Off Camber 4 wheelin Help

check your email

K.

I had the whole family in the TJ. The grade was going down a hill perhaps 20 degree but also with a 15 degree off camber angle on the shelf/side of a mountain perhaps 200 feet up, this section is maybe only 40 foot long. The ground was fine graded dust but with alot of small rock and some larger rock say 4" to 6" diameter.

I was able to go down down the grade no problem (heck any 4 wheel vehicle could have, or even high clearance 2wd.), upon coming back up (the road ended into a foot trail, so I turned around), I was unable to make this grade without sliding slowly but surely to the cliff side. It was sliding so much, that I made the kids and wife get out in case I moved off the shelf and rolled the jeep to my death.

Bear in mind this trail was just perhaps 2 foot wider than my TJ, so any mistake was ass pucker time and you go rolling down a mountain.

Everytime I tried to move forward (I'm talking a foot of movement or less), it would slide closer and closer to the side of falling off. I backed up a few times, and was able to place it more squarely in the center of the track. Everytime I tried to engage forward the rear would slide down and the front would ride up. Any type of steering adjustment to ride the off camber higher was nearly impossible, and each try pushed more closer to the edge.

I tried my rear lockers as well, and I think that made it worse because it would dig in. I was finally able to make it past this small piece of trail after a 8 tries or so.

Does anyone have any pointers on this scenario? Is that just the way it is? Thank you for your help!

email rejected.. that's not gonna work :)

K.

I had the whole family in the TJ. The grade was going down a hill perhaps 20 degree but also with a 15 degree off camber angle on the shelf/side of a mountain perhaps 200 feet up, this section is maybe only 40 foot long. The ground was fine graded dust but with alot of small rock and some larger rock say 4" to 6" diameter.

I was able to go down down the grade no problem (heck any 4 wheel vehicle could have, or even high clearance 2wd.), upon coming back up (the road ended into a foot trail, so I turned around), I was unable to make this grade without sliding slowly but surely to the cliff side. It was sliding so much, that I made the kids and wife get out in case I moved off the shelf and rolled the jeep to my death.

Bear in mind this trail was just perhaps 2 foot wider than my TJ, so any mistake was ass pucker time and you go rolling down a mountain.

Everytime I tried to move forward (I'm talking a foot of movement or less), it would slide closer and closer to the side of falling off. I backed up a few times, and was able to place it more squarely in the center of the track. Everytime I tried to engage forward the rear would slide down and the front would ride up. Any type of steering adjustment to ride the off camber higher was nearly impossible, and each try pushed more closer to the edge.

I tried my rear lockers as well, and I think that made it worse because it would dig in. I was finally able to make it past this small piece of trail after a 8 tries or so.

Does anyone have any pointers on this scenario? Is that just the way it is? Thank you for your help!

Lockers are 'not' fondly called 'Low Side Finders' and can make trails like that totally impassable. Do yours totally release to an open differential?

Up here in Canada in the winter, the folks with lockers cannot run on a lot of the trails because they are just 'slightly' off camber. We get tired of dragging them out of the ditches fast....

I got stuck on the side of a mountain the same way as you and also had to let the family out for fear of death. I was in a 2 WD pickup with a posi in the back that locked at the blink of an eye or twitch of the gas pedal. I didn't have enough power or torque converter grab to go forward at an idle in the automatic so had to give it gas. Any gas and the rear wheels spun and sideways we went. Then I had to back down......

That experience was one of the big reasons my wife decided we needed a real 4x4 so she bought the CJ7 with it's open diffs and 4x4.

The only way I can think of to overcome that slick off camber ball bearing rock is to use 4 low 1st gear and let it idle along.

A TJ 'will' hold an idle up the side of a 45+ deg ravine wall with absolutely no input on the gas pedal or spinning of the tires. The computer keeps it going. I have photos of folks with TJ's 'walking' them up the sand pit wall and have ridden with them up the ravine wall using no gas pedal. I mean literally they are outside walking and steering through the window. Now if you have an automatic, all bets are off.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > Last week went wheelin in the sierra's on a trail that looked like it

Four low "L" with an automatic should be all right. Auto Jeeps are typically geared higher but the torque converter gives you some slack. You may have to sit in it and give it some gas where it would have idled up the hill in four low first gear standard shift. It shouldn't shift up at very low speeds like, say 5 mph. If it does then there are shift kits to prevent this. I prefer a manual shift myself. The main purpose of automatic transmissions is to convert mechanical energy into heat, but many people find them useful, even off road.

I am curious as to what "nawt2smart" means by "engage forward". Does he have front lockers independently controlled from the driver's seat? Front wheels locked together basically negates the effect of steering. Rear lockers too but not so bad.

Earle

** Posted from **

Ummm, so how did you get out of there?