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Slide Prevention and Recovery
Having your vehicle go into a slide can be a scary thing. You can feel more comfortable behind the wheel if you understand what causes slides, how to prevent them, and what to do when you experience a slide.
What Causes a Slide?
A slide occurs when your tires lose traction on the roadway. The single biggest cause of slides is excessive speed-either because of the speed itself or from braking too hard when attempting to slow down. Excessively high side winds can also cause your vehicle to go into a slide.
Preventing a Slide
Reducing your speed and making slow, gradual applications to the steering wheel, brakes, and accelerator are the best preventive measures for avoiding a slide. Slow down prior to or when encountering slippery conditions. You should reduce your speed according to the type of condition being encountered. For example, you should slow down more if you are driving on icy roads than on rain-slicked roads. A good rule of thumb for wet roads is to reduce your speed 20 percent from normal or posted driving speeds. Snow covered roads require a 60 to 70 percent reduction from normal or posted speeds.
Types of Slides
Slides can be categorized into four types: braking slide, rear-end-breaking-loose slide, momentum slide, and power slide.
- Braking Slide
The first type of slide is a braking slide that occurs when the wheels lock up because too much pressure is applied to the brake pedal of a vehicle without anti-lock brakes. Even vehicles with anti-lock brakes can experience a braking slide under extremely slippery conditions.
If braking has caused the slide, quickly take your foot off the brake. Resume braking, but apply the brakes in a way that avoids locking the wheels. If you do not have anti-lock brakes, you may find a pumping action to be effective. Try to steer your vehicle onto a portion of the roadway that will give you more traction. Move your coach out of the path the tires are currently traveling so that the tires will have crust to grab a hold of. It's best to move to the portion of the roadway that is not traveled-it usually offers more traction. - Rear-End-Breaking-Loose Slide
The rear-end-breaking-loose slide is another type of slide that can occur. This type of slide is caused by the application of too much power or traveling at too high a speed in a curve, which causes the rear end of the vehicle to try to come around.
If the slide occurs in a curve because too much power is applied to the rear wheels of a motor coach, ease your foot off the accelerator and shift the transmission into neutral until control is regained. If speed is the cause of the slide, a light application to the brakes will be required to reduce your speed to a controllable level. - Power Slide
The last type of slide is called a power or torque slide. It is usually caused when a vehicle is stopped and too much power is applied to the rear wheels. Recovering from a power slide is very similar to recovering from a rear-end-breaking-loose slide. A power slide usually occurs when starting from a dead stop. The back end breaks loose to the right from torque applied to the rear wheels, and can be stopped by simply removing your foot from the accelerator. Sometimes you can give your vehicle additional traction by lifting the tag axle if it is so equipped. This action applies several thousand more pounds to the rear of the coach and can often give you the traction needed to get moving. Remember, if you add weight to the rear end of the coach, you take it away from the front end. On a slippery road surface you also want maximum weight on the front axle. Return the tag axle to its normal position as soon as the vehicle starts moving. - Momentum Slide
The fourth type of slide is a momentum slide. The momentum slide happens when the weight and force of the vehicle works against the ability of the steering to change the direction the vehicle is moving. The result is that the steering wheels, i.e., the front wheels, on the coach lose their ability to grip the slippery road surface and begin sliding straight even though they are turned to the right or left.
The momentum slide is the most difficult slide to recover from. To do so, slow your speed down and get the front wheels to go in the direction they are pointed. Sometimes you can regain control by simply taking your foot off the accelerator and quickly turning the steering wheel in the direction momentum is carrying the vehicle. At this point, turn the wheels slowly in the direction you want to go and see if they will allow you to turn. You don't have much time to regain control. In other circumstances you can simply make a light application of the brakes and steer onto a portion of the road to get some traction. As a last resort, if you have this option available, you may be able to ease into a snow bank to get the vehicle stopped.