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DanW

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I waited all day hoping for the snow storm to arrive. It began to look like it might miss us, then at about 4pm, the rain started to freeze, then some flurries, then it was on! Once the roads were covered, I threw some essential items into the Jeep and off I went, looking for a nice drive on country roads. It got pretty bad with strong gusting and blowing snow and a good layer of ice on the roads underneath it. I saw a big triple axle snow plow hit ice and slide across the center line on State Road 39. It went right off into a ditch! I also came across a guy in a Buick that had slid off a half mile north of the plow. His car was at a 45 degree angle, deep in the ditch, and he was turning his wheels back and forth, hitting the gas, as if he could somehow get out. A guy in a 2wd S10 stopped to pull him out. I told the guys I wouldn't even be able to get him out of that ditch and to get in the truck and go home. I was worried the next car along would slide right into these guys and kill them. After a little arguing, the guy in the car agreed to go. A couple hours later, after lots of country roads, I came across a beautiful coyote. She had a thick coat of fur and was scavenging around on a farm field. I got a couple good shots. I was happy my LED headlights didn't freeze over. They had a couple of spots of frost, but weren't compromised. The taillights froze over but were still highly visible. All in all, it was a fun night. I never came across anyone I could pull out. They were either allready getting help or were like the guy in the Buick, too far gone. Here are a few pics...
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DanW

DanW

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...Headlights and taillights. This thing is a drift-busting beast! I can't say enough about the KO2s in the snow! Btw, a great app is Scanner Radio. It is for Android, but I'm not sure about Apple. You can listen to scanners, both local and from around the world, on Android Auto through Uconnect. I could hear all kinds of things, including that the driver of the snow plow was fine and that they were sending help. Anyway, it is a great app.

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chadly25

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I hear Indy got hit pretty good today. I’ll be driving home from Chicago in the morning. Sadly, not in my Jeep.
 
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DanW

DanW

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I hear Indy got hit pretty good today. I’ll be driving home from Chicago in the morning. Sadly, not in my Jeep.
We got maybe 4 inches, but there's a layer of ice under it and some pretty good wind was whipping it around. It was a blast taking the Jeep around in it. Cold temps are up next. I wish it had been the 8 inches they were predicting yesterday. It looks like the snow has moved on, so I don't think there will be more. I'm pretty sure Carmel got more than we did in Danville. They had freezing rain at least a few hours before we did.
 

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chadly25

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Maybe I’ll get to go out and play a little tomorrow. Be safe.

So no issues with headlights freezing?
 
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DanW

DanW

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Maybe I’ll get to go out and play a little tomorrow. Be safe.

So no issues with headlights freezing?
Nope! They were great! They had a couple tiny frosty patches, but nothing to dim them. The fog lights were crystal clear.
 

parrotheadphan

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Btw, a great app is Scanner Radio. It is for Android, but I'm not sure about Apple.
Any chance the full name of it is Scanner Radio: Police & Fire?
 

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I love snow driving. However, I would say that the JL stinks in the snow and that the KO2s aren't very good in it either.

I had 4 JKs and they performed much better. I drove the JL with the KO2s as well as with the Milestars I had on my JK. There was no improvement.

We got about 9 inches last night. The JL was slipping and sliding, not wanting to go etc. I brought it home and took the 2019 RAM out. There was no comparison. The RAM didn't spin the tires or slip once.

Overall I am disappointed in the JL.
 
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DanW

DanW

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Any chance the full name of it is Scanner Radio: Police & Fire?
Yes! That's it. It is by GordonEdwards.net. The basic version is great, but has ads. No big deal. The pro version is 3 bucks and gets you no ads, theme colors, quicker alerts, and the ability to record. I've done fine with the free version. The alerts are great. You can set it to let you know whenever 3000 people are tuned into a particular scanner. I've used this countless times during natural and man made disasters and emergencies. Last night I was able to hear where people had slid off the roads or where there were accidents. It is great!
 

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DanW

DanW

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I love snow driving. However, I would say that the JL stinks in the snow and that the KO2s aren't very good in it either.

I had 4 JKs and they performed much better. I drove the JL with the KO2s as well as with the Milestars I had on my JK. There was no improvement.

We got about 9 inches last night. The JL was slipping and sliding, not wanting to go etc. I brought it home and took the 2019 RAM out. There was no comparison. The RAM didn't spin the tires or slip once.

Overall I am disappointed in the JL.
Snow varies a lot. I've found the opposite. The KO2 was outstanding in the snow covered ice we had last night. I've driven enough mud tires to know the KO2 blows them away. They felt they had traction every bit as good as my buddy's JK with Duratracs, which I think are the gold standard on Jeeps for snow/ice. I pulled a Blazer out of a highway median that had tall grass and deep snow. The Blazer's tires were bald and it was in 2wd, so it was no help. The JL/KO2s crossed the ditch and pulled her out with no sweat or drama.

