I have a 2016 Cherokee that is FWD and I’m looking for some tips on getting around this winter. I had some trouble last year with it fish tailing and it didn’t come with a spare so there’s literally no weight in the back. Would adding weight like sandbags help at all? I’ve never had this trouble with a FWD vehicle before.

 

Was the front or rear cutting loose? What are you running for tires? Cheap Charlies or good tires? Any diagnostic lights on?

 

Either your driving to fast for the snow or you have some crappy tires,If it still has the factory tires on it most use the cheapest ones they can get.

 

^This, aside from some of the "off-road" packages (Trailhawk, etc.) which this vehicle obviously wouldn't have being an FWD, Jeep OE tires are pretty crappy (so are most other makes OE tires aside from "Off-Road"/"Performance" packages that come with better ones).


About the only requirements for "standard" OE tires are that they are "black, round, and cheap" and almost any replacement tires (aside from the off-brand Chinese crap) is an upgrade.

 

 

 

Does that have 17's or 18's on it? You may be a victim of the low profile trend and fad. It might not be the tire brand model, it might be the wheel/tire size combination. At a certain point it becomes impractical.

 

I just checked and they are Continental ProContact 225/55R18.

 

Unfortunately tall skinny Ford Model T 30" x 3 1/2" tires are better in the snow than the new wide low profile wheel and size combinations they are putting on these now. I think the problem in your case is just that the trend to do this has now gone beyond all common sense and practicality. And unless you chose to change out to another combination altogether for the winter you might be stuck with it.

 

Thank you for the info. Looks like I will be getting some different tires!

 

Again it is not the tires. As it is the Tire/Wheel size combination. You would have to buy a whole set of another combination to cure the issue. But you could run these in the winter and switch them back out to the factory size combination the rest of the year. There was time when everyone had to do this as a norm.

If you decide to do this, PM me and I will help set you up with the right combination to match your current tire diameter. You might find that they do so much better you might even want to keep them on there permanent.

We have just moved away from "functionality" as a priority and replaced it with "looks" as a priority. And it was a mistake... We can't have our cake and eat it too. Not your fault... It is a trend with fault, and there are no other options offered when you buy one.

 

I agree with that. Those low profile tires only belong on the street

 

And a dry street at that. That particular size first came out on Corvettes and were designed for a much heavier car. And Corvettes were much heavier than one would think. They were designed for dry weather high performance conditions and were meant to be parked when it was snowing outside. That size even on a Corvette were dangerous in just a heavy rain, they hydroplaned far too easy.

 

^This, the Continental ProContacts actually aren't bad tires (surprised these came OE) for what they are, though they are more "performance" oriented (Continental lists them as "Grand Touring all-seasons") and aren't intended for much snow or any off-road use (and really don't belong on any Cross-Over/SUV, much less a "Jeep", even a FWD one), and as mentioned low-profile tires in general aren't much good for any kind of off-road/bad weather use.


The whole low-profile tires coming OE on "normal" (i.e. not sports or performance) cars (and even Cross-overs/SUVs) trend is really annoying, aside from being bad for bad-weather and even light off-road use (even gravel roads are dicey with these) they often limit tire choices to "performance oriented" models (mainly designed for dry roads) making this even worse. They also don't allow the tires to absorb impacts from bumps, potholes, etc. leading to not only a rougher ride, but also increased incidences of damage to wheels and suspension components (my Mom hit a pot-hole in her Lexus with low-profile tires, and cracked 2 wheels and blew-out a strut, standard profile tires would have likely had no damage or a bubble in the side-wall at most requiring tire replacement only). Low-Profiles also tend to have much shorter tread life (and note if you use all-seasons in the snow their traction diminishes substantially after about 50% wear) and are more expensive.

 

Interesting side trip. When I lived in OR in the 70s I had a friend that had one of 9 LT1 Vettes on the west coast. But he got rid of it. He lived in an area that was in the wet curvy roads of State Hwy 20. He could not keep it on the road when it was wet, which was about 9 months of the year. So he sold it fairly cheap with mashed rear quarter panels from being in the ditch on multiple occaisions