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4HI or 4LOW in snow?

Old 11-20-2010, 05:16 PM
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Default 4HI or 4LOW in snow?

This is only the second winter I have had my Jeep so I haven't done much snow driving. It snowed here last night so I went for a cruise first thing this morning. I live in an area with a lot of steep roads and figured 4LOW would be the way to go, but I found myself spinning too much. Just curious what the best way to drive in fresh snow is? Thanks!
Old 11-20-2010, 05:22 PM
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I would say 4 high, 4 low gets you a lot of torque to the wheels making it a little easier to lose traction on start. You could try putting it into 2 so it has less torque on start but really. You shouldn't be on road in 4l anyway I think they say top speed is
25mph
Old 11-20-2010, 05:27 PM
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4 Hi and a smooth clutch action will keep you from spinning.
Old 11-20-2010, 05:28 PM
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Living in Northern Ontario, I have had more than my fair share of snow. Just note that I have only previously driven a Chevy pickup (6 cyl) in the winter though.

I only ran 4 HIGH in the snow for 2 reasons. You need to keep those tires spinning, and if you get going too fast (2nd gear - 3rd gear) 4 LO will become a bad idea.

Secondly, when driving in the snow, I haven't found the need for lower gearing as the tires are usually always spinning anyways. You will have more than enough guts in 4 HIGH for bombin' around in the snow IMO.

Hope this helps, and on a side note, if any other advice is contradictory to mine, i'm not here to be 100% correct, just giving my advice based on previous experience.

Old 11-20-2010, 05:43 PM
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4hi has gotten me to work through many winters here in Maine, even on un-plowed roads. I've had 4wd since the '70s, and always look forward to the nor'easters.
Old 11-20-2010, 06:00 PM
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4hi has never failed me in the snow on pavement and gravel roads. The only time I use 4Lo with snow is if I am on a wheeling trail or need to crawl down steeper slopes on FSR roads/off-road trails (NOT highways or pavement).
Old 11-20-2010, 06:22 PM
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4hi never failed me in my old bronco. This is my first year with the JK so this winter will be interesting. I can not wail til it snows. Should be fun
Old 11-20-2010, 07:50 PM
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Originally Posted by CDN-JK
Hope this helps, and on a side note, if any other advice is contradictory to mine, i'm not here to be 100% correct, just giving my advice based on previous experience.



Well I'm here to be 100% correct,........unfortunatly this only happens 50% of the time.........
Old 11-20-2010, 08:01 PM
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Originally Posted by smuhhh
This is only the second winter I have had my Jeep so I haven't done much snow driving. It snowed here last night so I went for a cruise first thing this morning. I live in an area with a lot of steep roads and figured 4LOW would be the way to go, but I found myself spinning too much. Just curious what the best way to drive in fresh snow is? Thanks!
4 low is too "low" of a gear for slick fresh snow... i would do reg 4wd with some snow traction tires... its all about the tires... you can get around just fine with 2wd with snow and good tires.
Old 11-21-2010, 03:04 AM
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Originally Posted by benny
Well I'm here to be 100% correct,........unfortunatly this only happens 50% of the time.........
That's 100% more often than me!

Thanks for the replies guys. It was pretty obvious to me that 4L was to high torque, but i wasn't going very fast as I haven't done much snow driving so I wasn't really reving too high. Can't wait for it to snow again so I can beat the plow out there.

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