Why is my XJ not nearly as good in the snow as my Wrangler?

I'm really disappointed with the winter performance of my '98 Cherokee. It seems like I'm always skidding, sliding, or just on the brink of disaster whenever I drive that thing when the snow is falling. I haven't had any accidents yet, mind you, but I don't feel too confident with its capabilities.

My other car is a '95 Wrangler with a four-cylinder engine and five-speed transmission. It's lifted five inches, has 33-inch tires, and will go almost anywhere. I never expected to feel so safe when driving a vehicle. I've had nary a problem over the past few winters, both on- and off-road. It's unbelievable how well it handles in the snow.

Now, I know what you're thinking, but the Cherokee is outfitted fairly well with two inches of lift and 31-inch Dunlop Mud Rovers. For all practical purposes, the XJ is just a slightly larger version of my YJ, only with an automatic tranny and two more cylinders. I've been trying to determine what makes these two Jeeps behave so differently...

Wheelbase. Can eight inches make that much of a deal?

Weight distribution?

The XJ has more power, which probably isn't helping things. I'm used to having no power with the Wrangler, but I still don't think I'm heavy on the gas. Not at all, actually.

With the Wrangler, I have a better feel for what the tires are doing because it's a stick. That might be my biggest hang-up with the Cherokee: not really knowing if my tires are slipping unless it's blatantly obvious. Maybe I've gotten so accustomed to driving a manual in snow that I'm having a hard time learning how to deal with an auto. Much to my frustration, I need to be in 4WD to get up some hills the Wrangler could do without incident in 2WD.

It just bugs me how everybody and their grandmother can get into their four-wheel-drive, pretend like they're in a car, and just go. With my XJ, 2WD performance simply isn't there, and 4WD isn't terribly impressive, either.

What type of tires do you have on the wrangler? I have a LWB MJ, it's @ 120" WB, it handles just fine in the snow, and I don't have any weight in the bed. My guess is that the mud tires you have on the XJ just suck in the snow.

87manche said:

What type of tires do you have on the wrangler? I have a LWB MJ, it's @ 120" WB, it handles just fine in the snow, and I don't have any weight in the bed. My guess is that the mud tires you have on the XJ just suck in the snow.

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Beat me to it. I've seen one brand of MT's perform good in snow and another brand not work any better than street tires.

it could be a number of things. i would first suspect tires. i presume the tires are different on the two vehicles. (maybe) try running the same tread pattern on both vehicles. next i would suspect weight distrobution. try putting some sandbags in the rear of the xj. i went to lowes (can also do almost any home improvement store) and got some "tube sand." they are long 60 lb bags of sand that stay closed pritty good. other considerations are use of the skinny peddle, varying road conditions (ice, sanded/salted etc).

i would try the weight in the back first. i put 4 60lb bags in the back layered on the floor and it drasticaly helps with traction, not to mention if you get stuck on some ice, you can cut a bag open and use as a traction aid.

hth
stewie

The Wrangler has Sidewinder MTs. This is the first set that I've owned and they're great off-road. My buddy has had about three sets on his YJ and only switched to another brand when he found out the Sidewinders weren't being made anymore. He hates his Kumho RV MTs by comparison.

Stewie, I'll try the sand. I've got a fully-welded steel tire carrier, 33-inch mounted rim, and gas can on the back of the Wrangler. Even so, I thought the roof on the Cherokee was worth some weight.

Here's a close-up of both tires:

iroc86. I really find it odd that you would have problems in snow. I run cheapie 31x10.50 Dayton At's for street use and delibritely go out and play in deep snow. I climb parking lot snow banks as well and mess in my back 40 on soft soil with no problems. While they are not nearly as aggressive as my Super Swamper TSL's, the snow just doesn't stop me.

P.S. I do not add any weight other than the custom front and rear bumpers.

iroc86 said:

The Wrangler has Sidewinder MTs. This is the first set that I've owned and they're great off-road. My buddy has had about three sets on his YJ and only switched to another brand when he found out the Sidewinders weren't being made anymore. He hates his Kumho RV MTs by comparison.

