[lj_wil]

Do you ever use 4x4 in the heavy rain?

edit: On pavement that is

[FLATFENDER54]

No - I never do..................no reason to and couple of reasons not to

[Wheelin98TJ]

Originally Posted by FLATFENDER54

No - I never do..................no reason to and couple of reasons not to

Exactly.

[Jerry Bransford]

The part-time kind of 4x4 system our Wranglers uses isn't designed for paved road use. Even when the pavement is wet from rain.

[dirtball28]

The only time I have used 4WD on pavement in the rain, was crossing a flooded street. By flooded I mean probably 2ft or so of fast moving water. Cars behind me were floating away...I was not even sure I was going to make it.

[FLATFENDER54]

Originally Posted by dirtball28

The only time I have used 4WD on pavement in the rain, was crossing a flooded street. By flooded I mean probably 2ft or so of fast moving water. Cars behind me were floating away...I was not even sure I was going to make it.

4wd wont make you any heavier (lol)
If the water gets up to the sides of the jeep it is time to back up and get out of the water crossing. When water can flow under vehicle/jeep you should be ok its when water is up against the side of the vehicle/jeep that it acts like a dam and will push/wash you away. I used to have to cross low water crossings all the time at work when going to a remote area to check a well daily. I would drive in with the door open and checking water level if it reached up to the floor board or side of vehicle I knew I could not drive in any further.
Oh and the fun part was I was driving a 3/4 ton ex-military chevy truck 4x4 with 37's on these daily journeys

ALL of this pertains to flowing water only - standing water is obviously different.

[dirtball28]

Yeah, I was not sure at the time whether it would help or not. The water was moving fairly quickly and there really were not many other options than to cross. It was not the depth of the water I was concerned about as much as the strenght of the current, my guess was that the 4x4 would help to keep me pointed in the right direction at least...I dono.

[lj_wil]

Great, so the point of the day is:

1) 4x4 on pavement is okay only if other cars are floating away
2) If you start floating away too, take off the doors

[mdm]

There's not much that will help with flowing water except more weight (not much you can do here), less frontal (side) area exposed to the flow (not much you can do here either), or stay out of the flowing water (a lot you can do here).

Flowing water is far more dangerous than it looks. I watched an armored personnel carrier get swept away at a low water crossing. It was found over a mile down stream with a couple of dead crewmen still inside. The other soldiers managed to get out but couldn't make it out of the creek. It took a couple of days to find all of the bodies.

Other than flowing water, the biggest problems with rain are visibility and hydroplaning. 4wd won't help with visibility. The only thing that will help prevent hydroplaning is to slow down
.

[PeteC]

OK, so I have heard this so often not to engage 4hi on wet pavement.

Well, I have done it countless times in heavy rain conditions, even on the highway.

With my 93 XJ, 94 YJ and 00 TJ. Never, I repeat, Never have I had any problems with my transfer cases. In fact, the only issues I ever had, with about 300k combined miles, was splitting the YJ case in half in an accident.

Mind you I am talking heavy rain conditions with hydroplaning happening or imminent, short time period and I am not talking about 80 mph. At 50 mph on a road with so much rain that you can't see the lines, you will feel the sure footedness gained from engaging 4hi immediatley.

Would I recommend this to others? Not really. I would tell you to slow down, I just won't take my own advice. But, don't be afraid to engage the 4wd when you are in slippery conditions, whether those conditions are cause by snow, ice, mud, rain, etc.

Of course, fording deep, moving water, well that is a whole nother story.

disclaimer: the opinions expressed are my own and based on personal driving experiences over many years and the ability to speak directly (on occasion) with those really in the know.......the ones that designed these Jeeps.

[Rusty the Scoob]

IMHO 4wd only helps when you need more traction for the Jeep to move forward. When stopping or turning the lack of a center differential can cause your tires to lose traction more easily. Since any decent tire can easily move you forward in 2wd in the rain, your best bet is to leave it in 2wd.

[bobbert350]

yea the only time i would use 4x4 in the rain if i were crossing a under pass where the water is deep and i may have to use all the traction i could get..other than that i wouldnt use it in the rain

[grogie]

It would have been nice to have a Selec-Trac option on a TJ. I use the Selec-Trac's full-time in my wife's KJ everytime the roads get wet (it's got stock tires for one!). It then sticks to the road like glue.

Here in the Midwest, rain comes down in buckets, and in that case I do use Command-Trac in the TJ (I also slow down of course).

[fish4life]

I used my in about 10" of snow ... on the highway just recently.
Went fishin early in the morning, was the only maybe the 2nd or 3rd person on that road and it was damn slippery.

On this one uphill section i was doing about 40mph (on the highway!!!) and the back end would just dance all over. Left, right, left.... I slowed down, popped it into 4HI and it felt like it was on rails thank you 4x4

[SecondTJ]

ive never needed it or had a problem in rain, or most snow for that matter either