good shape"
> >
> > It's an interesting discussion nonetheless and I'm enjoying learning
> about each so carry on!
> > --
> > Justin Brady
> >
http://www.thegmcrv.com/
> > 1976 Palm Beach 455
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