Gladiator in snow - disappointment?

[DreamedofaJeepSomeday]

As others have alluded to... I turn TC off in snow, mud, trails etc. On the paved roads I keep it on. Works for me. I see lot.s of snow and my JTR does not let me down.

This whole thread has been fascinating reading for me. I have lived in the South most of my life so not a lot of snow driving.

I have, however done some: spent a couple months in Wyoming during snow season, and then there were the occasional 6" snowfalls when I lived in northern Louisiana and Atlanta.

Always had 2WD vehicles in those days and never had any problems driving in snow. I do plan to take my JT into snow and will remember some of the techniques mentioned here.

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[MoparToYou]

My JT Mojave works as good as pretty much any other 4x4 vehicle I have owned in snow, and better than many of them. I run 37" Toyo MTs, and don't seem to have any problems. I have found that pushing the Off-Road+ button improves drive ability pretty much any time it is in 4x4. Shift points in particular are much better.

 

[aldo98229]

In most snow conditions, 4WD by itself is not going to be enough with a completely open rear differential; a rear LSD will help a lot.

Besides that, a snow-rated AT tire will beat an MT and an AS.

Lockers and MTs start to make a difference only when you are axle-deep, or deeper, in the stuff.

 

[Whiteknight]

I tell my customers in all newer vehicles to pretend you have an uncooked egg, in the shell, on the skinny gas pedal and you don't want to break the egg, so easy does it big fella. When you mash the gas, that's when the vehicle wants to assist you from spinning the wheels and slipping from side ways to slide ways. Spinnnig wheels got to go round, ride a paited pony and let... oh wait, wheels with traction win the race not wheels with bleach that blow smoke, you know where. Maybe this only helped me sorry, just having fun. I put two 70 pound tubes of sand in my bed and I have a flat driveway. I also let some air out of my tires. As a Jeep Jamboriee staff guide explained, when driving in snow or slipper muddy water, as soon as you start to spin you maybe through, like the road runner. Hope some of these ideas can work for you and you can enjoy your Gladiator.?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

My JT Mojave works as good as pretty much any other 4x4 vehicle I have owned in snow, and better than many of them. I run 37" Toyo MTs, and don't seem to have any problems. I have found that pushing the Off-Road+ button improves drive ability pretty much any time it is in 4x4. Shift points in particular are much better.

That's great if you have a Mojave or Rubicon........ no such button on the others.

I learned not only from my parents, but I worked in a shop from the time I could drive and learned from truck drivers. Later, my second boss who ran 24/7 wrecker service added to what the truck drivers taught me.
He said it's physics. Changes in speed or direction are not your friend. If you maintain a straight path, or make your changes in direction very gradual, and your changes in speed very gradual, you will be better off. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion - preferably the same direction and speed.
The truck drivers all said maintain as high a gear as you can without lugging. Giving the engine too much of an advantage over the wheels will be more likely to break them loose. Stay in higher gears without lugging and it won't have the power to break the tires loose.

 

[CerOf]

That's great if you have a Mojave or Rubicon........ no such button on the others.

I learned not only from my parents, but I worked in a shop from the time I could drive and learned from truck drivers. Later, my second boss who ran 24/7 wrecker service added to what the truck drivers taught me.
He said it's physics. Changes in speed or direction are not your friend. If you maintain a straight path, or make your changes in direction very gradual, and your changes in speed very gradual, you will be better off. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion - preferably the same direction and speed.
The truck drivers all said maintain as high a gear as you can without lugging. Giving the engine too much of an advantage over the wheels will be more likely to break them loose. Stay in higher gears without lugging and it won't have the power to break the tires loose.

Ayup, when I’ve needed 4-lo on snow and ice, I’ve longed for something other than my rubicon’s 4:1.

the reduction makes me slide in a downhill situation. Took some playing around to figure what works.

 

[Blade1668]

Well I've not read all of this thread yet but how many people here have weight their JT to include just front axle weight and rear axle weight? I have that can explain why adding weight to bed of truck is not as critical with a JT, my MJ you better throw in 300-500 LBS of something at least. Mine JT weight is 5660lbs average 2920 +/- F axle 2660+/- rear. About equal (I didn't spend the time to get the exact weight transfer from front to rear at the time). This factors in with wet pavement, snow, mud and sand performance and handling and very much in rock crawling to. ABS and traction control works very good for some, but not everyone.
Snow driving your vehicle has tall narrow tires and cuts though to get traction (ground below snow) or wide and floatation on top of snow ("paddle boat" across top of the snow) low mass. Hmmm might be why snowplow trucks are big and heavy with clearance. Probably why snowplow trucks aren't S10 and older ford rangers.?.

IMHO. It's worth what you paid for it nothing.

 

[redrider]

Late last century I wrenched for a euro import shop. Mercedes then had a feature that locked the transmission in second gear for standing starts. Always, regardless of weather. It would, however, shift back to first with heavy pedal input. Light application held second. I still use second for the uphill, wet road take off. 2wd f150. The JT manual mode screws this up by downshifting to first when stopped even with second selected, if I read the manual correctly. The manual YJ would just idle up my snow covered driveway, second gear, 4 low. Touch the skinny one and all bets were off. Goodyear MTs. Please, no offence to any one but it seems as vehicles become smarter, the operators give up and do not use the best computer of all time. The Brain. Knowledge is lost.

 

[Gvsukids]

2 other threads with the same discussions, but still this one is going on 6 pages.

