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Rubicon snow/winter traction help needed

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Ribs33

Ribs33

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Yes, you heard correctly. Lockers are only usable in 4lo, as a firm a factory stupid proofing. I, and many others, choose to use the Tazer reprogrammer for the body control module. It's primary use is resetting tire sizes, tpms thresholds, and not having to disable auto stop start every time you fire the Jeep up. It's side benefits are rear locker in 2hi, both lockers in 4hi, full traction control kill, adjustable rpm for winch mode, and many other clever features.
I've been reading up on the Tazer and seeing where a lot of people are having battery drainage issues after installing it. Is this still a problem or has it been corrected with firmware updates?
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I've been reading up on the Tazer and seeing where a lot of people are having battery drainage issues after installing it. Is this still a problem or has it been corrected with firmware updates?
Yeah, there were issues back in its earlier days with battery drainage due to it not going into sleep mode. Firmware updates fixed that, and it now goes into full sleep 30 seconds after shutdown.
 
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Ribs33

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Yeah, there were issues back in its earlier days with battery drainage due to it not going into sleep mode. Firmware updates fixed that, and it now goes into full sleep 30 seconds after shutdown.
Thank you for the info!
 

Whaler27

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i’ll echo those saying this is a primarily a tire problem. I’ve had Jeeps for over 40 years, and they are very capable in the snow and ice. They’re Also pretty fair snowplows, particularly in small/tight areas where bigger trucks struggle to maneuver.

Our heavy trucks perform better in deep snow, particularly if there are deep ice-hardened ruts, because they have the weight to punch through the ruts, but I love how the Jeeps perform in the other 99.8% of winter driving.

I had 35” Toyo MTs on a heavy Ford super duty diesel pickup. We also ran 33” Toyo MTs on my last TJ. Great tires for mud, and the were quiet for a mud tire, but they were truly terrible on ice. The pickup had a heavy cross-bed tool box and heavy bags in the bed over each rear wheel to improve traction. Still, after an ice storm I was unable to get up my driveway after serval attempts. I even tried backing up, thinking it might be better to have the heavy end of the truck grabbing and pushing rather than pulling the truck up the hill, but I still couldn’t make it past half way. I immediately went to the tire store and bought studded Duratracs. When I got home I drove right up the driveway with nary a slip. it was easy. The Duratracs would crawl up the driveway the Toyo MTs couldn’t climb with a running start.

We have KO2s on our pickup now, and they have been good on the packed snow and ice too, but the Duratracs with studs are hard to beat for winter use.

I’m running 37” KO2s on my Rubi now, but I kept my OEM wheels so I could mount up some 35” Duratracs for winter.
 

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Whaler27

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Well, Duratracs we’re not available in any of the four size options I wanted, and I wasn’t willing to have a three or four inch size drop between my summer and winter tires, so I just ordered a set of 37” Grabber A/TX with studs. They got better ratings than the KO2 on Tire Rack, but I’m nervous, because this is the first time I have bought a tire made by General. Fingers crossed.
 

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Well, Duratracs we’re not available in any of the four size options I wanted, and I wasn’t willing to have a three or four inch size drop between my summer and winter tires, so I just ordered a set of 37” Grabber A/TX with studs. They got better ratings than the KO2 on Tire Rack, but I’m nervous, because this is the first time I have bought a tire made by General. Fingers crossed.
Ever consider the traction difference was BECAUSE of the studs? Studded mud tires of any brand will grip like the dickens. Kind of an unfair comparison. Sadly some states will not allow studs(midwest) so we have to make do with tires with the mountain symbol.
 

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Ever consider the traction difference was BECAUSE of the studs? Studded mud tires of any brand will grip like the dickens. Kind of an unfair comparison. Sadly some states will not allow studs(midwest) so we have to make do with tires with the mountain symbol.
Absolutely. I had the old 36” Buckshot Qs (aggressive mud tires) studded on an F350 diesel we hunted in the 90s. It was amazing. Drove through anything, including freezing rain you couldn’t walk on without crampons, but those were also exceptionally soft tires, so they were completely shot by 30,000 miles.

I‘ll add a story about great BFG All-terrain winter traction. About thirty five years ago I was trying to get home to the valley for Christmas. That required crossing the Cascades, and the passes were all closed due to extremely heavy snowfall and high winds, so I had to wait for the closest pass to open. Then, at about 10:00 on Christmas Eve, the snow abated, the plows made progress against the drifts, and the pass was reopened. I made it to the State Police checkpoint and headed up the mountain about 40 minutes later, and about thirty minutes after that the pass was closed again, as the snow and high winds had returned with a vengeance.

The snow banks along the road up top we’re over ten feet tall, we were in near whiteout conditions, and I was intermittently pushing snow with the front bumper on my F350 diesel pickup. I’ve been in a lot of snowstorms over the years, but that’s the most butt-puckered I can remember being from a snow storm.

My truck had a steel canopy. In the back I had three heavy bales of hay along with tools, several gallons of water, sleeping bags, a Coleman stove, and two big dogs. I knew I’d probably be okay even if I got stuck up there for the night, but I really wanted to get home.

After two hours of white-knuckling through the heavy snow I cleared the pass, dropped a few thousand feet, and found myself in the rain on clear pavement. I needed to whiz and unlock my hubs, so pulled into the first turnout.

I lost my footing the moment my feet touched the pavement. It was heavily coated in polished ice. I caught myself on the truck’s arm rest and door sill and pulled myself back up, but it was impossible to walk or even stand without holding onto the truck. Then I noticed that, although the windshield was completely clear, the entire truck was coated in ice. There were 2 inch icicles hanging off the side mirrors too, but I hadn’t noticed them while I was driving. It was still raining too, but it was only 28 degrees... and I had been driving in these conditions at 45 or 50 mph, on a winding rural highway, for at least ten miles without even being aware of the ice.