Stewie, I'll try the sand. I've got a fully-welded steel tire carrier, 33-inch mounted rim, and gas can on the back of the Wrangler. Even so, I thought the roof on the Cherokee was worth some weight.

Here's a close-up of both tires:

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The larger lugs on the XJ's tires will make a huge difference in snow and ice while the smaller lugs on the Wrangler will help cut through snow and ice etc. Have the tires siped on both vehicles and you will see a HUGE difference in both.. I run 33x12.5 Super Swamper SSR's 95 XJ They do great in the snow.
No doubt in my mind that siping makes a difference..

Hope that helps

i have both a wrangler and Xj and have the same tires on both. i found that it's not so much that the XJ's are horrible in the snow, but they're way to light in the back.

put some weight back their like somebody already mentioned. 4-6 60lb sandbags will definitely work. i always keep some around here for that.

The Dunlop Mud Rovers suck in the snow. I'm not knocking their off-road performance in the dirt and mud (they seem ok for a cheap tire) but they don't do well in the snow at all.

One of the keys to a good snow tire is having lots of edges to grab on the slick stuff. Looking at your picture, it's easy to see that the Sidewinders have more biting edges than the Dunlops. Something like the BFG A/T makes a good snow tire because of all the biting edges. A good self cleaning mud tire, like Swampers, aren't always the best for snow because they only have a few large biting edges rather than lots of little ones.

zthang43 said:

The Dunlop Mud Rovers suck in the snow. I'm not knocking their off-road performance in the dirt and mud (they seem ok for a cheap tire) but they don't do well in the snow at all.

One of the keys to a good snow tire is having lots of edges to grab on the slick stuff. Looking at your picture, it's easy to see that the Sidewinders have more biting edges than the Dunlops. Something like the BFG A/T makes a good snow tire because of all the biting edges. A good self cleaning mud tire, like Swampers, aren't always the best for snow because they only have a few large biting edges rather than lots of little ones.

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this guy knows his stuff. if im not mistaken (correct me if i'm wrong) but the way snow tires work, is that they have lots of small voids. The snow packs into these voids, and when driving, from the weight of the vehicle, sticks to snow/ice already on the ground, and helps provide traction. I heard or read that somewhere on a description of a snow tire. not sure if its correct, but it makes sense to me. This explains why all MTs suck in the snow compared with ATs, snow tires, etc on the street, unless, however, you are in really deep stuff, then the large voids might help just like in mud. Alternatively, you could switch to studded or studable tires like firestone destination MTs or dayton timberline mts and drive in the ice like you're on rails. Im kidding, not as good as rails, but still good.

for what its worth, my 99 xj handles great in the snow, from when it was stock last year, to when it has 3.5" lift, 31s, bumpers, sliders, etc. And my tires arent studded.

you are correct, that's why siping a tire helps so much in snow

I have the opposite, the TJ with it's good year wranglers absolutely bites in the snow compared to my XJ. Though the XJ is a bit squirrely with the auburn back there. Does well in 2wd but I need to be careful and not power around corners or it snowplows STRAIGHT no matter which way I turn the wheels.

My g/f has sidewinder mt's 33x12.50 on her tj and they are freaking awesome. I have bfg at's 33x12.50 on my xj and they are awesoem too. I think it all depends on the tires and the driver.

An open lug is not a good snow tire. a tighter pattern like bfg at allows for the tread to pack with snow causing a sort of bond between the snow in the treads with the snow on the road

You do need to add weight in the back

mud tires are no good in snow bottom line

depends on the pattern. I have seen pretty aggressive tires kick ass in the snow

Ive driven both a 95 yj 2.5 5-sp and a 98 xj 4.0 aw-4.... The xj is more stable in the snow due to its wheelbase. The yj being short made it want to come around way tooo fast. Except for that they handle snow equally as well IMHO.

While yes...it could be the tires...it was also stated that the yj was only a 4 banger...big difference in power yes??

dont TJs stock weigh a good 500 pounds more than XJs dont they?
my bro's XJ with a 242 kicked supreme ass when all the roads iced over here last year... he could slam the gas and itd take off but that was ice