storm101

Idk about the zj full time, as I havnt driven one, that being said the part time on my 231 (assuming you have one as well otherwise youd still have the fulltime option) has been great, I think of it as an art form in daily driving situation as far as engaging and disengaging....the key to it is making sure you have traction loss, that prevents the driveline bind up, if you can spin the rear in 2wd easily it's a safe bet you're good to engage, pay attention to the transfercases "whine" as I refer to it, the louder and higher pitch it gets, the less you should be in 4x4 lol(the noise is the binding starting to begin). For me it's not unusual to be clicking in and out of 4x4 as I feel needed (that's what it's for, at speeds up to 55 iirc), not sure how roads are elsewhere, but they're usually pretty screwed up here during winter.

Sorry about the novel but maybe you or someone else will gain something from it.

Bottom line, dd in winter with a 231 can be interesting, but it is an awesome system.

MT96XJ

Because we don't need more people on the road thinking 4wd is an excuse to drive fast in poor conditions.

Jmb94

For the record, I was kidding a little... but for what it's worth, maybe you could say that. There is absolutely no reason to not use 4wd in the snow appropriately.

MT96XJ

I just get a little frustrated with people around here, bunch of dumb folks from CA move in and think that since they have 4wd the can drive fast and tailgate when there is several inches of ice on the road. I don't trust other people.

Cricket

Agreed! The wider the tire, the more traction you'll get on the ice.

Cricket

In Vancouver, we're lucky if we get 12" of snow throughout an entire winter. So when it first hits, people FREAK. And one of the most common vehicles seen in the ditch are 4x4's. People get cocky and think that 4x4 means better winter handling, regardless of your driving abilities.

hawaiian808

I just got my jeep, it has bf a/ts on it, I forget the width, but 30s none the less, I can't wait to see what snows gonna be like since gravel gives my jeep a hard time haha, I drive up a pretty decent incline to work every day and have tried 1st thru 3rd ( any higher she will bogg out) and it skitters around like it's cool, like there's not enough weight , in 4x4 all of them skitter lmao!

pelexj90

thanks everybody as of now im leaning on selling my xj for a nice zj

ivantheigor

Off road yes... but on road winter you want narrow, so it will sink through.

Rakkasan_Jeep

I've never had a problem in the snow with my 4x4, just remember 4x4 doesn't mean 4x4 breaking. Just take it nice and slow since you have all 4 with traction. It can either be fun, or a complete nightmare.

Cricket

.....

On an icy road, you want less air and wider tires. I'm gonna stick with that.

77olds

Amen to that. 4x4's are good for driving through things that might stop other cars, but it certainly makes no difference when trying to stop. ALL cars have brakes on all 4 wheels, so there's no advantage to having a 4x4 in that situation, which is usually the situation where you're gonna crash.

I can't think of any "about to crash" situations that having 4wd would save you from, unless you bailed into the ditch with the knowledge that you could just drive back out.

Rakkasan_Jeep

I just hate snowy icy weather. Last one we had here, more then 20 wrecks occured from 7 AM to around noon.

hawaiian808

You could engine brake in 4x4 lol

Kyle 4x4 4life

Have a full time ZJ and a part time XJ...and they both do great in snow...couldn't tell much of any difference from another...the only nice thing about the full time zj is when the snow gets plowed and you go from pavement to snow to pavement and back to snow you dont have to shift in and out of 4wd evertime you change road conditions...i know shifting into 4wd take less than 2 seconds, but with my wife driving i feel safer with it full time so she dont forget to shift it in and wreck, or forget to take it out of 4wd on pavement and blow the transfer-case.