for those of you who drive marauders

[kartherma]

I have a simple MM.
It is black
it has the lidio tune
it has the 4.10's
not much more


I tried to get on the highway tonight. Hit the go pedal hard, shifted to 2nd...and lost my ass-end so much that I wound up off the on ramp and in the dirt with two flat drivers tires, a knocked out front fog lamp, and a few marks on the bumper where the car slowed itself using the sand as a convenient energy dump.

I dont know how extensive the damage is. I dont know what caused it.
All I know is the car hit 2nd and I was looking backwards up the on ramp. I was the only car on the on ramp and there were no pedestrians...so I am guessing all is good.

first guess is I lost the drivers front rim (gouged pretty bad), at least one tire, the fog lamp, buffing out the paint where I slowed the marauder using friction between the sand and the paint, and the cost of the tow.

two highway patrolmen showed up like they watched me do it and I was lucky enough to have not had too many brews to have caused their attention. They sure thought about it though!

anyways, if you drive a MM...and you have those 4.10's and a tune...
be careful!!!!!!

be good,
Curt

[ridinclean]

damn, be careful man

[merc6]

stock everything and I lost the rear end only when I wot thru a small puddle from sprinkler overflow and that was at like 55MPH! The rear end of this car is light. I witnessed A texas MM owner swing his entire backend around fleeing sapd at best buy and he had tc on. Was the road wet or slightly sandy? What condition and psi were your tires before the incident?

[kartherma]

essentially brand new tires

they are three 03 tires with under 3700 miles on them
inflated by the good guys at ford

I will lay odds that the three factors were
1. excessive acceleration- my bad driving
2. sand on the road- where I live there is MUCH SAND! (this is where they filmed scorpion king)
3. the on ramp was a turn to the right and a down slope

my thoughts for now. I will go back tomorrow in the light and look again

[fastblackmerc]

Gald your safe & your MM didn't suffer much damage. Got to be careful out there.

[merc6]

essentially brand new tires

they are three 03 tires with under 3700 miles on them
inflated by the good guys at ford

I will lay odds that the three factors were
1. excessive acceleration- my bad driving
2. sand on the road- where I live there is MUCH SAND! (this is where they filmed scorpion king)
3. the on ramp was a turn to the right and a down slope

my thoughts for now. I will go back tomorrow in the light and look againThat'll do it. Sounds like one of the autocross courses where every RWD car would tend to loose it if they didn't slow down before it.

[Hack Goby]

I have the same set up you have plus now I have added snow tires on 16" rims.Damn talkin `bout busting them loose.The first time I got on it with the new setup I thought I blew the tranny.I was on dry pavement I came off a light on a roll the nailed it while still in first,They spun so hard the traction control came on at high RPM.It didn`t sound very good and it scared the hell out of me until I realized what happeded.With the T/C off burning rubber is effertless and second gear isn`t just a chirp like with the 18`s its more like hang on to your a$$.It scares me to read that in the last few days there have been a few of our wonderfull cars go by the wayside or get dinged up.Lets all be carefull out there.I know because of this thread and whats happened to me I will.

[FordNut]

I've learned a new driving style since the s/c. Any moderate to hard acceleration means it's gonna break loose so be ready. And that's on dry pavement: in the rain, scrunch up really tight 'cause there ain't no such thing as acceleration. Monday I drove it about 100 miles in the rain, couldn't imagine doing that with drag radials! Hope the Nitto 295 street tires work in the rain as well as the Goodyear F1s do. What's it gonna be like if I get caught in the show?!?!

[Marauder2005]

Sorry to hear that, I hope you get her fixed. Good luck, and stop abusing

you raw power. :)

[X369]

My Marauder is bone stock, no T/C and I have had a similar experience. In the rain, accelerating uphill from a stop at the 1 - 2 shift at the crest, suddenly I was sideways - luckily no oncoming traffic! Rear tires were bald in the center so I replaced them immediately (KDWS); feels noticeably more confident pushing it a bit when dry, but I think I'll take it real easy driving when when it's wet!:o
Be careful out there!

