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Snow-crawl on steep incline--LONG

well me and the wife decided to go play in the snow so we climed a local logging road up a nearby mountain, i got 3/4 of the way up doing good no squirelling just a fun drive through 3 inches of snow, im running all-terrain raidials 30X950, then we got to a steep incline and i started spinning, and sliding backwards, let in the cluthh and weeeeeee

2 --360,s and no stopping, so i did what i always do i headed for the ditch,,,as there wasnt any ground on the other side of the road, just a steep, sheer, downward incline, no gardrails up here, once safely in the ditch, i climed up the pasenger seat and got out. after the wife, watching her imediatly land on her butt, i was more carefull, NOT kissed my ass also, HMMMM,,,packed, crust, with a nice powder coating, whooo weeeeee, and a 1/4 mile downward to a level area, , used the high-lift to jack my front and rear over onto the road, (i know Bill, but the bottle jack wasnt going to cut it) opened the passenger door and leaned on it to get in, and the dam jeep started sliding down the road, luckily back into the ditch, and only 10 feet, thanking god for an inward crown i decided to try and drive the ditch, so down i went, (later by the way i saw i was over sideways enough for my power-steering fluid to leak out of my tank,) i got pritty far down and hit a culvert, crap, after digging some and backing and running hard i bounced up over, getting out after ditchin it again, i looked at my front, i now was sporting a bent leaf-spring on the drivers side, GRRRRRRRERRR drove quite a ways down the side close to te ditch, and then once again started to slide, again ditched it, and into another culvert, this time a flat tire, and the high-lift wasnt going to get me out, i was almost on my side, it was starting to warm up some, and another rig was comming up the road, he stopped laughed at me and helped pul me out, got around a hair-pin corner that was sporting a pluming van off the edge and into the sun, good road, and down we went flat and all 5 miles an hour, stopped at the bottom and changed the tire, slow drive home, , temp-cure for my bent spring, 2X6 jamed between bumper and garage cieling, bottle-jack (it does have its uses) under bent leaf jacked like hell, bent it up past straight, sat and smoked a cig, and swore alot, releved tension, now almost straight but definatly crap, , i was told by a friend that i would have gotten better traction if i had aired-down my tires, to 5-10 pounds, is this true on packed slick snow on a very steep incline?? i grew up in maine and was always told thin and narrow was better in snow, i dont even think chains would have helped me, , i got lucky, and i know it, i could ov had a short ride, straight down, im done with my mountain driving for this year, , johnP-almost in my pants,
Reply to
scopenutt
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Wow, another one who thinks 4x4 makes him invincible!

I am glad to hear you are still alive.

You were asking about 4x4 driving? Well, that was 'not' how you do it....

When you cannot walk on the trail, you cannot head up the side of a mountain on it, that's for sure!

We were out for 5 days over New Years and the trails went glass ice. We stayed at camp the whole trip!

One person, (read half idiot) 'had' to leave for work and he had to ride a snow bank for 10 km to get to a passable road. If the snow bank hadn't of been there, he would have 'had' to wait like the rest of us. As it was we were expecting them to come walking back looking for a winch out.

Chains are about the only thing that might have helped you, but watch it, Darwin has your number.... ;-)

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Hey Mike, the lower elevation was fine, it was the last streach that got me, and the area i was in was out of the sun, what little there was, and yes your right, DUMB on my part, it was all good,, till it went bad,,grin, and i wont be going up again till spring, gettin too old for the snow, , and yup, im half an idiot too, but a lucky half, and i know it, and i dont like looking darwin in the eyes, hes got a realy big smirk that bothers me. ,

, johnp

Reply to
scopenutt

Reply to
FrankW

OH ya, were havin fun,,,,grin,,,

Reply to
scopenutt

LOL!

That almost sounds like you needed a winch to get out of there. Hook it around a tree or boulder and slowly let yourself down.

