First snow ride.

Well, wanted to ask how everyones cj handles in 2wd on paved road snow. I was going straight on a snow covered paved road, (it may have had a layer of ice undernieth), but the rear end came around and went into an uncontollable spin and ended up in someones front lawn. This was the first snow run since I've been driving it, I guess I need to go much slower but was only going about 35mph. How does yours handle on the road?

 

What are the rules on the road with 4wd? On newer vehicles I know you are not supposed to run 4wd on dry roads. Is this true for our intermediates too?

 

In the winter i Keep the hubs locked in all the time. If there is any snow on the road i put it into 4wd. If there is slush i will keep it in 2wd. The key is to go slow.

 

Sometimes when you start to skid, the natural tendency is to "let off" the throttle. If you have posi this can be almost just as bad as giving it gas, increasing the skid. The best to do in my opinion is to depress the clutch until control is regained. A CJ5 in 2wd on ice can definately be a "white knuckle" machine. I would say if the road is somewhere around 70% ice or more you would definately be OK to run in 4wd, maybe even less. To run on a hard surface in 4wd you will need some ice spots to help prevent it from "torque binding" or whatever you want to call it. You can usually tell when it is "torquing up" by the sound and feel. I have always found it to be the most treacherous to be cruising along at 60 mph, then hitting an unsuspected patch of ice in a shaded portion of the road. That can almost cause the seat covers to change color in your Jeep. Well, I guess we drive these things for a thrill anyway

 

I drove a 81 CJ5 through Canada with studded snow tires most of the way in 2WD in early December 1992. I also had about 6oo lbs of personal stuff on the inside. I only had one problem with it and was in 4WD when it happened. I had just rounded a corner and the plows had stopped. I mean stopped right after the corner so I went from a plowed road to 5" of snow with about a 5 foot drop on either side of the road. Talk about white knuckled steering and heart coming out of chest. I went through a series of skids steering out of one into another. Finally I stopped. I just missed having one tire go off the road by about 2 inches according to the snow tracks.

Basically it sounds like you hit black ice and the speed was maybe a bit tood much. Depending on road conditions, I will usually drive about 5 miles under the speed limit and sometimes 10 if the roads are really bad. I'm not worried about myself. I'm more worried about the othe people especially those who think 4WD in snow means go fast. Those are the ones who usually do end up in the ditches.

Use your judgement. Check your tire tread. If this was your first snow run, don't think you can drive like normal.

I miss the ice pad!