Not impressed with Gladiator performance in snow

[DailyMoparGuy]

Fun fact about OP’s state, New Hampshire - They get more snow there than any other state in the U.S. (including Alaska - 80 inches per year across the state)

New Hampshire gets 174 inches per year on average across the state.

Don’t be fooled though…the mountains in Alaska get like 500+ inches per year.

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[ZoMojave]

Yup. 100% non Selec-Trac issue.

As stated many times before by many, mine was an absolute beast in the snow when in part time 4x4 (Selec-Trac). And with no weight in the bed. Doesn't look like it is available any longer. Damn shame.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Not the Gladiator. It’s actually extremely well balanced

Meh, not really. I had a lot of trouble with my 2020 - stock tires were horrible and I wasn't impressed with the Falken Rubicon take-offs I ran for a while. Wasn't happy until I put General A/Tx on.. Then it was much better.
It's still light in the ass, so you do have to watch that.
In fact running the General A/Tx tires on some winding hilly roads before I got my 2022 with SelecTrac, I was coming home one Saturday night - snow pack, ice, loose snow, whatever, and finally got out of the worst of it to more level ground, straight roads and decided to take it out of 4H and shift it back into 2 wheel drive.
I tried to move the lever and that's when I realized - I had made that whole stretch in 2H on those General tires (running about 33 psi at that time)

Then I got my 2022 with SelecTrac and I'll take that thing anywhere - but still stick 3 70 pound bags of sand in the back. That also helps when the snow plow is on the front.

Otherwise you will spin, slide, and generally have a negative experience.

Yeah, it's better than any "standard 4 wheel drive pickup" I've had, but still, it's sketchy on some surfaces. I found the 2020 going sideways and slipping around more than I liked even with the Rubicon take-offs. I just wasn't totally impressed with them.

With a bit of weight, she'll go just fine. Last winter I had a dental appointment about 35 minutes away and it had snowed overnight, highways and our roads for sure were not cleared yet. Only main highways, interstates and so on had been cleared. I was driving most of the way on unplowed and untreated surfaces and did fine.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yup. 100% non Selec-Trac issue.

As stated many times before by many, mine was an absolute beast in the snow when in part time 4x4 (Selec-Trac). And with no weight in the bed. Doesn't look like it is available any longer. Damn shame.

And yet when SelecTrac has the clutch applied - it's like the non-SelecTrac in most respects.
Application of the clutches depends on throttle application (based on percentage of throttle) as well as other factors. So it's really mostly a "you don't need to take it out of 4" in 4H auto, otherwise, it's the same truck with the same engine and transmission and weight and weight distribution.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That’s my theory as well. For traction in snow/mud, get cookie cutters

Not just a theory - there's so many articles on that - wide tires don't do as well on snow as people want to believe - because they have been brought up to believe only wide tires look good and work good.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Troverman, I also have an Overland with part time 4wd. I share your experience in the snow.
I think it’s due to the relatively long wheel base and an empty bed. My previous JKU was great in the snow… my JT is amazing but I wish it had the snow performance of my JKU.

Potential improvements include
1) more weight in bed… less fishtailing and spinning out
2) wider axles or wheel spacers… increases track width
3) better tires

Why would track width help?
You still have the same weight applied to the same tires on the same surface.
The exact same forces will still be pushing down on each tire no matter how wide you spread things

 

[Hootbro]

^^ I think most people are under the same impression. When I was shopping for my JTM, it was very rare to find a Selec-Trac equipped vehicle on a dealer lot. It was something like a $650 option, so I couldn't understand why the majority of JTs in snow country didn't have it. Plus, it gets you CV front axles instead of u-joints.

It did not help also that the Selec-Trac was on parts constraint for most of the COVID era supply chain issues and could not be had a lot of time and compound the issue of trying to either order or find one.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It did not help also that the Selec-Trac was on parts constraint for most of the COVID era supply chain issues and could not be had a lot of time and compound the issue of trying to either order or find one.

That was a big problem searching for a purple Wrangler for my wife - SelecTrac was an absolute necessity. It needs to be put in 4H auto and left there from first snow until it's all over, or for that matter, left there so it would be more like the Grand Cherokees she was so used to. No way she could fuss with shifting in and out of 4H with the standard transfer case.
What I found was that almost no Wranglers had SelecTrac - the few that did were lacking so many other things we wanted.
But the 4xe comes standard with it.

 

[Hootbro]

That was a big problem searching for a purple Wrangler for my wife - SelecTrac was an absolute necessity. It needs to be put in 4H auto and left there from first snow until it's all over, or for that matter, left there so it would be more like the Grand Cherokees she was so used to. No way she could fuss with shifting in and out of 4H with the standard transfer case.
What I found was that almost no Wranglers had SelecTrac - the few that did were lacking so many other things we wanted.
But the 4xe comes standard with it.