If we hadn't of been on an active logging road so the road crew actually came alone with sand, we would have had a 'long' trip out. At least the vertical drop was low...

Mike

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Ha, im workin on convincing the wife on a winch, she says ive got a wench, so whats the big deal, , i asked her to remember i TOLD her to walk/slide down the slope, after me and the jeep, johnp

Reply to
scopenutt

This was your first mistake. Thankfully, it wasn't your last.

WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE Assuming you were insistant on climbing the hill ...

Once forward progress stopped, you should have held your position on the hill. This might even mean stopping the engine, but it certainly means stopping your vehicle long enough to regain FULL control. While stopped, you should have selected 4LO and Reverse. Then, you should have backed down the hill IN GEAR, letting the engine have the main control of your decent, and using your brakes just enough to keep things going in the right direction. You should NEVER roll down a hill with the clutch pedal depressed and attempt to control your speed with your brakes alone, ESPECIALLY if going backwards.

Of course it's true. You will always get better traction with low air pressure.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

maybe i worded it wrong, once i lost forward momentium, i had already started to go backwards i was in 4 low, there was no regaining my grip, i was in a backward, slide, and then a slow, sideways, slide, i hit, softly,,, the brake and in the slow spin around, when facing down let off the brake, and slid-steered into the ditch, there was zero-grip, , at this point even at a dead stop the weight of the jeep was making it slide, , the ditch was the only option, , as i addmitted, too far up, without knowing what was under me, i assumed wrong that the incline was as the previous road, good gripping, NOT,,,suprise,,,,,, , johnp

Reply to
scopenutt

Ever driven up a hill covered with wet, packed snow, Jeff? I was riding a trail recently on such conditions with about 7 jeeps ahead of me. Once I got to the hill, the snow had packed considerably and was fairly slick, but not terribly steep, I had enough traction to inch up the hill. But when I had to stop just shy of the top, I could feel myself slowly inching down, even with my foot on the brake. (And no, Bill or Mike, the ABS was not activating.) It was sliding just about half a foot per second, so I had enough time to radio to the fellow behind me to get out of the way. I couldn't get enough traction to get back up at that point, so my only choice was to slide all the way back down and have another go. Spinning the wheels just makes a situation like that worse...the tires melt a layer of snow and so now you have a water-slicked layer of snow that won't give any traction at all.

Assuming there is any traction to be had, and on a snow-packed slick incline ther is almost zero. if the snow isn't too deep, taller and narrow tires will work better, especially on the street, but for really deep stuff, if it's firm enough you *can* float on top, or at least not sink all the way to your frame. However, spin your tires once and you literally get that sinking feeling...the jeep just drops and there you are, with your jeep doing an impersonation of an igloo.

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

Actually, I can't remember, but it didn't matter...all four wheels weren't moving so as far as the ABS knew I was parked.

activating.) It

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

I'm usually the one pulling the H2 out of the ditch.

activating.) It

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

Man I hate that feeling. Going backward with no hope of stopping the thing no matter what. I just get it in gear and hope for the best sometimes....

I have had a looong walk because of that kind of ice base.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Matt Macchiarolo wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

But I didn't release the brakes and I wasn't going more than 1/6 mile per hour.

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

Naw Bill, no panic needed, sometimes it just 'won't' stop....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

"L.W.(ßill) Hughes III" wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

You weren't there, Bill, so you don't know.

There were ruts on either side of the tires so steering control was moot. I was sliding down backward very slowly. I said in the previous post, about

1/6th mile per hour, but after crunching the numbers it was more like 1/150th mile per hour, or abouy 6 inches per second. The locked tires had some adhesion...had I released the brakes like you insist I should have I would have gone down the hill much faster and possibly lost control. I had ample time to get on the radio and tell the driver at the bottom of the hill to move in case I slid all the way down, which in fact I did not. But I did have to back down the rest of the way to get another go up the hill, a little faster this time.

So your "what if's" are irrelevent to the event I described. Yet again.

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

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