Forced to drive the tbird this winter! need help!

Zcdef

Registered User
My father totalled my jeep last weekend and is alright, but he hit a deer and then jumped a ditch, cut a tree in half, and rolled before landing in a seven foot ditch. Due to plpd insurance I am currently driving my thunderbird about 150 miles a day and will have to continue to do so this winter. Because this car is a little modded and is already bad at keeping traction what suggestions does everyone have for winter?

I'm thinking that i could pull the sc belt and i remember someone saying pull the octane plug and the bypass elbow and zip tie the bypass open. Looking for any help i can get!
 
Ok. I can do the weight at least. Know anything about bypassing the supercharger though? I know it might sound crazy but I don't need a supercharged car for the winter lol.
 
Is it lowered? Will you have to drive in any snow?

Buy new tires....all around - best winter tread you can find. Put the take offs in the trunk for extra traction :)

Be sure the dif is locking as it should. Avoid using full throttle casually and remember, when the dif locks, the car favors the direction the body is aimed, not necessarily where the front wheels are pointed.

Good luck and keep the shiny side up.
 
There will be snow. I'm in indiana. I drove the jeep a lot in rear wheel drive and toyed around in it, but this is the 1995 5 spd and if i screw this up, I won't be driving out in four wheel drive lol.
how can I test the diff? Jack it up and spin em?
and new tires are out of the question. College student and it has 4 brand new you oh am as on it... lol the worst possible tires for winter.
 
Winter Tires. Everybody that has used them, swears by Blizzacks (sp?), just mount them on a spare set of wheels. I wouldn't bother bypassing the SC...you might want the power.
 
and new tires are out of the question.

If you're on loose dirt/gravel, etc. and you accelerate, does one tire spin, then both?

I wouldn't risk driving it without different tires - you could pull 3 plug wires and it would still be dangerous with the ones you have :) Maybe your insurance can pick up the tab for a rental you can risk instead...
 
Last edited:
I drove my 90 automatic around a couple years in the winter. I bought a set of Winterforce 225/60/16 tires, mounted them on the stock wheels, and put like 4 sand bags in the trunk between the fenders. I never once got stuck.

I also took the jackshaft belt off since its simple to do and easier then removing the SC belt.

I lived in Michigan right on the lake so we got all that lake effect wet heavy snow from Chicago. My car would run great, but it was slow, which is fine. It would still run down the highway but without the zip tying the bypass open I could only give it about 1/4 throttle because anything more didn't make a difference. I ran it on regular gas too for the winter to save some money but when it got close to spring I switched back to premium before putting the jackshaft belt back on.

Keep an eye on craigslist for snow tires. The 225/60/16 is the size the police crown vics use, I once got a set of them that were like 1 season old for $100. You really want the winter tires, check around your local tire stores for used tires, or get a credit card and put a set of tires on it, or ask your dad to chip in on the tires since he wrecked your jeep and now you are forced to drive your SC.
 
Last edited:
Thanks!
And scott.... you never stop surprising me lol. Thanks again for the info. I'll take the j's belt off and baby it with some weight. I'll see if I can do a tire swap with someone as the jeep tires were brand new too....
 
KMT- lol I wouldn't do that. As you can tell I'm a respectable driver. No accidents, no tickets, no warnings. I owned two vehicles and I rebuilt the jeep by myself :). The question is how many other 19 year old college punks would forgive their dad for totalling their jeep and try to make their supercharged hot rod a slow winter alternative? Lol

Dec- I forgave my dad for totalling my rebuilt jeep. He couldn't have avoided the accident even if he wanted to. And honestly he's not in a position to help me out right now. I've got 3 younger brothers and I'll let them benefit off of it instead of making him pay me back.
 
If those yoko tires are summer tires they will be literally useless even if you put 2 tons in the trunk. In cold temperatures the rubber will be hard and the slightest frost on the road will be like driving on ice. You need new tires.

I drive my 90 in the snow. Decent all season tires, 140lbs of salt/sand in the trunk and drive carefully and I do just fine. Same car on summer tires could barely get up a 2% grade with 20 degree F morning and frost on the driveway.
 
After reading all this the best modification for you would be a for sale sign and posting on it up on craigslist. The tires aren't some sort of luxury....there is science behind the rubber used and what temperatures the compound is good for.
 
Considering your location winter tires are highly advisable. I run a all season tire (I only have one set of tires) and for the weather I see it is just fine (occasional Ice and upto 8" of unplowed snow, once I get on top of it have no problems).

I've never ran a Summer tire so can't comment on them directly, but IMO if you need to modify your car to drive in the winter you don't need to drive it.
 
If you must drive the bird for the winter, get a set of 15" LX tbird wheels and some 215/70/15 blizzaks. With those, the car will go through whatever you need it to go through, as long as you don't drive stupid. With summer tires, the only place that car will go is off the road. Don't worry about removing belts or bypassing the supercharger, just keep your foot out of it when there is snow on the ground. Also, if you must drive a 95 5-speed through the Indiana winter, take it through the car was after every snow, and at the end of the season remove the ground effects and run it through the car wash with them off to make sure you got all the salt out of there so it doesn't start rusting out.
 
My 95 5-speed was my year-round daily driver in southern Ontario for the first 3 years that I had it. Ran Bridgestone or Pirelli performance winter tires on the stock wheels, worked fine even lowered. With a manual trans you can do second gear starts if needed to avoid wheelspin. Mike's suggestion of 15" Bird wheels is a good one to save some bucks, even if you come up with a set of Windstar wheels with the 215/70R15 tire size, those will do the trick. Surely someone in your area has a good used set for sale on craigslist.


cheers
Ed
 
Like everyone else has told you, if you intend on using your SC as your sole winter transportation, winter tires will be the largest improvement you can make to the car. If you intend to run summer tires in the snow, good luck, and keep your local tow company's number on hand. I wouldn't bother disabling the supercharger, as you can regulate power just fine with the throttle.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top