Rain and 4WD?

[CapeArt]

I got caught in a mega-rainstorm on highway on Cape Cod today. Water was ponding on road & my JL scared the crap out of me by almost leaving the hwy - and I wasn't speeding either. For a spell it was difficult to keep the Jeep on the road. Would shifting into 4H been a help in rain at this point? OEM tires are Michelin LTX M/S2 and I can't believe Michelin tires would be this bad in serious rain?! In the past I have had several AWD vehicles so hard rain etc. has been no issue - and it's been decades between my Jeep ownerships so I can't recall what I did before in a 4WD - although I did have a Ford Ranger FX4 that I put in 4WD any time roadway was less than cool. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

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[Zissou]

What tread depth are your tires? It's kind of less about the brand of tire and more about the tread depth after a certain point.

I never put my gladiator in 4WD for rain. I've driven through some intense storms and not had any hydroplaning, but my tires still have less than 5k miles on them.

 

[SparkleTooth]

I wouldn't use 4WD in the rain however I think it may have benefited in that situation perhaps. Technically you can use 4WD in Wet conditions, but personally, I wouldn't.

 

[John VonJeep]

I have used 4WD in torrential rain. Why wouldn’t you?

 

[Bzinsky]

4wd does not help you steer or brake

would not help at all for hydroplaning

I use awd setting for rain, but only to help accelerate should I need it.

 

[DonH63]

Those Michelins have a good water groove and are on-road rated. I misdoubt any tire would help with deep ponding on the road. Jeep's short wheelbase and high center of gravity doesn't help but I suspect anything you drove would have had issues (assuming your tire tread is good). It's surprising (in a bad way) how little water and how low speed it takes to lose control IME.

Out here we get rain bands and ponding for short distances then dry or just wet roads alternating so 4WD isn't a good choice unless it's designed for full-time 4WD. I've put things into 4WD for water-covered roads when going slow but don't think I've done it on the highway. That said, my last four Jeeps have all had full-time 4WD, so not something I've had to think about. 4WD wouldn't help hydroplaning and might make things worse by driving all tires instead of having some as "anchors".

 

[dchemphill1]

In rain...especially lots of rain....best defense...slow down. Hydroplaning is no way to die.

 

[AFD]

When I first got my Wrangler I tried using 4WD hi in a few heavy downpours (while driving slowly), but quite often it seemed like it was trying to pull me further into standing water instead of keeping things moving mostly straight ahead. In one particular spot, with the driver's side tires having traction and ponded water on the right, it quickly pulled me sideways until I was almost off the road onto the berm.

My last vehicle was AWD and behaved very similarly in uneven standing water for whatever reason and hitting uneven snow drifts on only one side tends to act the same to a lesser extent

Leaving the Wrangler in 2WD or 4WD-auto seemed a lot better and more predictable in the same uneven conditions.

 

[NWJeepr]

Using 4hi might help you get out of a ditch when you lose control after driving too fast in the rain. ?

Can you use 4hi in the rain on pavement, yes. But this should be a belt-and-suspenders approach to safety, with speed reduction and general caution being primary.

Even at lower speeds you might get pushed around a little bit by ponding water. Key here is steady inputs, no jerking of the steering wheel, and gently correcting course when needed. Lift and steer!

 

[CapeArt]

What tread depth are your tires? It's kind of less about the brand of tire and more about the tread depth after a certain point.

I never put my gladiator in 4WD for rain. I've driven through some intense storms and not had any hydroplaning, but my tires still have less than 5k miles on them.

5500 miles on Jeep & OEM tires

 

[CapeArt]

Using 4hi might help you get out of a ditch when you lose control after driving too fast in the rain. ?

Can you use 4hi in the rain on pavement, yes. But this should be a belt-and-suspenders approach to safety, with speed reduction and general caution being primary.

Even at lower speeds you might get pushed around a little bit by ponding water. Key here is steady inputs, no jerking of the steering wheel, and gently correcting course when needed. Lift and steer!

Thanks.…that’s what I did to stay on the road ?

 

[swampflyer]

just Slow down.

 

[Heimkehr]

I got caught in a mega-rainstorm on highway on Cape Cod today. Water was ponding on road & my JL scared the crap out of me by almost leaving the hwy - and I wasn't speeding either. For a spell it was difficult to keep the Jeep on the road. Would shifting into 4H been a help in rain at this point?

OEM tires are Michelin LTX M/S2 and I can't believe Michelin tires would be this bad in serious rain?!

I've been using Michelin LTXs on my vehicles for a bit more than 20 years now. As I type this post, my Jeep and one of our two Hondas have them installed. The other Honda has new Cross Climate 2s and I just installed a set of Anakee Adventures on the Suzuki. I like and respect the brand.

The LTXs are indeed good in the rain, in my experience, but that's also a function of the vehicle's weight. The two trucks on which they were installed were excellent in the wet stuff, in terms of how fast I'd have to go in order to cause hydroplaning to occur. The comparatively lightweight Jeep, OTOH, is a bit of a disappointment in terms of early onset hydroplaning, as I've come to call it.

The foregoing was true from the get-go, when my Wrangler and thus the factory Michelins were new and the Autumn rains arrived in force (I took delivery of my JLU in very late October). Lesson learned; I've adapted to lift my right foot sooner, as prevailing weather conditions require.

FWIW, the Cross Climate 2s are the best all-season (in the fullest sense of the definition) tire that we've used. My wife has them on her AWD CR-V, and when driven sensibly, that vehicle just rolls through inclement driving conditions in a manner that surprises even me. I wouldn't disagree that they'd look out of place on our Jeeps, but their very satisfactory performance deserves a compliment all the same.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I have used 4WD in torrential rain. Why wouldn’t you?

I'm with this guy. Here in Texas when It does rain, it pours. You never seem to get those all day drizzles you get elsewhere. The entire sky falls down on you for 20 minutes to an hour and then It clears up.

I've had a couple times on my drive into work or my drive home from work where the highway is flooding and it's sketchy as hell. And I've definitely switched into four high during those times. I try and keep it under 45. But the Wrangler still a rear wheel drive vehicle. I have personally noticed significant differences and improvements in handling in bad weather the second it's in for high. Like night and day. Almost lost it once coming home from work in a torrential downpour, put it in four high, and I was passing traffic with zero issues.

Four high is like putting the Jeep in easy mode.

 

[Wbino]

I got the 4WD Auto so I do not have to use my brain in these conditions.

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