Close Call!

I lived in the snowy area of WV for 11 years. The road up to my house from the highway was as you described. Going up was not too bad in my old '90 XJ, but coming down, now THAT was a lesson in nerves. I learned to shift the transmission to neutral, before going down hill, and when I wanted to come to a stop. In Drive, the engine actually pushes you to the point of breaking traction in a steep downhill like that. I went down that hill backwards a time or two. NOT on purpose. Ruined my drawers too.

You should be able to shift on into low range by moving the lever to the side then pulling on back. It's not a straight pull into 4Lo. I always did mine stopped and in neutral.

The compound in your tires has everything to do with traction. Soft tires (low durometer) with lots of little "edges" in the tread will do better in snow than the big mud type tires, or tires with a harder, (high durometer) high mileage sort of compound. That may or may not be your case.

On ice, you could have twelve-wheel-drive, and still slide out of control. Slow and deliberate is the key.

Good luck,

Spdloader

This could be anything, but there are a few things for you to check out. Do you have the proper pressure in your tires? Are they snow, mud and snow, all terrain tires? How fast did your foot hit that brake? If you lock up the wheels, you will slide on any surface, especially snow, especially wet spring snow.

I just got back from Durango in a blinding spring blizzard. Visibility was about ten feet on top of Molas Pass. I have a Jeep, but I took the Suburban of course. I had it in first, from the top of the Pass to my home in Silverton. Being conservative is how I got to be fifty-five years old. Damn! I forgot all about low range, until I read your post. The Suburban is heavier than the Jeep too, and presses down harder on the road, giving more traction. It will go through big snow banks, but don't drive it fast on slick roads. Maybe that is how the Chevy pickup did better than you.

If you had the range shifter in the right slot, chances are good that you were actually in 4 lo. I am not sure whether there is a separate light for it. Maybe it shares the light with 4 PartTime. If you have an owner's manual you should look in it to make sure.

The worst road surface I have driven on, was a Virginia road in spring, covered with ice, with rain water on top of that. Nasty!

Earle

embarrassed,

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Stimpy proclaimed:

Rule Number One: Four wheel drive is not four wheel stop.

And it cannot make up for poor choice of tire. Or lack of driver experience.

With few exceptions, NEVER try to use 4 wheel low on ice and snow. I honestly can't think of any exceptions unless you really need the extra pulling power and are using chains on all four wheels. In general, the highest gear that keeps your vehicle moving is the best gear on slippery.

Downhill NEVER downshift. Pretend there is an egg between your foot and the brake pedal. Use the steering wheel with extreme caution. Keep the wheels turning at all times, particularly if you are trying to turn. That means to avoid a sliding wheel at all costs.

I noticed when it was in N it slid less but I wanted compression too much to chance it. (Same thing in our lumber delivery truck, backing down a steep gravel driveway with a 26,000 lb truck, the engine pulls you and the front tires slide. Put it in N and it works better).

Actually I wasn't going fast enough to gear down and my foot was never on the gas...:-) on 95 percent of the 3/4 mile trip I was going slower than walking, with my hand on the parking brake. I would let off the brakes whenever I wanted to stop sliding but the road was too steep to just go for it without using my brakes sometime down the road. ...

: > OK did I do something wrong? did I do right? I have had pretty good : > experience in snow (fresh snow, I love it) How do I get it in 4LO? (I have : > the 4PartTime, 4 FullTime, N, 4LO with automatic tranny) I got it in the : > right slot but the light on the dash said "4 PartTime" (I was in 4 FullTime : > before trying to get it in 4LO. : : Rule Number One: Four wheel drive is not four wheel stop. : : And it cannot make up for poor choice of tire. Or lack of driver : experience. : : With few exceptions, NEVER try to use 4 wheel low on ice and snow. I : honestly can't think of any exceptions unless you really need the extra : pulling power and are using chains on all four wheels. In general, the : highest gear that keeps your vehicle moving is the best gear on slippery. : : Downhill NEVER downshift. Pretend there is an egg between your foot and : the brake pedal. Use the steering wheel with extreme caution. Keep : the wheels turning at all times, particularly if you are trying to turn. : That means to avoid a sliding wheel at all costs.

add to that always pump your brakes instead of using steady pressure.

Buy some snow tires. In conditions like those you are talking about, full time four wheel drive might actually be better than part time. There will be less tendency to skid anyway, and each wheel will have a chance to grab the road.

Earle

When I was in Maui, I rented a 6 cyl Jeep. I got to the edge on some loose stuff and tried to stop, and it kept pushing. A quick bump into neutral stopped the plunge before it happened...

In other words, you were going too fast and didn't spill the speed off. Best thing on slippery snot is brakes. Well taken care of brakes that apply very evenly and smoothly without even the slightest grabbing. That, and simply starting out slow enough that you can apply light braking continuously without wheel slide. The parking brake is another way to bend metal, leave it alone--there is no way you can apply it smoothly and if the rear wheels break loose they tend to head for low spots.

Ayup, driving stick shifts in areas where icy bridges, shaded corners, etc. exist, I'd always keep a foot right on the clutch ready to de-clutch immediately try to get a wheel to start gaining a few micro-ounces of traction.

philthy proclaimed:

If you were in 4low the light on the dash should read part time... I was always taught that if you are in neutral you are out of control... Isn't the best way down supposed to be with engine compression, no brakes and no clutch??

If you don't have traction, neutral will keep the vehicle from "pushing", or breaking traction, and, the slower you go the better.

..using 4Lo works great when you have traction, but once you loose traction, you need to get it back under control. Neutral helps in that situation.

Spdloader

Well....

The owners manual in 'both' of my Jeeps plainly states to 'stay off the brakes and to use the gears' in slippery situations.

I ice and snow drive off road all the time and have found that surprisingly the owners manual is correct. If you use the brakes, you will fast lose control and if you use neutral, you are 'out' of control.

In the above case, I would be using 4 low in 2nd or more likely 3rd gear. I have a 5 speed. If I couldn't hold control, then I would be taking a 'serious' look at my tires. You were in low by the sound of it. The 'part time' light means that.

What are you running for rubber?

Summer or 'all season' tires have no place on a mountain ravine trail on ice unless you have chains on. Period. Been there, done that, got the crap scared out of me when I had to do the 'exact' same thing as you on a logging trail near Tahsis on Vancouver Island. If I used the brakes, the front wheels locked and I slid to the cliff edge so I had to use the emergency brake and low and neutral. I also had my wife and kid out watching. I had half worn all season tires on a Chevy 2 WD pickup then.

I think you have just reached the limit of the equipment, not that you really did anything wrong. You tried it all by the sounds of it... I sure never tried anything that steep in my Chevy again....

Glad to hear you got out of it in one piece.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

You can count on one brake locking up before the others, making control on a slippery surface more, um, challenging. The OP was doubly hampered by his auto tranny that wouldn't hold him back the way a standard would have.

And, of course, all bets are off when on an icy incline.

Mike Roma> Well....

When in 4x4 'part time' you have the dubious pleasure of locking up all

4 wheels when the fronts lock.... Instant sideways slide or how to find the 'low side' without lockers.... Hense the need to stay off the brakes.

Mike

Lee Ayrt>