Engaging 4 wheel drive in the snow

[Utah_jeepster]

Ok its snowing here like mad.
So bad I am watching semi's take the three lane slide. WooHoo it's like playing frogger in my jeep....and I am the frog!

Time for some good ole Jeepz board argument time.
Keep it friendly here...

Is it ok to engage your 4 wheel drive unit on the pavment when the pavment is buried underseveral inches worth of snow?

 

[Craig]

Sure 4 wheel drive works good in the snow but you get so many idiots who think because it's 4 wheel drive, it's invinceable. If you look down the highway when it snows here, I'd say it's something like 75% 4 wheel drives in the ditches. 4 wheel drive will give you better traction and keep your vehicle a little straighter without the rearend kicking out on you as much. People have to realize that just because it's 4 wheel drive doesn't mean it won't spin out in the snow. As far as engaging it on pavement covered snow, it's fine as long as your tires can slip a little. The way it was explained to me by my buddy who's a mechanic is that 4 wheel drive is made for surfaces with poor traction. As long as your tires can slip a little without binding up (like what happens when you turn on dry pavement with 4 wheel engaged) it won't damage anything.

 

[Tug-n-pull]

4wheel Drive and snow were made for each other! tug

 

[Sully]

How is your jeep doing with the locker in the rear?

 

[Inspector-Gadget]

Hello Utah,

The owner manuals for the 85 CJ-7 and 2002 G-Cherokee both state that it is OK to use 4-WD in the road conditions you have described.

Regards,

Gadget

 

[K-Phat]

I love to use my 4-wheel drive in the snow. It gives me an excuse to use it even more :lol: I also agree with what Craig said about people in the suvs all flying down the road thinking that since they have 4 wheel/all-wheel drive that they are unstopable and immune to the weather. Why last Christmas it snowed here and I was driving to my Moms house and it is kinda off some country type roads and on the way there I came about a nice Jeep Grand that had slide off the road and hit one of those school cation lights :? There was two flat-bed tow trucks winching on it to get off of it's side :shock: Happens all the time too

 

[K_K_PSI_GUY]

Exactly what they said. As long as your wheels can "slip" a little, 4wd will be okay. Good point about people thinking they are invincible when in a 4wd.-al

 

[TwistedCU]

Are you asking if it is ok to engage 4-hi at highway speeds?
Hell yes, you can engage it while driving 50 mph down a snowy highway and you're just doing what it was deisigned to do. You cab disengage it at highway speeds as well. The owners manual says at any "legal speed". I did it all last winter! For 4-lo you have to stop first.

 

[Utah_jeepster]

ok everyone is agreeing here let's just add in the next part...
when do you dis-engage 4 hi? or is it ok to jump from snow patch to snow patch driving over solid traction pavment with 4 hi engaged?

Damage to the transfer case ?
Drive shafts?
Differentials?

Sully: So far for the last 2 seasons I have found that the rear locker has performed very well and only found that I have to reach for 4 hi rarley when one tire breaks traction while the other rear has none.

When the road conditions are that bad I am almost always in 4 hi any way.
I am a woosie boy here and drive slower and give 4-6 secounds of room between me and the guy in front at hi-way speed.

 

[Craig]

I usually leave it in when driving from snow patch to snow patch as long as there isn't any sharp corners and it isn't too long between patches. Haven't had any problems. Usually if there's more road surface than snow, I don't bother with 4 wheel drive.

 

[OutOfStep]

I leave it in 4 hi between snow patches, mud patches, sand patches, just as long as the distance is fairly short and there are no sharp turns

 

[brian4.2]

You have a great advantage with 4wd in the snow over 2wd but you have zero advantage stopping.

 

[avyoung]

It depends on what I am driving. My blazer has lots of weight over the rear tires and does pretty good in 2WD so it there are patches I stay in 2wd. Now if there are tiretracks of dry pavement I stay in 4WD and drive with 1/2 the tire in the snow allowing slippage. Now for t he Jeep yesturday was the first time I have driven it in the snow. I have not gotten a good feal for how it will perform so i put it in 4wd and left it until I was home.

 

[graewulf]

4 hi is fine form snow patch to snow patch so long as we're not talking like a mile between them.. short distances on dry (if its snowing i cant imagine any dry spots) pavement wont cause damage. i did it all the time in my truck.... (havent had the jeep in snow yet) my general rule for 4wd on highway is if you need 4wd, you shouldn't be doing much over 40 anyway.... if you can drive faster safely, you dont need it in 4wd.

 

[K_K_PSI_GUY]

2" body lift questions

Well, I am not too familiar with driving in the snow, but if there is snow, then the pavement where there is no snow will be wet at least, allowing "slippage" , so you will be fine. One of the Jeep books (Jeep Bible or such) states that you will cause more damage to your 4wd system by engaging and diengaging than you could ever possibly cause driving with it on.-al

 

[Snitty]

that also depends on the tires you have... if you have tires designed for wet surfaces, then they will be able to grab the wet pavement well, and will not allow slippage

 

[K_K_PSI_GUY]

Well, I doubt the best tire made for Jeeps will not allow for some slippage. It is the physics of it that will allow the best tire made for wet surfaces to have some slippage. -al

 

[Snitty]

i can agree there... but especially at low speeds, the slippage may not be enough to allow for the difference in mechanical motions

 

[ZBTstang]

One Issue I had with snow.....
Up at school one night last year after we had gotten a blizzard and a half up here in CT, they moved all the snow to a remote parking lot nobody uses. Well having a jeep me and some buddies went to see what it could do in the snow....we had a blast, the 4wd worked wonders......
BUT. The next morning I was driving from campus to campus on the highway, got to about 50 and the jeep was shaking uncontrollably! I got really really scared! I got if off the highway and parked it to find that I had over looked that the snow packed in EVERYWHERE! All in the undercarriage, and even in the wheels! I was lucky my brakes didnt fail! it was like ice everywhere.

 

[Snitty]

that shaking could very well have been something unbalanced because of snow packed on a spinning object