Drifting

[naladude911]

Since the J is RWD, is it good for drifting? i know that someone filmed himself drifting in the J on youtube, but does anyone recomend it?

[Jakw]

Nah. I think drifting is really hard on cars. And since she's an old, heavy, kinda spongy feeling girl with an automatic transmission, I'm going to go with no.

[gr8scott72]

Since the J is RWD, is it good for drifting? i know that someone filmed himself drifting in the J on youtube, but does anyone recomend it?

Underpowered, heavy, and an automatic. Don't think that makes for a good drift car.

[brandonjustice93J30]

it's a good getting stuck in a snow drift car...lol

again sell the J, get an old 70's van for your curtains and an old Datsun 510 or a 240SX either one after an engine swap if you want to do drifting on a budget.

Yeah the J will break loose in the rear, but 90% of the time it's when you dont want it do.

[96J30]

I've had the rear end loose a few times, though always in the rain. Wasn't too bad, but I agree with the rest: Get a 240SX or something if you want to drift, or do some seriously significant modifications to the J

[Bhong]

good example of horse power to torque ratio. my reply is.." yeah, but i could tow up to 1000 lbs!"

-Bhong '93 J30

[gr8scott72]

good example of horse power to torque ratio. my reply is.." yeah, but i could tow up to 1000 lbs!"

-Bhong '93 J30

So you're saying 1000 lbs is good?

[brandonjustice93J30]

the j might pull 1000lbs if you have a 90lb driver and remove the entire interior and have a transmission cooler twice the size of the radiator...

[yodawill2000]

hehe I gotta 63 4X4 that could pull Scott's truck and trailer up a hill !!!Granny gear of course.

Nuk Nuk

[StevieRaySTL]

-- Just watch F&F, did we? On a snowy parking lot or soccer field, you can have a ball, but to ask if anyone 'recommends' drifting a J...lol... the mere fact that you weren't flamed to death for that is a true testament as to how mild mannered the J30 forum is. The J30 has an under the dash, parking break pedal, with a release pull. Not saying it's impossible to 'drift' a J, but can't your own powers of deduction answer this one? I'm gonna recommend you be careful until you know your capabilities.

-- And yeah, since when was 1000 lbs a lot? My 4 cyl Honda had the same, it's the manufacturer's way of telling you not to tow anything. I'll bet the J would actually tow more, not that I'm recommending it.

[naladude911]

i feel like an idiot, but wont the J get stuck in the snow?

[kbflip02]

i feel like an idiot, but wont the J get stuck in the snow?

just trust me on this one bro...dont drift the J...youll end up regretting it down the line...

[brandonjustice93J30]

a couple inches in an empty parking lot can be fun....6-8 inches on the road is a major pita. And with that much...yeah you'll get stuck if you cant drive.

You'll want to get a good feel for the car before you attempt anything of the sort...and even then the J can surprise you and not in a good way.

I can show you a front fender that's smashed due to a heavy foot from being po'd at the wife and seeing a wet corner and thinking I'll do a small controlled slide around it and not noticing it's actually a sheet of ice and the front of my car swapping the rear and finding the back bumper of a truck.

[ososlow]

'dont drift the j"

[naladude911]

lol ok

[elan]

brandon what you describe is most likely because of the tires and has less to do with the car.

I was drifting on a parking lot in a snowfall with 10 inches of snow, no problem.

Never got stuck in any snowfall. Thanks God it took me through many dangerous conditions including ice roads. As long as you have good winter tires, I cannot blame this car. It has LSD at the rear which helps a lot! my BMW 328 cannot do what J can simply because it does not have the LSD,

the shortcoming is the auto transmission which does not allow you to starit in the 2 or 3rd gear so the rear breaks lose in the slippery conditions though gear limiter helps a lot.

the manual in the snow rocks big time, my g/f mazda 3 with man trans kicks *** though it's not that fun to drive because of the FWD

[96J30]

The J30 has an under the dash, parking break pedal, with a release pull.

You don't necessarily need a parking/emergency brake to drift. I've seen/ridden/driven plenty of cars that do it without it.My J can get sideways pretty easily in the wet (not really 'drifting') but that's because I'm getting close to needing new tires.

[brandonjustice93J30]

yes tires do help...but if you're a newbie at the J...you're more likely to get into trouble.

When I used to go out and play in my Dakota, I've seen guys in Jeeps get stuck in 10 inches of snow, mainly because they stopped in the middle and lost momentium.

And not all of us have the luxury to swap tires every season. Although I'm working on that..lol

[gr8scott72]

my g/f mazda 3 with man trans kicks *** though it's not that fun to drive because of the FWD

Might not be as fun with the fwd but that's the exact reason why it "kicks ***" compaired to your J in the snow.

