Jeep snow performance, need advice.

[Kreegrr]

Hey guys,

Just had the absolute worst snow driving experience with my new Wrangler Unlimited JL, Almost spun out 3 times on 4Hi at 50km on about 2-3 inches of snow on a straight road.. It was greasy but really surprised how bad my it was handling the road.. Note, my new JL runs currently with all weather tires.. Just picked up the Jeep and dealership said I'd be fine for the rest of the winter on stock tires..Here's my question, would winter tires stabilize the driving by a good margin? I need my Jeep to be rock solid in snow conditions, family and stuff.. you know, I need to have complete trust in the handling. Now having said that, I know if it's freezing rain or all ice condition, no guarantees there.

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[JIMBOX]

You have to DRIVE THE JEEP, IT DOESN'T DRIVE YOU !

The ALL WEATHER TIRES are great for light snow and ice--you shouldn't drive over 15 mph/ICE and 25 mph light snow--

If you're in 4hi, every time you make a SLIGHT STEERING MOVEMENT (at speed) the 4wd will over correct and cause the body instability-, especially AT SPEED !

Good luck

JIMBO

 

[Neanderthalman]

Hey guys,

Just had the absolute worst snow driving experience with my new Wrangler Unlimited JL, Almost spun out 3 times on 4Hi at 50km on about 2-3 inches of snow on a straight road.. It was greasy but really surprised how bad my it was handling the road.. Note, my new JL runs currently with all weather tires.. Just picked up the Jeep and dealership said I'd be fine for the rest of the winter on stock tires..Here's my question, would winter tires stabilize the driving by a good margin? I need my Jeep to be rock solid in snow conditions, family and stuff.. you know, I need to have complete trust in the handling. Now having said that, I know if it's freezing rain or all ice condition, no guarantees there.

I presume you have a sport or sahara and therefore have the Goodyear Wranglers (all-seasons) instead of the BFG KO2s (M&S) that come on the Rubi. The KO2s are mud and snow rated (M&S). The Wranglers are not, and by all accounts are not at all suitable for winter driving in Ontario.

I can recommend the KO2s for winter performance. They've been fantastic this year. Others with KM3s seem to really like those as well.

If I'm wrong and you're spinning out this badly on KO2s, then we need to think about your driving style.

The good news is the weather seems to be breaking, and you'll be able to put off a tire upgrade until the fall should you decide.

 

[viper88]

You have to DRIVE THE JEEP, IT DOESN'T DRIVE YOU !

The ALL WEATHER TIRES are great for light snow and ice--you shouldn't drive over 15 mph/ICE and 25 mph light snow--

If you're in 4hi, every time you make a SLIGHT STEERING MOVEMENT (at speed) the 4wd will over correct and cause the body instability-, especially AT SPEED !

Good luck

JIMBO

Your 4HI comment is interesting. I am kind of surprised he needs it while driving on only 2"-3' of snow. That's nothing. My bet is too fast for conditions.

 

[kingdog23]

That's the reason I ordered a Sahara with Selec-Trac, Anti-Spin and swapped out the stock tires with Continental TerrainContact A/T's. Regardless, Jimbo is right about keeping it slow and easy in snow and icy conditions. My 2012 was a little tricky at first, too.

 

[Kreegrr]

That definitely caught me by surprise.. I'm used to AWD with the front wheel doing most of the work.
Yep those are the current tires I have, man you guys know your Jeeps. lol

So would you guys suggest 2WD with traction control on for regular driving even if there's a bit of snow on the road? And if it there's more snow, then go 4H?

Yeah we're at the tail end of winter, I'll try a few things and definitely revisit the winter tires next season.

 

[JIMBOX]

if you're driving on the HIGHWAY/ SNOW/ICE and you have the SAHARA/W LSD--stay outta 4wd and slow her down--

I have the GOODYEAR WRANGLERS on my HEMI RAM and using 2wd/LSD they are STUPENDOUS-

Heh Heh, also in 4wd off-road

Good luck

JIMBO

 

[viper88]

That definitely caught me by surprise.. I'm used to AWD with the front wheel doing most of the work.
Yep those are the current tires I have, man you guys know your Jeeps. lol

So would you guys suggest 2WD with traction control on for regular driving even if there's a bit of snow on the road? And if it there's more snow, then go 4H?

Yeah we're at the tail end of winter, I'll try a few things and definitely revisit the winter tires next season.

I am in Chicago but visit Toronto 4-5 times a year. Our driving conditions are almost the same as yours during the winter for the most part. You guys might get a little more snowfall on average but it's close enough.