 

[Erievon]

Late last century I wrenched for a euro import shop. Mercedes then had a feature that locked the transmission in second gear for standing starts. Always, regardless of weather. It would, however, shift back to first with heavy pedal input. Light application held second. I still use second for the uphill, wet road take off. 2wd f150. The JT manual mode screws this up by downshifting to first when stopped even with second selected, if I read the manual correctly. The manual YJ would just idle up my snow covered driveway, second gear, 4 low. Touch the skinny one and all bets were off. Goodyear MTs. Please, no offence to any one but it seems as vehicles become smarter, the operators give up and do not use the best computer of all time. The Brain. Knowledge is lost.

I have the gear display set, and when I put it in 4low and leave it in drive, I do notice it tries to start in 2nd in that case. If you want 1st in 4 low you have to switch over to manual and downshift to get it.

 

[FrankFrqnkFrank]

Late last century I wrenched for a euro import shop. Mercedes then had a feature that locked the transmission in second gear for standing starts. Always, regardless of weather. It would, however, shift back to first with heavy pedal input. Light application held second. I still use second for the uphill, wet road take off. 2wd f150. The JT manual mode screws this up by downshifting to first when stopped even with second selected, if I read the manual correctly. The manual YJ would just idle up my snow covered driveway, second gear, 4 low. Touch the skinny one and all bets were off. Goodyear MTs. Please, no offence to any one but it seems as vehicles become smarter, the operators give up and do not use the best computer of all time. The Brain. Knowledge is lost.

I had this feature in a Caddy Catera and it was great

 

[JerseyMike]

got to test out the gladiator in the snow recently here in NJ and it was excellent (grant it I have ATs that I think are snowflake rated). Same exact tires that were on the Ford Raptor I had.
I think it is actually better than the JLU with the same tires (which was also great)....only difference between JT and full size pickup for me is the lack of auto 4wd (which is nice with light snow so that I don't have to keep switching in and out of 4HI)

I have had a JK with mud terrains and those were good in deep snow but on ice and plowed roads they were horrible.

 

[syreeves]

Ayup, when I’ve needed 4-lo on snow and ice, I’ve longed for something other than my rubicon’s 4:1.

the reduction makes me slide in a downhill situation. Took some playing around to figure what works.

4Lo in a Rubicon is so low that I've decided that I can pretty much ignore 1st for snow/ice. I have 35 Yokohama Geolander G003s. With an unloaded bed in 2H I can easily get moving in 2nd gear. Switching to 4H is great for uphill starts in snow and ice and driving in fresh fallen snow.

I am late to this thread but having lived in MN for 20 years I think snow and ice driving comes down to:
1. Correct tire choice
(a) sipes for ice and hard snow,
(b) lugs with spaces for deeper snow,
(c) proper air pressure (which means it is high enough to avoid float - you need to dig down to hard surfaces!), and
(d) being knowledgeable about your tire choice and its strengths and weaknesses, including the compromises you made to get whatever (lots of poke, mall crawl cred, highway mileage etc),
2. Smart throttle application (e.g. understand how your TC works when it is engaged and know how and when it is safe and effective to disable temporarily), and
3. Understanding your vehicle's physical capabilities:
(a) SUV vs. pickup vs. FWD car,
(b) how your drivetrain works e.g. true AWD (eg Subaru, old Audi Quattro, my LR Disco II) vs. marketing speak AWD (e.g. any modern clutch based AWD on-demand system) vs. standard 'Merican 4WD (2wd until locked into 4 with no center differential)
(c) understanding your current situation e.g. heavily loaded, worn tires, familiarity with the location, willingness to take risk at that exact moment etc.

Most of you all do this automatically in real time and, when you or I get stuck or head to an unintended off road parking space we all run through this list and eventually figure out what to do for next time...

I really need to stop checking in on coffee breaks...

 

[jenkij]

I have the 33" Falken MT's that come with the Rubicon JT on a JT Sport-S, not bad at all in the snow. Of course I come from a 2 door JKR with BFG MT's and that thing was a handful if the person in the car next to you sneezed, so I guess it's relative to what you compare to.

 

[BrentMG]

I cant wait until we get all the Michael Schumaker‘s and Rhys Millen’s here talking about how they disable TC and ABS in the winter time because they, quote, “know how to drive” and quote “been doing this a long time”

the suspects:
- cars didnt have it when i learned how to drive, so i dont need that black magic shit and the laws of physics dont exist

- im such a good driver from all the fucking around I did in the desert/snow/trail, i know what a car is going to do and how to defy the laws of physics

- you have to know what to do if tc/abs fail, so just turn it off all the time and pray the laws of physics dont proper fuck you

- just because you have 200+ hrs of pro driver training from baja 500 winners, formula 1 drivers, Nurburgring circuit racers and testers, and a formula 4 racing license doesnt mean shit, my dad and the highschool parking lot taught me what i need to know

this thread is gonna get GOOD. Grab a beer. I promise in just a few pages you’ll see all those things.

You gotta feel the road...

I cant wait until we get all the Michael Schumaker‘s and Rhys Millen’s here talking about how they disable TC and ABS in the winter time because they, quote, “know how to drive” and quote “been doing this a long time”

the suspects:
- cars didnt have it when i learned how to drive, so i dont need that black magic shit and the laws of physics dont exist

- im such a good driver from all the fucking around I did in the desert/snow/trail, i know what a car is going to do and how to defy the laws of physics

- you have to know what to do if tc/abs fail, so just turn it off all the time and pray the laws of physics dont proper fuck you

- just because you have 200+ hrs of pro driver training from baja 500 winners, formula 1 drivers, Nurburgring circuit racers and testers, and a formula 4 racing license doesnt mean shit, my dad and the highschool parking lot taught me what i need to know

this thread is gonna get GOOD. Grab a beer. I promise in just a few pages you’ll see all those things.

You gotta feel the road

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