I'm not sure if it's just me but when the roads are wet do you feel like you're going to slide if you travel just a little too fast. Coming from driving front wheel vehicles the last 30 years you develop this false sense of security on having the vehicle pull you rather than push from behind.
I'm aware of the "anti slip" button being on but still, it may just be me but what's your take on this and do you come from owning a Jeep before your JK.
Oh one more thing, I switched to 4 wheel drive and sure enough that feeling of sliding goes away, so do you recommend when it rains to switch over....
Thanks

HEK

 

Ive never felt like its going to slide. The ESP works great.

Ive been driving 2 door wrangler for the last 4 years som I might be used to how the handle and Road speeds for curves.

You really have to watch slippery roads, tight curves. Its not a car with low COG. It really handles alot different.

I usually have issues getting into the police cruisers front wheel drive, and low to the ground... it sucks

 

Front wheel Drive cruisers? You guys using the Impala's? We had them 1 year and dept. had so many complaints that they went back to the Crown Vic.

 

Yeah impala's
We had crown vics, we went through tires to fast and the maintance was killing out budget.. I miss them..

 

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

 

Well said.

On the other hand if your off-road and have this problem, give it more gas.

 

I would also not use the 4 wheel drive on roads, even in the rain. The system on the Wranglers is not like the "all wheels drive" systems in other autos. It relies on the wheels slipping in order to not have diffs binding. Read the manual, it states when the 4 wheel drive system should and should not be used......

Just my 2 cents..

Marc
2dr Black Sahara

 

well I thank all those who responded and on one note, I said that "it feels" like your going to slide, but I have not slid or lost control of the JK when on wet roads, I wanted to see if it's all in my head or it's a feeling that all Jeep owners have to get used to if you like myself have not owned a Jeep in the past. I have only once switched to 4 wheel drive when it was raining and the temp got around 31 degrees as I was afraid of driving over black ice.
All your comments make all the sense in the World and will take them in consideration as I get more accustomed to driving my rig......thanks, merci, gracias, arigato......

HEK

 

I agree... I have intentionally tried to make it slide on wet pavement (in a safe location) trying to find the limits of my new vehicle and I have had no trouble whatsoever. Kinda reminds me of the DSC I had on my MINI. My JK seems very surefooted in 2WD to me.

 

mwilkie is right, avoid using 4WD on wet or dry pavement.

When you turn the wheels, the inner and outer wheels spin at the same rate. Since the outer wheels should spin faster to compensate for covering more ground (but they don't in the TJ and JK), you end up with this grinding of the inner rubber on the asphalt. I don't know what the exact risk is of this, but I've been told my a few mechanics that it's ill-advised.