As far as the JL, I drive it back to back with my JK Rubi. They perform almost identically. The traction control is slightly better in the JL, although it is still good in the JK. Both have larger than stock tires and both have the speedometers corrected for the tire size, which makes the TC work like it should. Both are running KO2's, with the JK having 285's and the JL 315's. Also, what pressure are you running? I'm running 30 to 31 lbs in both Jeeps. 37 or more lbs might be the problem, too. Tire pressure can make a huge difference in snow traction.

As far as JL vs. JK, how different can they be? The weight of the two is very close, as is weight distribution. They are both solid axles with similar traction control systems. The only Jeep that should be significantly different, all other things being equal (tires, for example), is the JL Sahara with Selectrac in full time awd. Otherwise, the JK/JL should be about the same.

Tire size (wide vs. narrow) is a factor, too.

I do know this. The KO2 is light years ahead of the KOs that were on my F150. Guess what's on my F150 now? 285 KO2s off a JL Rubi. It drives in the snow exactly like the 2 Jeeps, which is very well. No surprise there. The KOs were not even close.
 

Carlton

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Do you think it’s because it’s lighter than previous models?
This could be a factor or possibly the eight distribution. I'm not really sure of the cause but there is definitely a large difference in performance for me.
 

Carlton

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Snow varies a lot. I've found the opposite. The KO2 was outstanding in the snow covered ice we had last night. I've driven enough mud tires to know the KO2 blows them away. They felt they had traction every bit as good as my buddy's JK with Duratracs, which I think are the gold standard on Jeeps for snow/ice. I pulled a Blazer out of a highway median that had tall grass and deep snow. The Blazer's tires were bald and it was in 2wd, so it was no help. The JL/KO2s crossed the ditch and pulled her out with no sweat or drama.

As far as the JL, I drive it back to back with my JK Rubi. They perform almost identically. The traction control is slightly better in the JL, although it is still good in the JK. Both have larger than stock tires and both have the speedometers corrected for the tire size, which makes the TC work like it should. Both are running KO2's, with the JK having 285's and the JL 315's. Also, what pressure are you running? I'm running 30 to 31 lbs in both Jeeps. 37 or more lbs might be the problem, too. Tire pressure can make a huge difference in snow traction.

As far as JL vs. JK, how different can they be? The weight of the two is very close, as is weight distribution. They are both solid axles with similar traction control systems. The only Jeep that should be significantly different, all other things being equal (tires, for example), is the JL Sahara with Selectrac in full time awd. Otherwise, the JK/JL should be about the same.

Tire size (wide vs. narrow) is a factor, too.

I do know this. The KO2 is light years ahead of the KOs that were on my F150. Guess what's on my F150 now? 285 KO2s off a JL Rubi. It drives in the snow exactly like the 2 Jeeps, which is very well. No surprise there. The KOs were not even close.
I have driven the JL with the stock KO2s and Milestar Patagonias in a couple storms. The PSI was 28-30.

I drove back to back JK and JL with the Milestar tires. The JK didn't spin the tires once and was sure footed. With the JL, the tires spun the whole way down my street even in 4WD, and had a hard time getting down the road. The JK did it in 2wd. It was an apples to apples comparison.

I am not certain what the cause is, but in my experience, the JL does not compare to the JK or a RAM in the snow or ice.

When I still had the stock KO2 on the JL, it did poorly and slipped/slid a lot. In comparison the JK, even with stock, tires performed better. I ran multiple MT tires on the JKs and still thought they performed better. A JK with Duratracs was unstoppable. I took mine out on a frozen lake as well as through a bizzard and they were like glue.

I have a great deal of winter driving experience and make a point of going out when it snows. It is one of my favorite things to do. In my experience, the JL just doesn't stack up in this scenario.
 

viper88

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I love snow driving. However, I would say that the JL stinks in the snow and that the KO2s aren't very good in it either.

I had 4 JKs and they performed much better. I drove the JL with the KO2s as well as with the Milestars I had on my JK. There was no improvement.

We got about 9 inches last night. The JL was slipping and sliding, not wanting to go etc. I brought it home and took the 2019 RAM out. There was no comparison. The RAM didn't spin the tires or slip once.

Overall I am disappointed in the JL.
I live in the Chicago area also. This was only the second real snow we had so far this winter. In the City the snow was really nothing to write home about. I would say we have not had any really difficult snow to drive through yet. All of the snow was fairly light and powder like, not heavy and dense. Maybe the suburbs got hit with a lot more snow.

At first I thought you were being sarcastic and joking. I read your follow up post and realized you were serious. What do you think is different? Was it the traction control, tire traction, weight distribution, or tires themselves?
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