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JK and wet roads

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Old 01-17-2007 | 04:27 AM
  #21  
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I recommend taking your JK to an empty parking lot and push it's limits.
You will be better suited in an emergency situation.

I've done this in the snow w/ all of my new veh. Seems like it would work w/ rain too.

BTW, I could not get the JK to do donuts in 4HI in the snow...even w/ the ESP turned off. Not fun, but safe.

I've driven my wife's Murano (front wheel drive biased AWD) and the JK on snowpacked roads, and actually felt better in the JK. I think I'm better w/ the oversteer vs understeer.
Old 01-17-2007 | 04:50 AM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by Jake_Blues
This only happens if you're using the lockers. You still have differentials as long as you're not locked.

-E
I can't say for the JK, probably you're right. In the TJ X or Sahara it's 2WD or 4H, and in 4H it grinds on turns on wet or dry pavement.
Old 01-17-2007 | 05:02 AM
  #23  
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Well, there it is. Spelled out in red letters.
Old 01-17-2007 | 07:14 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Dean
I can't say for the JK, probably you're right. In the TJ X or Sahara it's 2WD or 4H, and in 4H it grinds on turns on wet or dry pavement.
I could be wrong, but this may be more due to lack of constant velocity joints in the drivetrain.

-E
Old 01-17-2007 | 07:57 AM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by Piginajeep
I usually have issues getting into the police cruisers front wheel drive, and low to the ground... it sucks
Yeah I hate getting in those damn police cruisers too
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Old 01-17-2007 | 08:16 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by TexasChopper
Yeah I hate getting in those damn police cruisers too
You are refering to the "BACK SEAT"
Old 01-27-2007 | 07:12 AM
  #27  
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Default part time 4 wheel drive???...

any cliff notes on this question??...I just read it off the sticker from the Rubi as I'm looking at it for the 1st time....
Old 12-17-2020 | 03:29 PM
  #28  
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Default It Ain't Necessarily So

Originally Posted by Jake_Blues
If you're sliding, you are probably driving too fast for conditions.

That being said, remember this: Front wheel drive cars leave the road nose first, rear wheel drive cars leave the road tail first.

Front wheel drive cars have a natural tendancy to understeer in corners. Understeer is a condition where the vehicle's front tires lose traction before the rears and get "pushed" along. The vehicle starts to travel on a track that is shallower that what the steering input is demanding. The reason they understeer is because you're asking the front tires to do everything (drive the car, steer the car, stop the car) and the rear wheels are just twiddling their thumbs.

Rear wheel drive cars tend to have either neutral handling (all the tires have an equal workload) or they tend to oversteer. Oversteer is a condition where the vehicle's rear tires lose traction first and the vehicle's nose starts to point in a deeper track than the front wheels are demanding (and eventually sliding all the way around till your back is now your front).

Front wheel drive cars are considered "safer" because recovering from understeer is usually just a matter of letting off the gas. When you let off the gas, the vehicle slows down, and weight transfers onto the front tires, increasing their traction.

Recovering from oversteer is more difficult. You have to steer into the slide and gradually bring the vehicle back under control. Suddenly releasing the gas or even applying the brakes will cause the same results as above, transferring weight from the rear wheels (which already don't have enough traction) to the front wheels (which already had plenty), usually inducing a nice quick spin. A good example of this is a pickup truck which has no load in the bed. They are very prone to oversteer due to the fact that they are already suffering from a poor weight distribution. Luckily our JKs don't have this problem, they are basically 50/50 with a full tank of gas. So one step to helping your vehicle handle better is to keep the gas tank full, especially when you expect slippery conditions.

Now, the problem with saying that front wheel drive cars are safer is this: A front wheel drive car will understeer far sooner than a rear wheel drive car will oversteer. This is because, as stated above, on a front wheel drive car you're asking the front tires to do everything. 4WD also suffers from this to some extent. If you ask the front wheels to pull the car along AND turn the car at the same time, you will have less traction available than if you ask the front wheels to turn and the rear wheels to push.

Basically, the practical upshot of all this is that when you drive a FWD/RWD/AWD/4WD too fast for the conditions, some of your tires are going to slide and you'll be out of control. The only thing that changes is which tires are sliding and how you recover.

The other thing that I find myself muttering to people driving too fast in the rain and snow is that while 4WD or AWD can help you to GO, it doesn't help you STOP. You have the same stopping distance (or worse, since you're probably heavier) than anyone else on the road. Slow down!

-E
I can say from personal experience that some rear-wheel-drive cars don't always oversteer or even run neutral in corners. Older rear-drive vehicles, especially V8s, have a modicum of initial understeer built in. This is in an effort to compensate for the nose-heavy aspect of the car, meaning the rear is lighter and more prone to sudden oversteer, especially in the wet.
Old 12-18-2020 | 05:03 AM
  #29  
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With the factory original sra tires, mine always seemed to hydroplane on wet roads when raining if I was above 50 mph or so, hopefully my new set of tires won't do that
Old 12-18-2020 | 05:18 AM
  #30  
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My bf Goodrich MT tires got bad on wet roads after about 35k miles. I put more than 50k on duratracs and they held up better. The siping is important for the wet, which the MT does not have.


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