Not impressed with Gladiator performance in snow

[Free2roam]

Last year, extremely high snow year for us. Falken Wild peak AT3s 285/70/17 Rubi take off tires. One freeway was closed. Took an alternate route which included mobbing through the center divide to turn around.
Found another road that was open. Although covered in snow and steep. Drove probably 40 miles in the snow in 4wd high. At one point trading leads with a 1 ton Dodge truck. Most people chains and 10-25 MPH. We were literally blowing past at almost double the speed with no slippage or sliding. Mind you I have a camper on the back the weighs about 250 lbs plus gear. It was a rock solid snow eating beast.
Edit: No auto 4wd diesel Sport S

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[GeneralMaximus]

I'm thinking its either my 10-ply Wildpeaks, possibly in combination with the wide footprint which might make the Jeep float on top of the snow vs dig into it.

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

 

[Zachanadandy]

Not the Gladiator. It’s actually extremely well balanced and is actually on par with a BMW 3 series sedan. You can find the numbers posted on this forum somewhere, but the Gas F/R weight distribution is just 53/47 and 54/46 for the Diesel. A BMW sedan is around 55/45 (F/R) for comparison. It’s most likely the best balanced truck on the market.

As far as pickups go the gladiator is one of the best as far as weight distribution for sure. I believe the land rover is actually rear biased 49.2/50.8 which will still make quite a difference between the 2.

 

[DBravo]

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?

We don't get long stretches of snowy conditions here in Massachusetts (near Boston) but I grew up driving pickup trucks in snowy PA. I keep 2 ea 60lb sand tubes in the bed of my gladiator centered above the rear axles all winter. No complaints. Stock 255-70-R18 Wrangler ATA.

 

[GobiGuy]

Interesting responses. I'm very familiar with the 4x4 system in the Jeep, the Rover, and many other rigs out there (I said I was an experienced off-road enthusiast). The road was snow-covered with probably 3-4 inches of snow with maybe one set of tire tracks. No, I was not in 4-low. I can't think of any reason to use gear reduction on-road. As for people commenting about Select-Trac or whatever Jeep calls their automated 4x4 system vs the basic part-time system I have, its nonsense that Select-Trac would outperform Command-Trac on snow covered roads. After all, consider what the automatic system does...it supplies power to the front axle automatically when slip occurs using a clutch and sensors, up to 50-50 split front to rear. The Command-Trac part-time supplies 50-50 front to rear any time 4H or 4L is selected. The beauty of the Select-Trac is that it can be used seamlessly in changing conditions, and be left engaged on dry roads. Obviously Command-Trac is part time and needs to be disengaged on dry road. The old Range Rover has true permanent 4x4, using a geared center differential to send power to the front and rear 50-50 at all times; however that center diff is open and relies on a viscous coupling to control front-to-rear slip. It can apportion up to a 50-50 split as well, and it does so mechanically without the use of clutches or sensors. The thing is, I was on snow covered roads. I don't believe for a second "Select-Trac" would have performed any better, and frankly in these conditions I would have manually selected 4H "locked" anyway.

As for weight distribution, I did think the Gladiator probably had fairly good ratios. I've had (and still have) a heavy-duty pickup and in 2WD even with studded snows they are helpless. 4x4 is needed in snow basically all the time. But your typical half-ton crew cab short bed has pretty good weight distribution as well and they go much better in 2WD than the HD's.

I'm thinking its either my 10-ply Wildpeaks, possibly in combination with the wide footprint which might make the Jeep float on top of the snow vs dig into it.

I completely agree with you on Command-Trac vs Select-Trac.

 

[jac04]

As for people commenting about Select-Trac or whatever Jeep calls their automated 4x4 system vs the basic part-time system I have, its nonsense that Select-Trac would outperform Command-Trac on snow covered roads.
...
I don't believe for a second "Select-Trac" would have performed any better, and frankly in these conditions I would have manually selected 4H "locked" anyway.

