Deep Snow question

[Ian Christiansen]

When driving in deep snow, 12" plus, should I be in 4HI or 4LO? I know it depends on the XJ, so mine is a 2001, 4.0, AW4, 231, 3.55 gears, 30" tires, 2" of lift, open diffs.

 

[nick86]

momentum,
momentum,
momentum.

 

[rag]

My setup:

1989 xj 4.0L, aw4, np231, 3.5" lift, 31x11.5s, 3.56s, 15x8s, 10psi, front aussie, open rear, 4hi.

I do fine in the recent 12-24" storms.

 

[XJEEPER]

On road or off? On road stay in 4HI, but when wheeling off-road in snow it's all about the MO.........mentum so you'll need to experiment with what range works best for the current conditions.

 

[Ian Christiansen]

It'll be on-road, most of the time.

 

[BrokeBrewKnow]

4Hi on road.

 

[casm]

momentum,
momentum,
momentum.

Agreed. Also:

Traction,
traction,
traction.

It'll be on-road, most of the time.

Last winter I got around in up to 3' of snow using 4FT for the vast majority of it; the only times that I really needed low range in normal driving was to break through fresh plough piles. It also came in handy for the two really good stucks that I managed to get myself into, but those were the result of me knowingly doing something likely to result in being stuck, not the weather itself.

I really wouldn't want to use it on-road if it could be avoided, especially on a ploughed surface. Consider the throttle sensitivity that 4LO has over 4HI; one slight blip on the skinny pedal too much and you're setting yourself up for an easy spin-out. If the conditions warranted it, yes, but in a foot of snow you should be OK.

 

[kastein]

every time the city gets shut down by another foot of snow I take the jeep out and bomb around town in 4lo/1-2, but that's just for fun. 4hi on the road most of the time.

Honestly, if you are on the road and need 4wd, you probably should limit yourself to speeds you can reach in 4lo anyways. Anything faster and you risk an accident, whether because of road hazards or because of some other idiot on the road. I got put into a snowbank a few weeks ago by some dumbass who thought he deserved my lane more than I did (I figured digging out of a snowbank was a better choice long term than letting him run into me and having to deal with the insurance company), fortunately 4hi and a little forward/reverse rocking got it back out quickly.

 

[RichP]

We been getting inched to death here in Pa, 3-4 inches at a time that never melts, every 3 or 4 days for the past almost 2 months. The snow pack is pretty high here now.

 

[CherBear]

Stay in 4 hi, keep a long following distance so you never have to stop, you can just slow down. Keep momentum up. Easy on the skinny pedal.

 

[bjoehandley]

I managed to make it home ok in full time on my XJ with a 242, I was expecting to have to use 4hi some though.

 

[kcjeep6]

Air down 10psi or less

 

[CherBear]

I drove across my drive way, i didnt even sink in! All ice...

 

[bjoehandley]

My XJ did pretty good today the couple times I had it out, had the truck in axle deep snow trying to get home from getting a new belt for the snow blower.

 

[Zuul99]

Whats snow? is it that white mystical stuff that falls from the sky?

 

[XJLI]

with open diffs im usually on the rev limiter in snow that deep.

 

[bjoehandley]

I hit the snow running and the one time I had stopped, I used plenty of skinny pedal to get going again......and hung the truck sideways a bit, luckily traffic was blocked by a stuck Pontiac trying to get onto the road I was pulling off of:laugh:

 

[four_shot]

I kept both Babs and Buster in 4hi all of today. a little later on i dropped buster back into 2wd. I need to remind the little woman to do the same otherwise I'm gonna need an Xfer case when she hits the plowed pavement tomorrow...lol

 

[CherBear]

I nearly always switch back to 2wd before parking, i am always worried i will forget, and blow it up on some dry pavement...

 

[casm]

Babs and Buster

Dammit. Now I've got the theme song to that stuck in my head.