2020 JLU. 4WD operation.

[TrailJoy]

I had a 2015 Sahara with the "part time" 4WD I was shifting in an out of it a lot around here in the winter. While they keep the main roads reasonably clear the side streets are always a mess. When you are trying to leave an intersection and only the front left wheel is the only on dry pavement 4WD helps a ton. I am loving the JL with the auto 4WD, pretty much set it an forget it.

My husbands truck has 4H, 4L, and RWD. He sometimes takes mine in the winter, almost always if he's going to get groceries or somewhere where he needs to park in a lot. That 'in and out of 4WD' thing is a PAIN IN THE REAR. Especially in messy parking lots. I'm not sure if I could ever go back! (I mean I could, but why would I want to?)

Sponsored

 

[rocklobster]

I do not have the 4H Auto, else I would have used it just like an AWD. I do have the cold weather package that came with the AT tires which I am happy with, to drive in winter. From all the replies, I conclude that driving in 2H most time will do the job, and shifting to 4H on unplowed snow roads will be fine. On a very rare occasion, on unplowed highways, Where speed is 120 Kms/hr, I would need to be careful not to exceed 80kms/hr if I have engaged the 4H mode, or to slow down and shift to the 2H mode and speed up to the highway limit speed. Is it correct that one should not be driving greater than 80 Kms/hr in 4H mode ?? I don’t know if I have LSD - How do I find out ?

Hi, I live in Montreal, this is my 4th Wrangler, I use 2H for 95% of my winter driving, if there is decent snow coverage I go to 4H, as for the speed you can go in 4H, I use a simple rule, if I can go more than 80 kph then the conditions do not warrant 4H, you should not be going close to 80kph if you feel you need 4H. Another small note on the 4WD which Im sure is elsewhere on the forum, is from my personal experience of my first Wrangler, the first time I put it in 4WD and then tried to park it there was all kinds of "binding" and trying to move the truck in a garage caused a strange feeling in the steering which felt like I was breaking something, what I didn't know is you cannot drive in a tight location like a garage or even an outdoor parking space where you need a decent amount of steering lock with 4WD engaged, you need to put it to 2H a few wheel revolutions before you come to the location to release the 4WD lock and you will be able to maneuver the truck as normal. safe driving....

 

[Arif]

Hi, I live in Montreal, this is my 4th Wrangler, I use 2H for 95% of my winter driving, if there is decent snow coverage I go to 4H, as for the speed you can go in 4H, I use a simple rule, if I can go more than 80 kph then the conditions do not warrant 4H, you should not be going close to 80kph if you feel you need 4H. Another small note on the 4WD which Im sure is elsewhere on the forum, is from my personal experience of my first Wrangler, the first time I put it in 4WD and then tried to park it there was all kinds of "binding" and trying to move the truck in a garage caused a strange feeling in the steering which felt like I was breaking something, what I didn't know is you cannot drive in a tight location like a garage or even an outdoor parking space where you need a decent amount of steering lock with 4WD engaged, you need to put it to 2H a few wheel revolutions before you come to the location to release the 4WD lock and you will be able to maneuver the truck as normal. safe driving....

Hi, I live in Montreal, this is my 4th Wrangler, I use 2H for 95% of my winter driving, if there is decent snow coverage I go to 4H, as for the speed you can go in 4H, I use a simple rule, if I can go more than 80 kph then the conditions do not warrant 4H, you should not be going close to 80kph if you feel you need 4H. Another small note on the 4WD which Im sure is elsewhere on the forum, is from my personal experience of my first Wrangler, the first time I put it in 4WD and then tried to park it there was all kinds of "binding" and trying to move the truck in a garage caused a strange feeling in the steering which felt like I was breaking something, what I didn't know is you cannot drive in a tight location like a garage or even an outdoor parking space where you need a decent amount of steering lock with 4WD engaged, you need to put it to 2H a few wheel revolutions before you come to the location to release the 4WD lock and you will be able to maneuver the truck as normal. safe driving....

Awesome tip...Thanks.

 

[2Wheel-Lee]

I keep seeing posts that reference something like 80 kph...I'm from southern California - will someone translate this?

OK, excuse my California background, but how does 2WD vs 4WD make a difference on black ice? Last I recalled, the number of wheels driven has zero affect on tires having traction on black ice.