[ckadiddle]

I think your tires broke loose and you spun out easily. I have recently added a tune only to a stock Marauder, and she now chirps going into second under hard throttle. Even my wife can tell a difference in power and acceleration and she drives the Marauder slowly and carefully. And that's on clean, dry, warm pavement with NO sand. I do want to add 4:10 or higher gears eventually. i'll have to be really really carefull so I don't have an experience like you just did.

[merc6]

Yeah I'm still freaked out I inivertantly got partialy sideways at 65 and didn't hit anything. As others said hope you regroop soon and speedy recover for the mm.

[Andras]

I carved a nice 'S' pattern across 4 lanes of traffic making a U turn. The rear came around once to the right, then back to the left, and then I rolled off the road into a parking lot. Clutches in the rear diff were a little tight. that was dry, no debris pavement.

Also came around in snow (this when I had an open rear), went off the road backwards and across the ditch, wiped out 6 small pine trees, but only got a small dent in pass rocker panel and lost the front plate holder.

[MENINBLK]

Your wheel can be repaired at Wheels America.
Look them up on the net.
There is a flat fee for repairing the wheel and its guaranteed.
They do GREAT work !!!

[Agent M79]

Hmmm... Either I have unconsciously learned how to not do this or all the work done to the tail end (anti-sway, control arms, watts link) is minimizing this.

Before all the work, I had a couple of hair raising sideways events. While I can say that all the work has tightened it up in the corners a lot, I am not qualified to say that it helps keep the backend in place while putting down max power. Anyone know?

[magindat]

My wreck was caused by the rear end coming about as well.
The 20' w/45's have made a WORLD of difference. I'm THROWING her into corners like I used to in my Honda (210hp 1.6L).

[pantheroc]

Almost did it tonight. 25degrees out, getting onto onramp, didn't know I was spinning after getting into second until the tires grabbed. Luckily the a** end didn't start swinging around. I only have mufflerless, K&N OEM replacement filter and DR tune. I guess that's what the 4.10's will feel like in the summer.

[blackf0rk]

Good old forces of gravity, direction and mass, (or physics). If you spin your tires, you give up virtually ALL traction - that's why they spin ;) So if you do this on a turn, your backend is going to swing out...your tires are too busy spinning to grab on to anything else.

The problem with this situation is that the car was going 'down', so all of the weight was on the front tires - lightening up the rear. This probably was your worst case scenario. ;)

There two things you can do, aside from being alert 100% of the time:

1. If you start to swing out, depending on the severity, just ride on through it, slowly releasing the throttle, making sure to turn the wheel in the opposite direction your car is facing. This is the most fun, and gives you the fishtail effect.

2. Many times, you're not fooling around, and it catches you by surpise. Best thing to do is turn out of the swing by turning the vehicle in the opposite direction it's starting to face, and immediatly let off the gas. For example, if you're making a right hand turn, and your back end swings out to the left, your car is going to start to point to the right - turn the wheel to the left.

Anyways - be careful, and alert.

[kartherma]

took her down to Doug at the Ford dealer.

THIS GUY IS THE MAN!!!!

Fixed the tires back onto the rims, balanced them, put them back on the car, and got the lead service manager to agree on my future S/C install in the shop (with a bit of an agreement concerning warranties)

And all that for FREE!:D

I went back down there to look at the road. Yep...lots of sand, down hill and a slight turn.

Oh yeah, and the foglamp will get done when the MM gets her two door fixed and the warranty repaint.

If doug were a woman!!!

I have notice alot of posts here about similar events. Makes me question if I should S/C or not. I was already planning on the ENTIRE handling package along with it...but I still wonder.

be good
Curt

[merc6]

I don't gas it while cornering. My backend always breaks loose in straight line. She walks to the right each time. When turning at a slightly higher than normal speed I crack the windows to hear the tires grip or lack of so I know when to get back on it.

