Living with a front auto locker in a snowy climate

[WallyWest]

The main reason you go straight when trying to turn in snow is you're going too damn fast.

My other Jeep has open diffs all the way around, no lockers, no LSD. I have plowed straight through turns in that too. Slow down, you'll turn, even with a solid front axle that's locked.

I had no issues with 6 inches of snow on the road in my FWD Saturn. And the TJ is no problem either. It's about 50% driving skill in those conditions, and 50% tires. I'd say most TJs are running a decent ATx or similar, so that should do fairly well. It's the standard "all weather" car tires that suck. You might as well be on drag slicks.

 

[toximus]

My other Jeep has open diffs all the way around, no lockers, no LSD. I have plowed straight through turns in that too. Slow down, you'll turn, even with a solid front axle that's locked.

The trick is to peddle down into a turn and dig the front end in to pull through the turn in 4wd. Or in 2wd kick the rear end out and come around the turn. No slowing down needed.

 

[Steel City 06]

In snow and ice, one of the best overlooked items (at least in the East) is tire chains. A 2WD with tire chains accelerates and stops faster on snow and ice than a 4WD car without chains or studded tires. I have chains for both my 2WD pickup and my TJ. On my 2WD, I have to use them even just to complete my daily commute a few times a year.

 

[NWPA Jeepy T]

I've lived in Erie, Pennsylvania right along Lake Erie all my life. Lake effect snow brings us upwards of 100" a winter including 4 feet on the ground at a time. I ran my last TJ open/open for about 10 years before locking the rear. THAT was squirrelly to me in the winter. When I locked the front a few years later, I felt it balanced out. It's not so much driving locked f&r, it's learning how to drive with that much snow on the ground. DMV should require AWD as a minimum in climates like this in the winter. oh yeah, remember, it's the stopping that sucks on those nice, plowed, glossy smooth roads!!!

 

[Camdenst]

I ran an Aussie for years. It’s very predictable in snow with experience. However there is a bit of a learner curve.

 

[Mrgreg66]

Chiming in a bit late, but my TJ is my daily driver with plenty of snow and ice every winter and 50 miles of commute daily. I have a Torq Master auto/ lunchbox locker in the front and while there is a slight learning curve, I am very comfortable driving it in heavy snow in 4hi. There is a tendency for understeer, but if you are used to it and drive accordingly, it is fine and traction is good.

 

[Ron Hockett]

I have Detroit Truetrac on front and rear, 4.88, 4” long arm lift. My Jeep turns in the snow and has never gone straight when I turned the wheel. While they are marketed by Eaton as Detroit Truetrac they are in fact a Torsten Differential. The military has used the for at least 50 years, and they are not going to use anything that doesn’t turn in the snow. I have done off-road recovery in Washington for the past several years and have had no problems navigating in the snow.

 

[Claytone]

I have a freshly installed Grizzly locker in the front of mine and have been playing with it on the snowy streets the past couple of days. It steers and tracks fine on turns. The only thing I notice is that it wants to push the steering wheel back to straight when turned, but not enough to be a problem or an annoyance.

 

[HYRYSC]

it seems that the consensus is that most folks that actually have one are fine with them and the folks that don't have one feel that they are not suitable for wintery climates.

I had one in an XJ that I used to have, never had a problem with it. I have one now in my current TJ (which is my main winter vehicle) and don't expect any issues with it either. It does take a bit of getting used to, but so does driving in the snow and ice with anything.

 

[T Crawford]

I have others that driver my rigs, I’ll only use selectable do to that

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

I never drive 4wd on the streets. The limited slip rear takes care of that. Chains if you really want traction. I can’t see an issue with a front auto locker unless you drive 4H on the road at speed and corners.

 

[Vtx531]

I live in a somewhat snowy area. I used to have powertrax lockrights front and rear - by far the worst vehicle I have ever driven in the snow. You won’t get stuck but you have to go very slowly and carefully or or you will end up in the ditch.

But I think all TJs are like that. Short wheelbase. Light weight. Generally large size tires for the size of the vehicle. No ABS. And importantly, the transfer being locked front driveshaft to rear driveshaft (not talking about the axle diffs) makes it even worse.

The Tj is a terrible vehicle on snowy/icy roads and if you add a front auto locker, it will still be a terrible vehicle on snowy/icy roads. So I guess just go for it and it will suck either way if you have to drive it regularly in winter conditions.

 

[HYRYSC]

I live in a somewhat snowy area. I used to have powertrax lockrights front and rear - by far the worst vehicle I have ever driven in the snow. You won’t get stuck but you have to go very slowly and carefully or or you will end up in the ditch.

But I think all TJs are like that. Short wheelbase. Light weight. Generally large size tires for the size of the vehicle. No ABS. And importantly, the transfer being locked front driveshaft to rear driveshaft (not talking about the axle diffs) makes it even worse.

The Tj is a terrible vehicle on snowy/icy roads and if you add a front auto locker, it will still be a terrible vehicle on snowy/icy roads. So I guess just go for it and it will suck either way if you have to drive it regularly in winter conditions.

Yeah, I agree. Basically it is easy to end up in the ditch, but once you are there, no problem getting out, LOL