 

[DaveN007]

I keep seeing posts that reference something like 80 kph...I'm from southern California - will someone translate this?

OK, excuse my California background, but how does 2WD vs 4WD make a difference on black ice? Last I recalled, the number of wheels driven has zero affect on tires having traction on black ice.

NorCal here. KPH is how they measure tire pressure in Canada, I’m pretty sure. 4WD doesn’t give you extra traction when you are dropped out of an airplane or if all four wheels are on slick ice at the same time, but in places where ice is in patches and you might have a single wheel with grip, it helps. Next time you are in the mountains, keep it in 2WD if you prefer. That’s what the folks do from the Bay Area when they come up here. Because they read that 4WD doesn’t help. That’s what they usually tell us when we are pulling them out of ditches. I think it’s great that guys smoke filterless camels and ride without helmets or shirts, too.

 

[GreyFox]

NorCal here. KPH is how they measure tire pressure in Canada, I’m pretty sure. 4WD doesn’t give you extra traction when you are dropped out of an airplane or if all four wheels are on slick ice at the same time, but in places where ice is in patches and you might have a single wheel with grip, it helps. Next time you are in the mountains, keep it in 2WD if you prefer. That’s what the folks do from the Bay Area when they come up here. Because they read that 4WD doesn’t help. That’s what they usually tell us when we are pulling them out of ditches. I think it’s great that guys smoke filterless camels and ride without helmets or shirts, too.

Kph=kilometers per hour
Therefore 80kph is approximately 50mph. Must be that California education

 

[sf5211]

I keep seeing posts that reference something like 80 kph...I'm from southern California - will someone translate this?

OK, excuse my California background, but how does 2WD vs 4WD make a difference on black ice? Last I recalled, the number of wheels driven has zero affect on tires having traction on black ice.

No you will have more traction for taking off and road handling. (At moderate speed of course). But where people get in trouble is they don’t realize that 4WD does nothing for braking or stopping.

 

[sf5211]

It’s common sense, unless the road is completely white with snow I drive in 2WD. If it’s freezing and there’s a chance of black ice just drive sensibly, so you get home 15 minutes later. If There’s traffic and I feel the wheels spin or fishtail a little then I’ll use 4H and keep the speed below 50mph when the traffic clears.

 

[BRuby]

This is the first 4WD car am driving. All previous cars were either FWD, RWD, or AWD. Maunual recommends to not switch from 2H to 4H, if it is hard surface dry road. Toronto gets a lot of snow. How to handle black ice, while driving and switching from 2H to 4H, without being detrimental to the 4WD system ? Black ice is hard, but dont know when one hits on the road, and it could be multiple times. I would like to drive in 4H mode during winter with snow and icy conditions, but the snow and ice come in patches, while the rest of the time I am hitting hard dry road (but dont know when I would hit a hard snow or black ice patch, while driving), and I am afraid to drive in 4H mode as the manual warns not to do so as it is bad, and will damage the drive system. How does one handle this in winter ?

We have used 4WD vehicles for the past 30 years and drive up to ski terrain every winter. Once we see snowflakes we switch to 4 High. Once the road is just wet and not frozen we switch to 2 High. We switch back and forth as required.

For black ice you are screwed if going down a steep hill. Even studs do not help much. But best is to get a snowflake rated tire and drive very carefully. The RWD JL backend slips quite easily even in the wet with KO2s - so best to test out your setup to know its limits. We test all our vehicles so when we need to - we can take evasive and corrective maneuvers with confidence.

Here we tested a spin out with traction control off but in 4 High.

 

[higbyz]

We have used 4WD vehicles for the past 30 years and drive up to ski terrain every winter. Once we see snowflakes we switch to 4 High. Once the road is just wet and not frozen we switch to 2 High. We switch back and forth as required.

For black ice you are screwed if going down a steep hill. Even studs do not help much. But best is to get a snowflake rated tire and drive very carefully. The RWD JL backend slips quite easily even in the wet with KO2s - so best to test out your setup to know its limits. We test all our vehicles so when we need to - we can take evasive and corrective maneuvers with confidence.

Here we tested a spin out with traction control off but in 4 High.

[/Q

Sponsored