Breakin' in the new Rubicon

After seeing it mentioned the Jeep magazine that Chrysler puts out, I decided to take my month-old Rubicon up to Spruce Knob, a mountain top over the border in West Virginia. Surprise, surprise -- at 4800 feet, there's snow up there! :)

All in all, kinda fun, but the there was one section where the forest road turns into something of a shelf road and twists around on a north-facing side of the mountain. There the snow had transformed into a sheet of ice and, worse, the grade of the road was noticeably towards "the edge". Didn't think much of it on the way up - the TJ climbed up without a problem - but the trip down was a bit.exciting. Even with the wheels turned all the way to the left (inside), with a little bit of gas the Rubi would start sliding towards the right (edge). I had to ask my Navigator (wife) to leave the vehicle for a bit as I found her repeated shrieks more unnerving than the ice (She followed behind on foot). Eventually I put the left wheels into the drainage ditch on the inside of the road - it had enough built up snow to give us some traction.

What a great way to start the New Year! :)

Reply to
Laeglin
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Reply to
twaldron

When you started the downhill portion, that's when you should have turned the lockers off. Having your axles locked in those conditions is a guaranteed slide towards the low-side of the trail. Whenever you start sliding sideways down a slope, turn the lockers off! The lockers don't allow one tire to not spin which serves as a sideways "anchor". This is why lockers have earned the infamous nickname "low-side finders". :)

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Bransford

Next time in your off road check list for winter opps make sure you have a set of chains believe it is well worth it and your wife will not have to sound like a siren. Besides mud is one thing but dents are another.

Reply to
HarryS

Any pictures?

Larry Greenwood

Reply to
Larry Greenwood

Still walking?

Reply to
Jay Stuler

I'm so glad you asked. No pictures of the ice section were we had the fun (I was busy), but I got a picture on the way up of the bottom of it. You can see the ditch on the inside we used at the top to get some traction. Not exactly a tumble to our deaths if we went off (even at the steepest spot the trees probably would have stopped us)...just a long walk down the mountain.

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No snow on the top... lots of sun up there.
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But the road going up/down was lots of fun...
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Reply to
Laeglin

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