When I pulled out of the turnout I romped the gas, bumped the brakes and twisted the wheel at slow speeds to test the traction. When the tires were locked up it was like sliding on perfect glass, of course, but as long as the wheels were rolling the traction was amazingly good, so I left the truck in 4x4 and drove the rest of the way home at about 25 to 30 mph. The BFGs all-terrain (last generation) were amazingly good. They even made it up the hill to the house with nary a slip. I’m hoping the Generals’ similar tread pattern will be similarly sticky plus have the benefit of studs.
 
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agpthng

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Before I bought my 2018 JLUR I drove a Chevy Avalanche and never had any problems getting around in the winter, specifically up my snow covered driveway.

With my Rubicon and 35" Toyo RTs I can barely make it up my driveway or any kind of incline that is snow covered. I've tried going super easy on the throttle, putting it in 4HI, and hardly see any improvement. My Avalanche would go almost anywhere in 4HI. Even my wife's 2WD Equinox can get right up our driveway in the winter, while I'm slipping and spinning, and have to back up and get a rolling start to make it in the garage.

Can anyone speed up my learning curve on how to get better traction in the snow and ice? Is there a setting I'm not aware of that will make this thing get around better in the snow? I know I can't lock the rear differential unless I'm in 4LO, which won't work for in town driving anyway. Does enabling the differential lock in 4HI with a Tazer make a huge difference?

Thank you in advance for any input!
Yikes, I've never had a problem in 13 years in the snow with ours. It might be the tires? I've only had Mickey Thompson MTZ Baja's all year long on mine and they dig really well in the snow.
 

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Yikes, I've never had a problem in 13 years in the snow with ours. It might be the tires? I've only had Mickey Thompson MTZ Baja's all year long on mine and they dig really well in the snow.
It’s the tires. I had similarly terrible traction with Toyo MTs on our Ford Super Duty. Your RTs should be much better than the MTs, but you’re much better off with a well-siped, all-position tire that’s winter rated.

The worst possible traction combination for packed snow and ice is an oversized tire with big mud-lugs that are made of an especially hard rubber compound. That combination is like a fat kid in football cleats trying to climb a polished concrete slope. :CWL:

Tire Rack has charts that show comparative performance reports. I just bought a set of studded General Grabbers for winter use, but I don’t have enough experience with them to report an opinion yet.
 
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I just remembered Interco makes a Super Swamper SSR in 35x10.5R17LT. They claim to be siped for wet/icy conditions, but I'm not sure they compare to a tire that's more purpose-built for winter weather. This may be the narrowest 35 that's road legal.

I didn't have the SSR's but I had a set of TrXus MT's and they were really good in the snow
 

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It’s the tires. I had similarly terrible traction with Toyo MTs on our Ford Super Duty. Your RTs should be much better than the MTs, but you’re much better off with a well-siped, all-position tire that’s winter rated.

The worst possible traction combination for packed snow and ice is an oversized tire with big mud-lugs that are made of an especially hard rubber compound. That combination is like a fat kid in football cleats trying to climb a polished concrete slope. :CWL:

Tire Rack has charts that show comparative performance reports. I just bought a set of studded General Grabbers for winter use, but I don’t have enough experience with them to report an opinion yet.
Toyo AT's and MT's have/had a bad tire compound for winter driving. The tread compound would get too hard in cold temps and therefore not provide much, if any grip. I've heard they've changed the compound, so it stays softer and more compliant in cold weather, but I don't know first hand.
 

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I have the Grabber A/Tx - 35x12.5R17LT, they handle terrible in the rain and I am dreading the snow. I have them at 30 psi. I wanted a 35" tire that had stuck out a bit I have just been very disappointed in how they handle. My wife will not drive it if the ground is even a bit wet. I hear people say this is a great tire, what am I missing?
 

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I have the Grabber A/Tx - 35x12.5R17LT, they handle terrible in the rain and I am dreading the snow. I have them at 30 psi. I wanted a 35" tire that had stuck out a bit I have just been very disappointed in how they handle. My wife will not drive it if the ground is even a bit wet. I hear people say this is a great tire, what am I missing?
As I said above, since I only recently mounted my Grabbers, I haven’t formed an opinion on their performance yet, but I do have a couple notes and a link that may be helpful.

First, a tire may be great on snow and ice, but not great in heavy rain. The two conditions are quite different, and optimizing a tire for one doesn’t necessarily optimize the tire for the other.

Next, it’s important to differentiate between wet pavement traction and propensity to hydroplane. Large tires with tight tread patterns are notoriously prone to hydroplane — so 37” BFG KO2s on a Jeep is the perfect recipe for hydroplaning if you hit standing water at highway speeds. The easiest fix is a narrower tire that is designed to channel water away from the tire/road interface. Our ATX tread should be slightly better at channeling a water away that my KO2s, but not as good as, say, a Duratrac.

Finally, an isolated instance of traction loss can be scary, but it’s not a fair basis for judging tire performance. As discussed in other threads, the first rain after a month or more of sun produces extremely slick pavement, as tars and oils that have accumulated on the pavement over weeks will mix with the first rain to produce extreme slick conditions. Any tire can and will lose traction under those conditions.

The thread linked below includes links to Tire Rack customer ratings of tires. There are also other manufacturer-independent resources that test comparative traction under controlled conditions, so tires can be compared more objectively.

Based on the research I’ve done, I concluded that the Grabbers are good tires (or I would not have bought them), but remember, even the highest rated tires included plenty of critical ratings from folks who claim to have had terrible experiences with them.

Good luck!

Here’s the link:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...ck-that-bad-in-rain.59676/page-5#post-1299685
 

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