Who's ready for the snow???

[jeepin82]

I think this would be a nice suggestive thread to help people get their automobile's ready for winter/snow

[jeepin82]

Ill start It off with...check you antifreeze Ohio winters can bring 10+ below Zero with the wind chill make sure your cars antifreeze Is up to par.

[Codyinc]

I'd say check your tires, don't want those to go and make sure you have thread! Snow here can get horrible.

[rnemovr]

like i say in every winter thread. those with 4wd remember you have extra to get you going but same 4 as everyone else stopping

[rjrivero]

Anti-Freeze is the number one thing to get in order. Make sure the Specific gravity is correct.

Make sure you freshen your oil for the cold weather starts and check your battery. You don't want to change the battery in the cold.

If you've been lazy and used water for your windshield washer, you need to flush that and get it loaded up with the real stuff!!

[jspeer1130]

put goodyear duratracs on the jeep about a month ago as the previous tires didnt't have much tread left. Put the original soft top back on, and put the bestop trektop back into storage carefully under the bed. Checked air in all tires yesterday.

Plan to get the oil changed within the next month, will then check all fluids and flush/fill as neccessary.

Also plan on cleaning it out from top to bottom and putting another good coat of wax on before the weather turns real cold.

[jspeer1130]

Also plan on figuring out how to use the 4 wheel drive as I haven't had the jeep in the winter months yet.

[next633]

Well averages being averages I'm thinking because it was so dry this summer we'll have to get above average snow fall to even it out this year. that said I've got a shovel and sand bags thrown in the back of the truck. I always have snatch straps and a come-along just in case.

[rivalarrival]

Originally Posted by rnemovr

like i say in every winter thread. those with 4wd remember you have extra to get you going but same 4 as everyone else stopping

This is actually not true. It seems like it would be, but it's not, and I'll explain why.

In virtually all vehicles, the front brakes are much more powerful than the rears. This is because when stopping, all vehicles tend to "nose dive" to some extent or another, putting less weight and less traction on the rear tires and far more on the front. To keep them from locking up every time you step on the brakes, the rears are designed to be MUCH less powerful than the front brakes. You can see this especially on cars with 4-wheel disk brakes - the rear pads are TINY compared to the fronts. I've seen some that were about the size of a large postage stamp!

When braking lightly, the rear brakes may not engage at all, contributing nothing to the total braking power. In very low traction environments, it is entirely possible to lockup the front tires while the rear brakes are barely engaged. You can see this in RWD vehicles especially - I see trucks every winter, stopped at a light, but with a rear wheel slowly spinning on the ice.

Read that again: 2wd vehicles in ice MAY NOT have effective 4-wheel braking.



In a *part-time 4wd* vehicle (NOT full-time; NOT AWD), the front and rear driveshafts are locked together. They cannot spin separately. The front brakes on a 4wd vehicle apply equal braking force to all 4 wheels, through the driveshafts.

I can prove it: Put a vehicle in part-time 4wd on a lift, get all 4 wheels spinning, and apply only the front brakes. All 4 wheels will stop. The rear wheels cannot spin independently of the front.

The same is NOT true of AWD and full-time 4wd - these modes allow the front and rear driveshafts to spin at different rates, so braking force is not transferred through the drivetrain.

So, everyone, operate your vehicles prudently, and you 2wd guys, make sure your rear brakes - especially drum brakes - are adjusted so you can get as close to slow-speed 4-wheel braking as possible. You RWD guys with automatic transmissions, you can greatly increase your braking power by slipping into neutral so your front wheel traction doesn't have to brake both the vehicle and the torque converter.

[rnemovr]

Originally Posted by rivalarrival

This is actually not true. It seems like it would be, but it's not, and I'll explain why.

In virtually all vehicles, the front brakes are much more powerful than the rears. This is because when stopping, all vehicles tend to "nose dive" to some extent or another, putting less weight and less traction on the rear tires and far more on the front. To keep them from locking up every time you step on the brakes, the rears are designed to be MUCH less powerful than the front brakes. You can see this especially on cars with 4-wheel disk brakes - the rear pads are TINY compared to the fronts. I've seen some that were about the size of a large postage stamp!

When braking lightly, the rear brakes may not engage at all, contributing nothing to the total braking power. In very low traction environments, it is entirely possible to lockup the front tires while the rear brakes are barely engaged. You can see this in RWD vehicles especially - I see trucks every winter, stopped at a light, but with a rear wheel slowly spinning on the ice.

Read that again: 2wd vehicles in ice MAY NOT have effective 4-wheel braking.



In a *part-time 4wd* vehicle (NOT full-time; NOT AWD), the front and rear driveshafts are locked together. They cannot spin separately. The front brakes on a 4wd vehicle apply equal braking force to all 4 wheels, through the driveshafts.

I can prove it: Put a vehicle in part-time 4wd on a lift, get all 4 wheels spinning, and apply only the front brakes. All 4 wheels will stop. The rear wheels cannot spin independently of the front.

The same is NOT true of AWD and full-time 4wd - these modes allow the front and rear driveshafts to spin at different rates, so braking force is not transferred through the drivetrain.

So, everyone, operate your vehicles prudently, and you 2wd guys, make sure your rear brakes - especially drum brakes - are adjusted so you can get as close to slow-speed 4-wheel braking as possible. You RWD guys with automatic transmissions, you can greatly increase your braking power by slipping into neutral so your front wheel traction doesn't have to brake both the vehicle and the torque converter.

the amount of force was not what i was talking about. my old sunfire stopped better than my jeep could ever dream of. i was talking in means of traction. ive seen more 4wd in the ditch than anything cause they try to drive normal highway speeds when there is snow on the ground.