Is it normal for my 2001 jeep wrangler to handle so poorly on ice and snow covered roads?

Question

I love my 2001 jeep wrangler. It has a 4-inch rough country lift kit with 33" bfg all-terrain tires. I drive @ 18 miles to work everyday on country roads and in the winter, its hard to even keep my jeep on the road even when I have it locked in. In the summer it is a little squirly, but to bad. It has been aligned. Is this normal? Is there something that could be wrong?

Thanks

Answer 1

My dad has a Jeep Wrangler sport and it is great where we live in virginia in the mountains in virginia we get all types of weather we get snow,ice,rain,and the sun can be shining! It is your lift and your tires. When u put a lift kit on your vehicle u raise its center of gravity whitc makes it top heavy which is why it is hard to keep it on the road And no offense but those cheap BFGoodrench tires dont help my dad buys 3 types of tires Pirelli,Bridgestone and Michelin Bridgestone is on our ford explorer Pirelli tires are on our Jeep and honda accord and Michelins are on our Suburban. My dad has Pirelli Scorpion ATR tires on his jeep and has had 3 sets of them and they perform very very well in the snow,and even on small ice sheets he drives 28 miles rain snow ice or shine and he gets there in 2-wheel-drive and 4-wheel-drive!!

So go get your lift taken off and get u some Pirelli tires and u will get there safely and on the road  

Answer 2

Well if it makes you feel any better (probably not) my 2001 Sport hates bad winter roads just as much as I do. Granted I'm just basic and on the regular tires and need new ones.

I also have issue with it skidding on gravel now and then if I hit the gas a little too much after a stop, so I've always wondered if there is just extra kick to it for some reason.

Answer 3

Yes the lift kit makes the car way more unstable and jeep as it is is made for off road terrain not ice roads .  Its the ice and your car they do not mix.  so to finish answering your question yes its normal and no nothing is wrong  

Answer 4

I dont think you can pin point the problem. It could be driving style/ability or it could be the tires and the tread pattern of the tires. My father lives in CO and drives his 93 YJ  45 miles to work each day regardless of weather and never had a problem. Even taking it up to go snow skiing. Also if Jeeps handled so poorly in ice/snow conditions I do not believe there would be as many people in CO that own them. If the ice is so bad perhaps a set of chains would be a wise investment. Like I said the tires could be the problem too as not all are created equal. The wider the tire the more it "floats" which is good if you are driving over deep powdery snow but not so good in ice/packed snow.  A narrower tire will put more pressure per square inch to the ground.  Tread patterns also place a part. A tire with more siping (small grooves in the tread block) will have better traction on slippery surfaces. Larger lugs with no siping will not grip as well.  If you ATs are worn below the siping this could be part of the problem.

Answer 5

Nothing really does very well on ice.  Actually as the tires get wider, you lose traction due to the weight of the vehicle being spread out on a larger contact area, the wider tires also make it harder for you vehicle to shove them through tall snow.  Jeeps are notorious for bad rides and with the larger tires probably is almost unsafe at the speedlimits.

Answer 6

Its a jeep thing.  Part of it has to do with the lift kit, and the other part with the oversized tires.  If you take off the lift kit and put the right size tires back on in the winter you won't have the wandering problem as bad.  What's happening is the coil springs in your jeep are picking up slight irregularities in the road and causing the jeep to start bouncing just enough to knock off its center of gravity and thus causing it to start wandering all over the road.  Also how fast are you trying to drive in snow and ice conditions?  If your in 4WD you shouldn't be going very fast anyhow, 35mph.  

Answer 7

9 times out of 10  in the winter its the driver not the vehicle.  

Answer 8

is your lift a short arm or long.  bfg all terrain are pretty good tires in general.

i would look at the lift kit first, you may not be getting all the articulation that you need.

look at a procomplomng arm kit.

stock jeeps are pretty good in snow and ice.

try upgrading to green tires.

Answer 9

our 01 wrangler sucked it had a 3in lift and 31s the one morning my dad was getting it out of the garage to go to work and as soon as it hit the drive way it went through the grass and almost into our shed drive way was not icey at all i think it is because they are so light but my dad used to use our 75 cj5 to plow and never had any problems  most wranglers and cjs do have touchy steering and can get squirly on dry roads  there is no problem with your wrangler just be more careful  

Answer 10

there is also not enough weight being put on the tires. small pickups are notorious for getting stuck in the snow because of this. just keep your tank full in the winter and get some weight on the back tires. I would suggest putting cement bags in the back or buying special weight bags made for this purpose.