The difference is the center differential. Your RR has one, your JT does not. Selec-Trac mimics one by allowing different driveshaft speeds front & rear.

Your JT in 4H part-time mechanically locks the front & rear driveshafts together and forces them to turn at the same speed no matter what. While not all that bad when going straight, this forces tire slippage in any type of turn and overall poor performance on snow-covered roads.

EDIT:
I wish we were closer so we could do a comparison in exactly the same conditions. I've owned a bunch a AWD cars with dedicated snow tires(several 5MT WRXs, Legacy 5MT wagon, A4 5MT, A4 Allroad DSG, Golf R DSG, and a few CX-5s for the family), and my JTM with Selec-Trac on stock AT3Ws or KO2s (I alternate) will hang with them in the snow. Sure, the Selec-Trac operation isn't as 'seamless' as most AWD cars/SUVs, but it's a blast to drive on snow-covered roads.

 

[CreepyJeepy]

The reality with snow performance is simply tires….

4wd obviously helps, but my lowered ND Miata on blizacks had no problem navigating up a steep grade 6” snow with ice underneath a few weeks ago where I passed 2 ditched 4x4s

get snow tires for snow

 

[Ryan...]

Definitely apples to oranges, truck vs SUV, let alone a Range Rover (regardless of year, they're all extremely capable despite their reliability issues.

My Land Rover LR4 was the best handling snow vehicle I've ever driven. All they need are capable tires and I trusted that thing to get me absolutely anywhere I was dumb enough to pilot it towards.

 

[Hootbro]

Not every 4WD or AWD is created equally and there is compromises. Gladiator basic 4WD is better than anything 2WD most times for snow but it tends to shine more for actual off road conditions and not inclement weather on road conditions.

Two winters ago when I had both my Gladiator and the wife's Honda Ridgeline AWD, the Ridgeline was just the go to for snowy on road conditions. Getting to somebody on a gravel county road or logging/camping trail with heavy snow fall, the Gladiator shined and the Ridgeline stayed home.

 

[Volt0]

Sorry, how wide are those tires? Am wondering if you’ld be better with a skinnier tire.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Interesting. I was under the impression that these things do great in snow regardless of select trac vs command trac. Especially with wild peak tires.

I’ve only ever driven mine in light snow, just enough to turn the road white. It did really well on my Kenda Klevar AT tires (35s, 315mm wide). Can’t wait to see how it does in the deep shit

 

[jac04]

^^ 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.

 

[JTpanelsOFF]

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

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

^^ 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.

Yea the select trac and aux switches are the two things I really wish I had gotten from factory. Oh well. Maybe the LSD in my JT will help some vs having open diffs in the back.

 

[chr15m]

In my personal opinion and experience, the driver is a largely overlooked factor in snowy conditions.

I've gone from driving in snow maybe 2-3x a year to about 10 times that in the last 8 years.

Starting with a manual trans Tacoma, to a 07 Impreza fitted with snow tires, a WRX with the same. Multiple other Toyotas, up to a Tundra and now the Gladiator.

In the beginning with the Tacoma I felt duped, lead to believe that 4x4 was great in the snow. Lots of challenges especially with the MT gearset. Going to a small Impreza with full time AWD and snow tires only furthered that belief. Years later I started going up Mt Hood more and more in the winter and at this point between our 2018 4runner and my Gladiator I am way more confident and skilled in the snow.

The only vehicle I did not prefer in the snow was the Tundra, but only because other people are such a liability and it is so large (big target).

Of course the full time Subies would just be so much easier and mindless in the snow, but I rarely get to a point of feeling unsafe with the Jeep. Knowing my limitations and having had a lot of practice greatly change how snow days pan out for me.

Im not implying anyone is a bad driver here, rather, that snow driving is largely a skill that is more valuable to improve than to put unwarranted faith into a vehicle that can ultimately only perform as well as that driver.

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