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Gladiator in snow - disappointment?

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As for traction, I just throw it in 4-hi if there is enough snow on the road to have the wheels slip and I drive safely.

Personally, I don’t change my traction control or tire pressure and have no trouble gripping.

What does happen during actual snowfall is the LED headlights and fog lights get covered and nighttime visibility drops.

I am half-considering some amber cube lights, but I’m not sure if the typical a-pillar cowl mount would actually give me decent visibility in snowfall driving.

I’ve also heard of people putting rain-x or Aquapel on their headlights to reduce slush buildup.

Anyone else done anything to improve nighttime snow driving visibility?
Improved night time snow driving viz? Just close your eyes and let the force guide you. Seems what most here in Alaska do (we have some seriously messed up Star Wars geeks up here). Reality, Rain-X the lenses does help if temperature not too cold. But up here at -35F, also carry a spray bottle of windshield wiper fluid. Coming home the 50 miles from base in a ground blizzard usually means stopping at least 2 times to clean lights off. Reason is LEDs emit practically zero heat, unlike the old "bulb" style headlamps. So there is no residual heat to melt the snow, ice and slush off. As for accessory lighting, perhaps someone here knows better, but I was taught and operate mount high for desert, low for snow. Otherwise if you mount off-road or ditch lights too high in snow storm, you will just get light reflected right back at you.
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GA D90

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Well I'll jump in...
I've got'a say, the JT has been the best snow preforming vehicle I've driven. I've only driven 4WD vehicles over the last 40 yrs. Now I'm not sure if it the wheelbase, or the tires ( Falken MT's ) , or both!
In the past MT tires haven't been my 1st choice for daily driving winter use, but these are working great!
 

Lateralus

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Today was my first drive in 4-6"s of snow. 35x10.5 kenda klevers. It did great. Better than my 2 door jk with 33" federal couragias which is a great budget mt. My 2 door seemed to get better traction on wet pavement while the gladiator seems more planted in the snow. I didn't have any weight added in the bed which is popular for trucks.

So Iam pleased with how the gladiator performed today.
 

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Improved night time snow driving viz? Just close your eyes and let the force guide you. Seems what most here in Alaska do (we have some seriously messed up Star Wars geeks up here). Reality, Rain-X the lenses does help if temperature not too cold. But up here at -35F, also carry a spray bottle of windshield wiper fluid. Coming home the 50 miles from base in a ground blizzard usually means stopping at least 2 times to clean lights off. Reason is LEDs emit practically zero heat, unlike the old "bulb" style headlamps. So there is no residual heat to melt the snow, ice and slush off. As for accessory lighting, perhaps someone here knows better, but I was taught and operate mount high for desert, low for snow. Otherwise if you mount off-road or ditch lights too high in snow storm, you will just get light reflected right back at you.
I added Morimoto 2stroke 3.0 h13’s that heat the interior lense. So far so good. Although not as warm as a halogen, but after a -5 celsius 35min drive the lamp had some warmth to it. No comment on full snow drive yet. Were at -15 with nothing but blue bird days!
 

Gvsskier

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my JT is a 6spd I drive in snow/ice 5 months a year so I run 4 studded winters and in summer 4 BFG. Winters have softer rubber than summers and with studs and my snow bike loaded (280lbs) traction is excellent. All that aside when I’m in deep snow or compact snow with fresh and have to climb slowly I’ll shift to 4L and if really icy will turn of traction control. My previous truck was a RAM 1500 EcoD with Auto AWD and it worked very well in the above winter conditions. The JT is a bit more user input focused.
 

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2020 Glad Rubi (JTR) on stock 33 inch Falken M/Ts snow report. Given that we have been having one of our strange winters of alternating sub-zero temps and high winds with warm temps and wet snow, our roads change every couple of meters from bare gravel, to loose ball bearing like spindrift to concrete hard snowdrifts, to clear water ice. The only issues I have had is on clear ice and spindrift. No braking on ice (tires not studded) and the weirdest slow motion death wobble from the front axle (in 4-hi) on loose snow (less than 100 mm) over frozen gravel with steering wheel at full lock in first gear. Treads on M/Ts are causing the tires to alternate between grip and slide, causing the front end to walk (lurch) sideways, rather than roll around the corner. Otherwise no issues in medium to deep snow, driving on snow packed paved roads and no death wobble on speeds above 2nd gear. And yes, the front diff is unlocked, the sway bar is connected and I am not getting tire rub on the control arms (already checked that one). My 96 Cherokee XJ does the same thing at low speed, whether in 4WD or not, due to the XJ having Jeep's older permanently engaged front axle system (not AWD) and Trac-Loc front diff not providing enough differentiation in wheel rotational speeds like an open diff would. Hoping this sideways walking settles down once front axle loosens up with a few more miles on it.
 

XJADDICTION

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The traction control system applies the brakes to the spinning wheels in effort to transfer power to the wheel with traction.

That is what traction control does, applies brake power to the spinning wheel and throws limited (modulated, computer controlled) power to the non spinning wheel. Now what happens when all of the wheels are spinning ???... all the brakes are applied and the the computer tells the engine to stop supplying power. So no matter how much skinny pedal you push, the computer says NO! Turning traction control off allows the wheels to spin freely with no brakes applied to stop them.

I have a long cement driveway, and the first part is a steep grade.

In snow and ice, if I keep speed up entering driveway and traction control on I can usually make it up in 2 wheel drive and will notice the TC doing its thing.

