First real use of my 4-Lo
 

We have been getting a bunch of snow here in Northern New Mexico in the past day. About 8 - 10 inches so far. This evening the steep uphill and curvy road into my neighborhood was very snowpacked and icy. When I turned onto my road there were four or five cars just sitting there with their hazards on so naturally I eased up to the front of the line and offered a tow.

The first car in line was an Accord and the driver accepted my offer hook up my straps and get her home. I put the JK into 4-low and without even the slightest spin or slip on the ice I got the Honda about 1/2 mile up the hill to the owners driveway.

When I got out to disconnect my tow strap, the driver was very thankful and said "Whatever that is that you're driving, thats what I am gonna get!" I told her "It's just a Jeep" and drove on home smiling :).

Great looking Jeep! It's nice to hear stories like this that confirm the abilities of the JK. I'm waiting for my 4dr 4x4 sahara to arrive. The wait is killing me. I live in Canada so I'll be getting into some snow myself and I just wanted to know if you have snow tires or if you towed the Honda with your goodyear's? I'm not sure if I'll need snow tires or if my Bridgestone tires will do. ( I opted for the 18" option) Cheers!

RookieJEeper,

I live in Montreal, so we get similar weather.

I've been asking anyone who will listen if they know how good the stock Duelers or Wrangler SRAs are in the snow and ice.

The answers I'm getting are that both are decent (but just decent, not excellent) in a little bit of ice and snow, and when you combine that with the 4WD and electronic stability system, you're supposed to be fine in deeper snow.

The problem is, I don't think anyone that has answered me so far has seen the extreme weather conditions we get, like -30C and black ice. I have a feeling that the stock tires are probably not going to be anywhere near as good as real winter tires, and that's because they're not designed to stay soft and grippy in extreme cold. The rubber compounds used in all-seasons and winter tires are totally different, and this is what makes the difference in the end.

My recommendation would be to test the hell out of the tires on a quiet street with no traffic or parked cars, and see how they do. If there's any question that they won't hold up in a real dangerous situation, I would just bite the bullet and get real winter tires. In your case, you're going to pay through the nose for 18" rubber, so go to Canadian Tire and pick up 16" steel rims and find some cheap GT Radials or Yokohama Geolandars.

Good luck, and let me know what happens as soon as you get your Jeep. I ordered a Sahara, but plan on upgrading to black 18" rims with some 33" rubber, so I got the 17" Goodyears instead of the 18" Duelers to save money on the winter tires when that time comes. I won't get it until February (hopefully), and by then winter will start to fade....

I have the 18's with the stock Duelers. I hooked onto a stuck Avalanche in slick mud on an uphill grade. The non-believers just laughed and said no-way. I never even spun a wheel and didn't even need to take it over 2k RPM or need 4low. The person behind the wheel even locked up the brakes and I just drug him along not knowing what the heck he was thinking. The owner said they'd buy me an avalanche sticker with a notch in it to put on the buggy. Then a few weeks ago, we had a small snow storm at rush hour that made the road into glass because the salt trucks couldn't get around with all the traffic. New Dodge's, Chevy's trucks and SUV's in 4X4's couldn't make some of the hills. Not sure if they didn't know how to drive their rig's, but I never slid or spun a wheel. I even tooled around in 2hi(rear lockers) just to see how the ESP did and did better than others. Granted they only have 3k miles on them, but so far, no complaints on the Duelers.

I forgot to mention that I have stock 17" wheels and stock Goodyear Wrangler tires (P255/75R17).

30C isn't cold:thinking:

that's like 86 F - not meaning to be a smart butt

pssst....


He said -30C. that is what? like 20 below?

*zoiks* :eek!:

thats cold no matter how you slice it. :yup:

ZOIKS = much laughter! - Thanks

Dean,

Thanks for your opion. I agree that a winter tire will stay more plyable in the cold than a standard all season. I only want to buy the winter tires if I absolutely need to because I'm leasing the JK for 3 years and have a hard time justifying spending big bucks on winter tires if I'm only leasing. The only reason I decided to lease is because it's a brand new design and just like any other newly designed vehicle there will probably be a few things that they will improve on in the next couple of years. For example, the problem with the leaking roofs among other things that I've read about in this forum. My plan is to lease this for the 3 year term and then buy one once all the bugs are worked out of it.
You mentioned that you're expecting yours in February some time. When did you order it? What have you been told about delivery time? The salesman I asked told me that on average they're taking about 2 months to come in. Is this what you were told? I'm sure it'll be worth the wait but it's killing me!
Cheers!

Thanks msunlimited,

Good to know the duelers seem to being working for you. You mentioned that you have rear lockers. Did you mean the limited slip rear end option or did you install lockers aftermarket? I ordered the limited slip option on my sahara.