4.3L XJ

I got my drivers license the day it started snowing for the winter. Where I lived, we didn't get snow holidays until we got at least three feet out of one storm. That was a lot of years ago. Since then I have traveled up to 500 mi at a shot on snow and ice in Eastern Oregon and WA. So here is how it works.

If it is going to be slick, put it in 4WD period. That is what it is for. You can travel as fast as is safe for an indefinite period that way. If you run into intermittent patches of pavement and ice, leave it in 4WD. It will not hurt your drivetrain for a few feet on pavement to be in 4WD. If you have several hundred yards of pavement and there is gravel or loose sand on the side, put two of your tires in it and leave it in 4WD till the next patch of snow or ice. Anything else, put it in 2WD

Desert Rat

X2 best way to learn is finding an empty parking lot cause her to skid and learn how to get out of it that way. That was one of the first lessons my stepdad gave about driving years oago.

rivercrazy

Did that the other day. It was pretty sweet. I think I've found a new winter hobby!! lol.

jd2311900

two things i've learned from living in Michigan don't use cruse control when its bad out and look out for black ice. o and the parking lot thing is fun too!

UserID6095

^^ If you can see the black ice. Most of the times you cant till its too late.

Iant333

I have only driven my Xj in snow once, (havent had it long enough) and im used to driving front wheel drive in the snow, but one piece of advice is that most people when they start to slide, they brake, unless you are have to brake to avoid killing yourself, dont do it. It makes you slide way worse. Just slowly ease back into the turn and coast to a stop, or if you have a standard you can engine brake a little bit if its slippery out too, that will sotp your wheel from locking up.

rweaver138

ive always heard not to throw your vehicle in 4wd while going over like 5-10 mph. is that true? and if your doin like 65 down the highway and you see a dry spot in part time its okay to throw it in 2wd right?

rivercrazy

In both my '92 XJ and '97 ZJ owners manuals it says you can shift between 2H and 4H at any speed. Going in and out of 4L in my XJ (NP231) should be at a complete stop in N and in my ZJ (NP242) you should be going 1-3 MPH in N and NEVER be going over 3 MPH.

I think that is Command Trac (NP231) on the XJ and Select Trac (NP242) on the ZJ.

c-loss

Just take your time and dont be like all the retards around here are that think they can still drive 80 just because they have 4 wheel drive. We got a 2 foot snow early this fall and I used 2wd threw all of it other than pulling a couple people out. Just dont get in a hurry.

Troth

If youre spinning, turn into the the spin. and it will make the whole thing end quickly where as turning away will cause you to slowly straighten out and then whip into a wicked spin the other dirrection, like over correcting in mud but less control

BRAKES, heres a good tip, if you hit your brakes to avoid an accident, youre going to drift another dirrection. IF YOU JUST HAPPEN TO POINT A GOOD SAFE DIRRECTION AND YOURE IN 4h OR LOW (OR EVEN 2) LET OFF THE BRAKES AND YOUR JEEP WILL GO THERE.

Troth

i was in town driving one day and I was in 4 H and had studs, I was coming down a little hill and wanted to turn right at signal. there was a guy in the go straight lane and as i applied my brakes i was sliding towards him and pointing towards turn lane. I waited until I got closer (so I wouldnt have to turnback and risk over correcting) and let off the brakes and gas and the jeep went rite into the turn lane. the jeep will most always be in perfect control if you are not touching the gas or brake. the tires would rather spin normal that slide

other than that, just be mellow man. if stuff starts hitting the fan just step back and smoke a mental cigarette. you can do a much better job with a cool calm collected state of mind

THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE!!! you drive a JEEP, its the other crazy drivers and crappy cars you have to watch out for

99rockies

Haha I'm not even gonna say how i drive in the snow . But seriously dont drive on muds unless there siped or you like snow drifting every corner

Destro

My tips for driving in the snow, or this seems to be the way all the A-holes around here drive:

Use the skinny pedal. Use it a lot.

When the rear end starts to slide, feel free to panic and slam on the brakes. ABS will save your butt, right?

When the guy in front of you is driving a reasonable speed for the conditions, drive up really close to him so he knows you are in a hurry and you are obviously more important than he is. If that fails to get him to use the skinny pedal a little more, feel free to blast past him in a no passing zone. Maybe you can even slide a little to make things really interesting. Who wants a boring commute?

;-)

I'll try to think of more...

c-loss

Damn do you live around me? That is just like they drive here. I find it funny when someone comes up on my *** like that Ill do 10 mph threw town just to **** them off some more.

ZachsXJ

Haha, same here. I'm esspecially careful in the rain because I know my mudds like to slide around, ppl get up on my but and I slow down to a few under the speed limit xD