[elan]

I would say mostly it does because of the manual transmission , I can start from the 2d gear to reduce the torque on the wheels, J just breaks the rear if you do not start gently

but yeah FWD makes it easier to pull out though, you know, I did not have much troubles with the RWD. the driving techniques has to be adjusted accordingly

[StevieRaySTL]

You don't necessarily need a parking/emergency brake to drift. I've seen/ridden/driven plenty of cars that do it without it.My J can get sideways pretty easily in the wet (not really 'drifting') but that's because I'm getting close to needing new tires.

-- It HAS a parking/emergency brake, it's just not in the most convienient place to engage and release it quickly, it'd be easier if you had an extra arm and leg on the left side. If you fully read my post I said that it wasn't impossible to drift a J. Just that anyone who knows **** wouldn't 'recommend' it. And getting 'sideways' in the rain isn't 'not really drifting' it's more of an inability to control your vehicle. I must confess it took me a month or two to master wet conditions in the J, but now I'm just as confident in my J as in a fwd.

[StevieRaySTL]

-- Somehow I missed this nugget yesterday's eve. I'm gonna have to call you out on this one.

I've seen/ridden/driven plenty of cars that do it without it.

...plenty? -- Show me an in car vid of your bad self negotiating the two ton J30 through a turn, at high speeds, mind you, while operating the floor mounted p-brake and it's seperate release pull.(which breaks off VERY easily, trust me) Then, maybe I'll eat my words, shoot I'll even bow down and give you mad respect, maybe even nickname you DK, lol, but until then I'm calling

-- On a related note, anyone here got any bright ideas in how to replace the release pull? Mine's torn off, not from drifting though, I'm sorry to say. I just had a real steep drive at the old crib and one day I just ripped it off like a monster, seems they don't like to disengage all the way, and I'd always be giving it that extra pull to get the dash light off . Moms always said you break your favorite toys first. Any feed back is kindly appreciated.Thanx.

[Jakw]

What a ridiculously long time for a ridiculous thread to stay alive...Pickups are RWD. D0riFtooo!!!1!11!

Use your head. Just because the rear end will get loose in the rain with ****ty tires, doesn't mean it's a drift car. Plus, on a real street, drifting is a pretty bad idea. Even the pros run into unexpected grip and whatnot on tracks. Are you going to go out on the street and try to maneuver your stock-everything-that-matters, 3500lb, family sedan around some corners at high enough speed to break all of the tires loose?

Once more, use your head.

[nkawall]

lolhes totally right...last year i tried drifting my j and i ran up the curb when i lost control..bent the lower right hand side control arm in half and the upper tie rod...i still have the bent parts in my garage...i'l take pics and post em up...basically these parts are super weak...and theyre super expensive too....so basically ...dont drift a j..unless u have thousands for repairs....although...i drift nonstop right now because theres snow everywhereeee and its mad fun...last night i turned out of a plaza near my house and basically powerslid all the way out...i watched my speedo rise up to 185 km/h ...lol

[yodawill2000]

I get the feeling his Daddy does

He's not even driving the car yet .

[nkawall]

yeah hes like my little brother...15 without his damn licence and hes driving around...everytime i c him driving the j i kick his a$$...cuz he tried driftin my 99 g20t in november and he ****** up bad...he bent the drivers side lower and upper control armslike 500$$ damage..and i had to take the blame 4 it

[Victor]

My daughter drove my Infiniti G20 that I had just finished fixing up to high school and parked it in the school parking lot. A kid practicing drifting miscalculated and wiped my parked car out. The insurance company paid me more for the car then I paid for it, but it irked me because I had spent many hours fixing it up. Plus the accident went on my daughter's record even though she wasn't even in the car when it happened.

I have a 94 J30T, probably the best J30 model ever built because it and the 93 J30T were the only ones ever built with four wheel steering, but the 94 has a better timing belt than the 93. It corners great on dry pavement, but gets kind of twitchy on wet roads, I have had the rear end break away on me.

BTW, my J30T has 191,400 miles on it and is still going strong except for a flaky power door lock on the drivers side.

[j30t_Dan]

I have put my j sideways... but its seriously not a drifting car. get a 240, J's are made for the luxury drive.

[Jakw]

Still!??! Honestly...why is this still up? Yes, yes, cars slide in the snow. Yes, you can set up various RWD cars properly and slide them around on dry pavement. And yeah, most of us would probably f--k that up too. I would bet that most of us here aren't nearly as talented as we think when it comes to driving. Especially...say...15-16 year olds?

I thought I was totally awesome in my Volvo at that age. Thinking it was some baddass machine that handled like nobody's business. The truth is, you're just a lot stupider at that age. You've never been in a collision or lost control, so you just think it won't happen. And if it does, you can just whip the car around, throw it in reverse, yank the wheel to complete a 360, throw it back into D, and keep going!

I'm willing to be nala has gotten the point by now...

[2brokey]

Here's my take on supadorifto on the J30:

1) It's not the world's smartest idea2) Drifting a J30 -for real- will require you to pretty much gut the car and start building it for drifting from scratch ***3) There really isn't a big after market for it, and you'd be on your own for a lot of things. If you have the time, money, and another car, feel free but don't do anything on the streets with it! I mean it!