Poor off road handling

[Aceofspades]

Hey everyone. Maybe there is a quick solution to this. Drove 30 miles to an off road spot. 5 miles to it is a gravel seasonal only road. Lots of muck and mud from the snow melting and rain recently.
As soon as the jeep went from paved to this , it was all over the place. Took me by surprise. Could not enjoy it
Every tiny bit of wet mud pulled the jeep left and right and it felt like
A struggle. I know something is up. I visually checked what I could. You’d almost think I was driving on 4 flat tires.

Back on the paved road again it’s fine. Dead stop take offs are straight.
I only noticed a small thud sometimes when coming to a stop or taking off from a stop. Most of my suspension is brand new including u joints

I’ll try to shake down each corner in the morning but man what a bummer

 

[Disco95]

I dont know if this info is helpful at all, but with a live axle front end 4wd that I owned poor steering geometry caused the vehicle to do weird things when road conditions chganged. The vehicle would track left and right to the point where I had to hang on well with 2 hands. Perhaps a simple alignment will help.
Sean

 

[JasonJ]

Sounds like a tire performance issue to me.... what rubber are your wheels wrapped in?

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I think it might be an alignment issue too.

Definitely not normal.

 

[Disco95]

I think it might be an alignment issue too.

Definitely not normal.

Wheel alignment is probably cheap starting point at least. Or maybe borrow someone elses tyres?

 

[Whelan]

Sounds like what my wife's Liberty turned into when we put Michelin Latitudes on the car a few years back. Once we swapped from more rugged tire to these they were terrible in the snow. The car would slide around but eventually get you there, it really left a lot to be desired from such a capable vehicle. Fast forward to the new set of Hankook Dynapro ATM's we put on last summer and this thing is back to beast mode. This winter has been fun again with the car not even slipping one way or another, just holding it's line with little wheel input needed.

Honestly tires make such a big difference that no matter what you select for 4WD it comes down to what's contacting the surface. That's why you will see small sedans with snow tires outperforming AWD CUV's with all-seasons.

 

[jeeptorino68]

Tires tires tires.
What are you running? How old? How deep is the tread?
Also, when you hit a puddle, or mud on one side only, expect much more drag and a pull to that side those tires quickly slow down, while the others have little resistance. So the vehicle will pull to the side with the mud or water puddle.

 

[Aceofspades]

Thanks for all the replies. Tires are in my sig. They are beasts. I been tearing it up every time it snowed and even a mud bog last summer.
This was a sudden shock to me because for the first time this season my snow covered trail roads are now mud/gravel roads
I have a lifetime alignment - I will absolutely be having that done.
I’m just hoping nothing is broken like the rear upper arm or lower trailing arms.
All my toys are in the garage and any work that needs doing will me outside in the elements - not fun

 

[Aceofspades]

Tires tires tires.
What are you running? How old? How deep is the tread?
Also, when you hit a puddle, or mud on one side only, expect much more drag and a pull to that side those tires quickly slow down, while the others have little resistance. So the vehicle will pull to the side with the mud or water puddle.

Could it be I been spoiled by snow and forgot how the jeep acts in mud?
I swear I don’t remember this exact same set up doing this last summer when all the upgrades were done.
I’m gonna try to get it up on a jack today and look a bit closer. If all checks out I’m going to back to the same spot with my 03 (same tires minus the suspension upgrades) and see what’s up

 

[HoosierJeeper]

That's a good test.

Mine with the Hankook Dynapro ATMs is rock solid on snow/ice.

 

[Jo6pak]

It's a tricky time of year of off-road adventures. The very top might be mud, maybe a few inches deep. Under that it could very well be still frozen solid, making it difficult to get good purchase with any tire.

 

[Damotee]

Tyre pressure. In slippery mud, drop down to 18-20 psi. Tyre pressure makes a massive difference. I keep a compressor in the Jeep to reinflate when I get back on the black stuff.

Mine slips and slides all over the place when it rains and im on dirt roads. Engage 4WD and lower those pressures and it will handle a lot better.

 

[Kaden]

This might be a dumb question but when you are off pavement do you put your jeep in 4wd? Since these jeeps have such short wheel bases I found they tend to get a little squirrelly in light mud or in snow while it’s in 2wd. Bad Tires, alignment issues, and bad steering components could all be a factor of this issue as well.

 

[Damotee]

This might be a dumb question but when you are off pavement do you put your jeep in 4wd? Since these jeeps have such short wheel bases I found they tend to get a little squirrelly in light mud or in snow while it’s in 2wd. Bad Tires, alignment issues, and bad steering components could all be a factor of this issue as well.

Whenever im driving on dirt or gravel roads, I put my Jeep into 4WD Full Time. Ive actually spun out of control and ended up in a ditch on a dirt road after losing traction and sliding into a spin. I was in 2WD at the time. Mine doesn't have Traction Control as standard so I manually use 4WD.

Mine is lifted too, so it feels very 'floaty' anyway. Pretty scary when spinning out of control! In heavy rain on paved roads I use Full time as well for extra grip.

 

[tjkj2002]

Speed also has a huge effect as does tires,air pressure,and in 2wd or 4wd.

Alignment doesn't mean jack when in mud/snow/ice.


Adding a DTT up front makes a huge difference in those conditions also.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I use 4 full time once I feel slippage in 2WD. Then if there's any hills or if I don't need to go over 10-15MPH I use 4LO. Keeps everything cooler and is easier to drive.

Rarely if ever use 4 part time. Really only on sheer ice.

 

[Damotee]

Adding a DTT up front makes a huge difference in those conditions also.

What does DTT stand for?

 

[Aceofspades]

Well round 3. It’s not a traction issue. It’s gotta be something on the rear end. It wanders and pulls all over. It never did tbis before. In snow. In mud. Even the mud bog I entered.
Using 4wd didn’t change anything. The other jeep cut right through with the expected slippage. This feels like the back end wants to go left and right depending on the road surface.
Would this be an upper arm and lower trailing arm issue ? It’s the only parts that are still original at this point.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

What does DTT stand for?

Detroit True Track - it's an auto locker that behaves as an LSD until it hits the lock point. But you have ARBs so you don't need to worry about what a DTT is :happy175:

Well round 3. It’s not a traction issue. It’s gotta be something on the rear end. It wanders and pulls all over. It never did tbis before. In snow. In mud. Even the mud bog I entered.
Using 4wd didn’t change anything. The other jeep cut right through with the expected slippage. This feels like the back end wants to go left and right depending on the road surface.
Would this be an upper arm and lower trailing arm issue ? It’s the only parts that are still original at this point.

Sounds like it. Have someone rock it back and forth a bit and see if the trilink moves around a lot.

 

[Myke]

Well round 3. It’s not a traction issue. It’s gotta be something on the rear end. It wanders and pulls all over. It never did tbis before. In snow. In mud. Even the mud bog I entered.
Using 4wd didn’t change anything. The other jeep cut right through with the expected slippage. This feels like the back end wants to go left and right depending on the road surface.
Would this be an upper arm and lower trailing arm issue ? It’s the only parts that are still original at this point.

Anyway you can post a video of you going through something where it handles weird. Have someone stand outside and film from the back.

Also check the balljoint bracket that connects the rear uca to the differential. If it's cracked or loose it can cause wondering.