Traction control off and two wheel drive, forget it I won’t make it 5 feet up the driveway.

4 wheel drive high range, traction control on, momentum heading up the driveway no problem. I don’t notice traction control working and no slipping.

Stop at the bottom of driveway, TC on, 4 high Jeep will go 5 feet and stop dead in its tracks once computer detects all 4 wheels spinning. No amount of skinny pedal will move the jeep forward. If I switch off TC, jeep goes right up the driveway.

ONE NEW THING I FOUND TONIGHT WITH ANTILOCK BRAKING SYSTEM. I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED THIS BEFORE.

I was showing my daughter’s different driving techniques today in snow and ice. I did the driveway test as well. This time the jeep in 2 high with TC got 10 feet up the driveway stopped and started to slide backwards. I applied the brakes planning to throw it into 4 High... the antilock brakes made its usual noises then all of the brakes LOCKED UP AND SHUT THE JT OFF! The brakes remained locked, engine light was on and you could not restart the JT!! Even turning the JT off opening the door so everything shuts down, then trying to restart, would not restart the JT. Engine light is on.

I read on the wrangler forum about this while at the bottom of the driveway with my girls laughing at me. You have to push the brake pedal down as hard as you can and then the jeep will restart. I did this and it worked.

Has anyone else experienced this?
 
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levesqueonline

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I figured out his issue. It's off to the left side, under "Location: ". See how it says "New Brunswick"? That's his issue. Here in Nova Scotia, we know how to make snow our B!tch.

In all seriousness, keep driving up the driveway in 4Wd Hi then try 4WD Low, Then try Traction Control on an off for both situations. Dan, only YOU can firgure out what works best for YOU and Your driveway. I completely agree with getting ideas from the great group of guys and gals on here, but try their ideas and see what works best for you. Go up and down your driveway thirty(30) times if you have to, but find out what works in what situations. This is a learning opportunity for you!

Please do us a favour, when you do find out what works, PLEASE tell us what you did, so we can add your experience to our knowledge bank!
We haven't had as much snow again to really test it, but I have been manually turning off traction control before going up my driveway and in all scenarios it feels better, i can even make it up without 4wd sometimes. This thing felt like it was coming apart lugging so bad:P coming from a ram1500 sport, it just rocked this driveway out without issue for years, so it was an odd experience, I will keep traction control off going forward, next storm to see if its a little more impressive but its noticeable already
 

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yeah, on PAVEMENT a siped 3peak AT is way better than a MT For sure. The falken MT’s i had stock were siped and werent bad for a Mt by anymeans, but the fallen at3w im on now is way better.
That's why I'm looking at the Cooper At3 XLT for mine when these 37 Goodyears wear out. I like the look of a M/T, but is hard to beat a Good A/T for on road performance and off-road if it's a daily driver.
 

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Here in the Poconos MTs are extremely dangerous come winter, just plain wreck-less really. I'd never attempt to run them again. My JKU Rubi came with them and midway through the first winter, I gave up trying to get by. I got that JKU in Nov. and wanted to wait till spring because snow tire pricing is so inflated come winter. Look for the 3 peak M&S rating like the Falkens WP AT3. It seems like every 3rd truck up here is running them year round because they do so well. I try to follow what the old timers do, those that have been on the mountain for 30+ years. Most run dedicated snows, those that don't run a softer compound 3-peak all-season like the WP AT3 or Duratraks. They never run anything wide either, mostly as skinny as they can get.
 

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BRB Gladi8r

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reduced traction surfaces are NOT the same.

So:

-the TC is pulling power because the wheel is slipping, yes? Ok. We agree here.

-how does adding more power to a tire that doesnt have traction fix the loss of traction?

-if youre in 4wd with the center diff locked, and you have a wheel front or rear spinning; what are the other wheels doing?
Adding more power to that wheel helps when going up hill in poor conditions because the tc slows your tires and momentum, in order to make it up a hill you need momentum, to get the momentum you need the skinny pedal. If skinny pedal is he’d up by tc not letting it spin then turn of tc, you sir are arguing with everyone who is giving reasonable answers just admit your wrong
 

77badriand

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First time i had mine in snow i thought same thing, once you turn off traction control all is well- for me anyway- went from slug to beast mode.
 

salvino

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Interesting, I always thought MTs would give you more traction than ATs in snow, but it looks like the BFG MTs aren't severe snow service rated.
I dont know of any MTs that are snow rated. I run 37 KO2s which are snow rated and have driven over mountain passes in 18” of snow without issue. My neighbor has an Overland JT with stock wheels and tires and I wouldnt go out in the snow in that.
 

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Interesting, I always thought MTs would give you more traction than ATs in snow, but it looks like the BFG MTs aren't severe snow service rated.
I dont know of any MTs that are snow rated. I run 37 KO2s and have driven over mountain passes in 18” of snow without issue. My neighbor has an
 

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I dont know of any MTs that are snow rated. I run 37 KO2s which are snow rated and have driven over mountain passes in 18” of snow without issue. My neighbor has an Overland JT with stock wheels and tires and I wouldnt go out in the snow in that.
I've had 3 different sets of tires on my 2 JT Overlands. Stock, Rubicon take-off Falken A/Ts, and the current General A/Tx
Of the 3 the latter did the very best. So well that a year ago on a snowy, icy, curvy road with snow pack, etc. I hit a dryer stretch and went to put it back in 2WD only to find I never put it in 4WD.
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