Totenkopf

The Brute has a longer wheelbase than a JK Unlimited, and that Brute also had a Hemi.

Widewing

I'm wondering why the Brute was bogging down in about 18" of snow... They were making bullrush runs rather than simply driving thru the stuff. Power loss due to altitude? Naw, not high enough to be a major factor.

I wonder because we convoyed several Jeeps over 7 miles of trails covered in 2 feet of virgin snow. Lead vehicle was a damn near stock JK X model.


My regards,

Widewing

Littlejon

It was about 3' of snow. It was enough to completely bury a 38" tire at 1 psi.

Totenkopf

They're from Montana.

Widewing

3' of snow??!!

Ah, no.

Is this three feet of snow?



How about this?



Could this be three feet deep?



We can clearly see that this is not 3 feet deep...




I deliberately selected stills from the video that showed the worst of the snow conditions.

Depth varied from 12" to a maximum of 18" in these shots. Deep? Yes. Extremely so? No. We had much deeper snow out in the pine barrens this past winter.

Also... 1 psi???

I don't think anyone would run tires virtually flat. They aired down, but not to such a ridiculous pressure...

Indeed, in snow at the depths shown, airing down is probably not going to help you. Traction is often less of an issue than rolling resistance. The smaller the contact patch, the greater the bite. Narrower tires push through much easier. Airing down decreases ground pressure, and increases rolling resistance. If the snow was 3' deep, then airing down to get on top may be a viable solution. At 12" to 18", I think it was counter-productive.


Basically, these gentlemen did not expect heavy snow and they had the wrong tires, and perhaps the wrong technique for driving in it. 1st gear in low range... No momentum. You need momentum, not unlike driving in deep sand.


My regards,

Widewing

Littlejon

With the snow they weren't hitting the bottom of the snow pack, so you are not seeing how deep the snow really is until the Brute slides off the trail, and with a double beadlock Hutchinson you can run 0 psi if you want without having to worry about losing a bead.

I am just going off of what Dave Harrington and Scott Brady have said since they were there, and know what it was really like.

ClownPoop

I've driven through deeper snow in downtown Denver

Widewing

Yeah, Harrington and Brady were there. So was the camera crew. Believe me, if there was three feet of snow, we would have seen it on the show. With all of the exaggeration of the danger, they would not have passed up that opportunity.

Beadlockers are great, no question. Yet, the fact that you can drive with zero pressure in the tire is irrelevant. Why on God's earth would you air down that low? Especially when you want minimal rolling resistance and maximum ground pressure.

As to the depth of the snow, below is a shot of the Brute stuffed into the ditch. I don't see anything deeper than maybe a foot on the road. Not only that, but take notice that something has already driven down the road ahead of the Brute. What was that something? It appears that the Brute wasn't breaking trail when it side-stepped off of the road.




My regards,

Widewing

HG07JKRubi

watched it again last night...Love that Brute !!!

Bennyhana

You have to remember that they drove conservativly through the snow because at any moment they could die and they would be dead..