Front Lockers + Snow + air pressure

[Tom Mandera <tsm1@domain.elided>]

Hey, it's finally snowed and gotten cold here again!

Friday night it was snowing when I went to sleep.. woke up to find
several new inches of snow covering the Scout.. "Woo-hoo!  And I'm goin'
wheelin' today!" .. the fresh dump coincided with our monthly club trail
ride.. perfect timing.

I was running a little later than I wanted to be, so I turned the hubs
in before I even pulled out of the driveway... pull the stick into 4wd
and stand on the gas.

I've been in and out of 4wd on the hardpack streets since that morning..
and I've found that I can definitely tell the Lockright is up there. 
The Scout pulls a bit left and right.. particularly when I change the
throttle.. during a shift or when backing off/punching the accelerator,
the Scout pulls a bit.

Not too bad.. but I don't think I'd be going 60mph on the Interstate in
4wd... 

Regarding tire pressure:

We were fourwheeling in a foot or better of light fluffy powder with a
nice ice bottom.  I aired down to 17psi all around before we even left
the County Market/McDonald's parking lot.  I was struggling a while in
the deep snow.. this was the kind of snow that, in a 5,000lbs rig, it's
all "displacement".. there was NO floating on the snow for those of us
in the heavy rigs (we only had one or two light rigs.. two Toy
pickups).  So standing on the throttle and "displacing" snow to make
progress was all we had.. much like running "bottomless" mud.

As we neared the top of a hill we were climbing, it was getting deeper..
when I would let off on the throttle I would hear a "bang" as I slammed
into the wall of snow I had been pushing in front of me and came to a
very quick stop.  Rock backwards and punch the throttle again and I was
going.. but every time I stopped the same "bang" as I slammed into my
own wall.

Then I aired down to 10psi.  My 33x12.50s on 15x8s were *just* starting
to bulge out a bit.. 

Back into gear.. and the going was MUCH MUCH easier!  I wasn't walking
right up stuff, but it made a HUGE difference in my ability to tread
snow.  My friends recommended I go even lower in 1lbs increments as the
day wore on.. but I never did.. 

I had to be careful going over some rocky sections.. then again, my rims
are already dented a bit. :-)

BTW - anyone ever pack their brakes full of snow before?  Mine were
acting particularly funny later that day.. and I noticed big blocks of
packed snow all around the calipers and rotors and knuckles.. I wonder
if that had anything to do with it?  ;-)

I was impressed with my friend in his '79 BBronco..
460/C6/NP205/4.56s/Lockers/36x11" Buckshots.. he was breaking trail up
some long hill climbs that were drifted over.. more than once he went
sideways and slid off the track into the "grass" (if it were showing)..
I saw that Bronco buried to what looked like the rockers from where I
was standing.. he paused a minute.. and then the Bronco just walked
right back out onto the trail, drove back down, turned around, and
blasted right back up... wow.

-Tom Mandera, Helena MT
http://www.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout
'77 Scout II - 304/4spd/4.09s/locker/ls/33s... needs a set of those 36"
Buckshot Mudders.. now to make 'em fit..