Selec-Trac was on my 2021 WILLY JT and was a on the dealer lot purchase. One of the few things I missed losing when I went back to a Rubicon JT

 

[legacy_etu]

I have a 2022 Gladiator I bought as a new leftover at the beginning of this year. We got 6-8" snow last night and I decided to see how it performed as I live near a windy, hilly road that climbs about 1,000 feet over the course of a mile and a half or so. My Gladiator is an Overland and completely stock except I installed 295/70/18 Falken Wildpeak AT3W tires during the summer and have 1.75" Terraflex spacers. I have the basic 4x4 system with no automatic setting.

Anyway, last night during the height of the snow storm, I headed up the hill to the store and back down, in 4x4. I came away quite unimpressed. The Jeep spun easily. slid sideways, the traction control was engaging a lot, and stability control intervened several times. It felt very light in the back end, like it could come around. At one point near the steepest section of the climb, I cam to a stop and took off to see how it could handle that. It did get moving again, but not with tons of spinning and crabwalking. Keep in mind I'm an experienced driver in snowy difficult conditions in addition to be an off-road enthusiast with years of experience. We're not talking about mashing the gas and spinning out. Gentle acceleration suitable for conditions.

I came away a bit disappointed and wondering if it was just an exceptionally slippery snow. I still have my old 2002 Range Rover, which is 100% stock and has factory sized Toyo Open Country AT3 tires on it. For comparison, both are "all terrain" tires and both have the 3-peak snowflake symbol on them. The Rover's stock tire size in 255/55/18, so they are much smaller. Being curious, once I came back with the Jeep, I jumped into the RR and took the same route. There was no doubt the Rover felt much better and more confident. I stopped near the same place on the steep hill and the Rover got going with little fanfare. It does not have stability control but did come with factory 4-wheel traction control. The traction light never came on.

So bottom line...what's the deal here? Are the Gladiators just very light in the back end and prone to sliding around and losing traction? Or is it the oversized tires on the Jeep acting as floats rather than digging in? The Jeep tires are also load range E in this size, but I'm only running about 35 psi, similar to the Rover tires. Thoughts?

Wait, you got 8” of snow already? Where in NH?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Wait, you got 8” of snow already? Where in NH?

My wife would be very envious. I don't dare tell her about this. She's been hoping for a VERY snowy winter since last winter and we just got dribbled on here and there.
She'd love to see several inches of snow 2 or 3 times this winter. A foot of snow would make her very happy.

I feel wide tires are not a plus in the snow and felt my Suburban with narrower almost street tread AT tires was better then Mojave with wide tires, cookie cutters at about 10.5 x 34” are in my future as long as they are light and D or C range. The OP knows what he is talking about has Wildpeak takeoffs on an overland at 34 psi. Apples to bananas or what ever the Range Rover had skinner tires with more weight per square inch probably. Just saying…Jack

I stuck with mostly stock size tires when I went Generals - a bit wider, but don't really want wider than these if I ever go more diameter.

 

[kilroy173]

Not sure if I missed it but do the Overlands come with the limited slip in the rear?

 

[chorky]

Yup. 100% non Selec-Trac issue.

As stated many times before by many, mine was an absolute beast in the snow when in part time 4x4 (Selec-Trac). And with no weight in the bed. Doesn't look like it is available any longer. Damn shame.

You beat me to it. Looks like nothing has it. Anyone know why? Was there some problem with it were not aware of?

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Not sure if I missed it but do the Overlands come with the limited slip in the rear?

I think you’re right, they did in 2022 models. Or at least this random one linked below did according to the VIN

https://www.jeep.com/webselfservice/BuildSheetServlet?vin=1C6HJTFG5NL101523

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Not sure if I missed it but do the Overlands come with the limited slip in the rear?

I have it on my 22 and had it on my 20.
It was an option for the 20 - might have been for the 22 as well, can't recall

EDIT -
Checked the build sheet for my 2022 - it is under options

So yes, it was an option for 20, 21 and 22 model years.
I can't speak to 23 or 24 model years.

You beat me to it. Looks like nothing has it. Anyone know why? Was there some problem with it were not aware of?

There is no problem with it that I'm aware of. It's standard in the 4xe Wrangler.
Look around the forums - so far no one I've seen has said "my SelecTrac failed" as far as Jeep. There's no talk of transfer cases on the 4xe forums and I've not seen it in the Wrangler forums but then I tend to not be there much - totally different crowd.
Likely it's a supplier issue - they can't buy them?
Seems to me there's a lot of stuff missing on the Jeep com build and price site. Slim pickens.

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