I owned all-wheel drive vehicles and a couple of Wranglers is the past. I ran dedicated snow tires on most of my all-wheel drive cars because they were equipped with summer-only performance tires. I did not run dedicated snow tires in any of the Wranglers. They were equipped with A/T tires. I rarely ever had to drive in anything but 2-wheel drive in either my TJ or JK. I probably only used 4-hi on a few dozen occasions where I was stuck in really deep snow. I would use 4-hi to pull out and switch back to 2-wheel drive once I was moving. I just made sure I was driving at the right speed for the conditions I was driving in. Chicago is a lot like Toronto where they plow. It's possible you live outside of Toronto where they do not plow as often. In that case nothing will beat a dedicated set of winter tires. My old front wheel drive Mini Cooper S with Ice X-3 snow tires got through deep snow as easily or better then my TJ with A/Ts as long as I was not hung up due to clearance.

 

[dj3513]

I'm in NJ. we have had our share of snow. I have stock wheels on my 2019 Sahara JLU. No issues at all going through 4-5 inches in 4 auto.

 

[robaw]

That definitely caught me by surprise.. I'm used to AWD with the front wheel doing most of the work.
Yep those are the current tires I have, man you guys know your Jeeps. lol

So would you guys suggest 2WD with traction control on for regular driving even if there's a bit of snow on the road? And if it there's more snow, then go 4H?

Yeah we're at the tail end of winter, I'll try a few things and definitely revisit the winter tires next season.

Kind of ongoing joke in this forum, but possibly related here, what's your tire pressure at? First time I drove on a little bit of snow/ice on a gravel road I thought I was going to die. Dropped the pressure about 4 PSI and is much better now.

 

[viper88]

That's the reason I ordered a Sahara with Selec-Trac, Anti-Spin and swapped out the stock tires with Continental TerrainContact A/T's. Regardless, Jimbo is right about keeping it slow and easy in snow and icy conditions. My 2012 was a little tricky at first, too.

The Sahra's Select-Trac and anti-spin is probably the best set it and forget it drive system for snow. It's the best out of all the Wrangler options.

 

[ImAJeepskate]

Definitely the tires and/or maybe the driving style? Jeeps don't handle like most vehicles and a good set of tires can make a big difference. I have the stock all-seasons on my sport and they have done me just fine with over 35" of snow in Feb. alone.

 

[stil2low]

Like @robaw said check and lower your tire pressure. Over inflation will cause you to slide around like crazy. I ran the stocks for a bit, now on a full mud terrain but had no issues with them during the winter up here. No shortage of snow up here

 

[Kreegrr]

I also just went to check and sure enough, I didnt have traction control on either.. SMH.
I know my speed was on the slow side as I was holding up a ton of cars behind me and none in front.. I'm the guy that usually hates that guy, you know? lol
Thanks for the feedback guys, lots of things to try out.

 

[xtopherm]

Hey guys,

Just had the absolute worst snow driving experience with my new Wrangler Unlimited JL, Almost spun out 3 times on 4Hi at 50km on about 2-3 inches of snow on a straight road.. It was greasy but really surprised how bad my it was handling the road.. Note, my new JL runs currently with all weather tires.. Just picked up the Jeep and dealership said I'd be fine for the rest of the winter on stock tires..Here's my question, would winter tires stabilize the driving by a good margin? I need my Jeep to be rock solid in snow conditions, family and stuff.. you know, I need to have complete trust in the handling. Now having said that, I know if it's freezing rain or all ice condition, no guarantees there.

(1) You need snow rated tires for snow - if you have road-centric "all season" tires, you should move up to a snow rated tire. Makes all the difference in the world.
(2) Unless you need 4wd for traction to get started, there is no need to have it on rolling down a flat straight highway - in fact, it can be detrimental (plus it causes a little extra driveline wear if the road is not really slippery). Wranglers (other than the Sahara) come with rugged PART TIME 4wd systems - they have the front and rear axles rigidly coupled through a tough transfer case so they rotate at the same speed all the time. Great for off-road because you get an even 50/50 F/R power split and tough components, but not great for the road. Here's why: when your car turns, the rear end always cuts a smaller radius arc than the front (look at your tire tracks in snow or sand if you don't know what I mean), which means that rear axle wants to go slower since it is covering a shorter distance in the same time as the front axle covers more distance on the outer arc. That effect can make the vehicle hard to turn - the axles fight and it can make the front end push off the line or the rear end squirrelly. The Sahara has a clutch system that allows some slippage between axles, so it can be left on all the time. Proper driving on higher speed snow roads for your part time 4wd is to start out in 4wd when you need some traction to accelerate, but then punch the lever back into 2-hi once you are rolling and only go into 4wd as needed. Hope that helps.

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