[StevenJ]

I've lost the back end a lot but every time, I've regained control with out a problem. The key is just to modulate throttle. The worst thing you can do is apply full throttle then hit the brake, that's what causes you to loose control. As soon as you sense the car to start slipping, just let off the gas and straighten out the wheel and apply light throttle where needed. Be careful where you floor it too. I make sure it's nice and straight road with little to no traffic ahead of me whenever I hit it.


I don't gas it while cornering. My backend always breaks loose in straight line. She walks to the right each time. When turning at a slightly higher than normal speed I crack the windows to hear the tires grip or lack of so I know when to get back on it.
I love doing that. Just don't give it too much throttle and you can pull it off every time. I don't let the car go sideways that often but when there's no traffic, I'll go for it and let the car drift a little.

[merc6]

I love doing that. Just don't give it too much throttle and you can pull it off every time. I don't let the car go sideways that often but when there's no traffic, I'll go for it and let the car drift a little. This is my 1st rwd car so I already found that cool as skits but after a few times I was like damn I can't keep up a habbit I can't afford to do. I remember when I had it washed the dumaus got tireshine on the actual treads. I left the parkinglot and went to the light and made the most stunting left turn evAr. I was able to keep the drift under control for like 8 seconds before the stuff was burned off.

[StevenJ]

This is my 1st rwd car so I already found that cool as skits but after a few times I was like damn I can't keep up a habbit I can't afford to do. I remember when I had it washed the dumaus got tireshine on the actual treads. I left the parkinglot and went to the light and made the most stunting left turn evAr. I was able to keep the drift under control for like 8 seconds before the stuff was burned off.

This my first rear drive car I have ever owned. Not the first one I have ever driven though. I sprayed tire shine on the tread once or twice come to think of it. It let it dry before I took a extended drive in it though. Trust me, skidding around corners every once in a while isn't going to make your tires go bad that much faster. I got about 5,000 miles on my current set and my rear tires are still good.

[merc6]

All 4 were replaced 2000 miles ago. The other cars that were rwd I drove were not mine so I dare not attempt.

[Andras]

I wore out a set of 80,000 mile GY Aquatread 3s in only 29,000 miles :D

[bagpiper]

After I had the stage-1 package installed,I matted the throttle on a wet road chasing a friend of mine in a 70 buick.Did a complete 180 in the middle of the road at 40-50 miles an hour,I gained new respect for the car and I got lucky there was no on coming traffic.

[kartherma]

wow

with all these stories here I am wondering if a group would like to get together for one of those handling schools.

I have seen a few come up every now and then...

[rayjay]

This story is one of the reasons I've balked at getting the 4.10 gears. The other night I was sucker punched by my DTR's drivers door. It was snowing and I was scared to death that my wife would wreck us on the way to local hospital as she has never driven the MM in snow. I have snows at all four corners. She did fine getting us there. On the way back I drove as the road conditions had gotten worse. I've driven all my life in upstate NY snow belts. Both RWD and now FWD police cars on the night shift. There is one condition that scares the daylights out me, "black ice" under freshly fallen lake effect snow = wreck. I was about 2 miles from my house on a straight, flat road. The above condition existed and could not be seen. The rear end just all of a sudden walked out on me. I counter steered, it straightened out then went out the other way, too far to save. I told the wife hang on we're going for a ride! Some how I managed to get her straight from an angle that seemed impossible... Took me the next 2 miles just to swallow my heart. I was pissed because the TC didn't come on. The wife said she was watching the dash because she thought I was driving too fast (35mph) and noted that the TC was on the whole time. I guess that helped save the car. Whew, what a ride :eek: Now I'm even more leary of putting the 4.10s in.

[GreekGod]

[quote]<THERE snow="wreck" effect lake fallen freshly under ice? ?black me, out daylights the scares that condition one is>..There is one condition that scares the daylights out me, "black ice" under freshly fallen lake effect snow = wreck...I agree-unseen ice under snow will do you in! I was driving my 1979 F150 4X4 to work one morning (hubs locked) 35 mph, with about 6 to 8 inches of snow on the road. I wasn't even going too fast (or so I thought). I did a 360 degree spinout with no time to react. I was very thankfull traffic was light. I got sideways last year with my stock MM during a light rain. 300 hp and a 4500 pound car can get dangerous real quick.

[whoskal]

I wouldnt even drive my MM in the rain for the longest time the back end would be all over the place, got new Dunlop sp sport 9000s. now it feels like i got suction cups for tires!!!!!!

[mercfirst]

Funny you should say this. I've got a bone stock '03, which originated with an estate sale, and I bought it last Jan. from the small unaffiliated dealer who had acquired it from the estate, with only 629 mi. on the clock. I've always pretty much babied the thing, and in fact have only driven it about 2K miles since getting it.

Anyway, just yesterday I happened to take the beast to work, and left late, when there was no other traffic at all in the driveway of the industrial park where my building is. This driveway is about 200 yds. long, straight as a string, and well paved, so I decided to line the beast up at the end of it, to see what she could do over a short span.

Well, I pretty much went WOT from a standstill (which I'd never done before with this car,) and, contrary to what I've heard so often about this ride, the wheels were chirping pretty damn well!! But, back to the original point, during the chirp action, the back starting kicking out to the left, at which point I eased her right down.

All in all, I got a cheap thrill that I'll remember, and I'm starting to wonder about all the noise that I've heard about no tire spin on stock Marauders; and speaking of noise, the sound of my tuned exhaust made me feel for a few seconds like I was at NASCAR. I really do like this car!

[David Morton]

You newcomers need some time behind the wheel on roads less traveled. Take the long way to work on a snakey road and get used to the way she feels. I've driven many a performance car when I worked at the dealerships and this car handles quite well. I can stab the throttle for 3-2 or even 3-1 downshifts in turns, make WOT 1-2 shifts in turns and stab it from a dead stop into a left turn across a four lane with concrete median and the car nearly leaps into the inside lane sideways. And I have what I consider to be worse tires than the originals. I don't dare do any of this when it's wet or sandy.

Practice, practice, practice.

You need to do this where you can't hurt anybody so you can take the car to its' limits.

Oh, and any brewskis will just void the practice session. Try showing up at a road racing driving school with anything other than .000 blood alcohol content and they'll tell you there's the door. You're lucky it didn't happen in Florida. Here if you have a wreck, and there's anything other than .000 BAC, you get a DUI. You lost control, you were drinking, so alcohol was a factor in the wreck that you failed to control. Cut and dried. Here we recognise that some people are blotto on half a beer; they should know that and not drink if they're going to drive a car.

Interesting how you didn't think it was a factor. Wonder what that means?

[merc6]

I drove the car around for a month in texas before I had it shiped back up here in Va. Dry weather drifting every turn I could. Don't let me get lost and have to make a U-turn! Turning radius went out the window. When it rained I feathered it and then at a stop light I decided to slightly step it up and found out what the term "walked" ment. Then at 50 stomp she walked again. I realized what %of throttle is needed to start and gradualy speed up from doing that. It was all done at like 2 am on a tuesday. Since then I got the hang of feathering the gas=higher mpg concept. Since then I have also installed the lidio tune and SRI. I sneeze and shes already doing 45. From a dead stop the lidio tune spins tires for like 2 seconds more than stock. Sorry to go slightly ot but just something I saw at advanced autoparts is a breatholizer/parking reminder/flashlight keychain. You can test you BAL and find the car if you got too drunk to remember where you left it. Anything wrong with this picture?

[merc6]

Wow today I was doing like 20 in a 45 and hit a big patch or roadway of black ice going uphill. I managed to control the drift but luckily nobody was next to me. I wasn't flooring it just enough to get up the hill that iced over. Guess I need them tires asap.

[kartherma]

Tell us more about these dunlop tires!

[merc6]

3K old KDWS