Snow-crawl on steep incline--LONG

well me and the wife decided to go play in the snow so we climed a
local logging road up a nearby mountain,
i got 3/4 of the way up doing good no squirelling just a fun drive
through 3 inches of snow,
im running all-terrain raidials 30X950,
then we got to a steep incline and i started spinning,
and sliding backwards,
let in the cluthh and weeeeeee
2 --360,s and no stopping, so i did what i always do i headed for the
ditch,,,as there wasnt any ground on the other side of the road, just a
steep, sheer, downward incline, no gardrails up here,
once safely in the ditch, i climed up the pasenger seat and got out.
after the wife, watching her imediatly land on her butt, i was more
carefull,
NOT kissed my ass also,
HMMMM,,,packed, crust, with a nice powder coating, whooo weeeeee,
and a 1/4 mile downward to a level area,
,
used the high-lift to jack my front and rear over onto the road,
(i know Bill, but the bottle jack wasnt going to cut it)
opened the passenger door and leaned on it to get in,
and the dam jeep started sliding down the road, luckily back into the
ditch, and only 10 feet, thanking god for an inward crown
i decided to try and drive the ditch,
so down i went,
(later by the way i saw i was over sideways enough for my
power-steering fluid to leak out of my tank,)
i got pritty far down and hit a culvert, crap, after digging some and
backing and running hard i bounced up over,
getting out after ditchin it again, i looked at my front,
i now was sporting a bent leaf-spring on the drivers side,
GRRRRRRRERRR
drove quite a ways down the side close to te ditch,
and then once again started to slide,
again ditched it, and into another culvert, this time
a flat tire, and the high-lift wasnt going to get me out, i was almost
on my side,
it was starting to warm up some, and another rig was comming up the
road, he stopped laughed at me and helped pul me out,
got around a hair-pin corner that was sporting a pluming van
off the edge and into the sun, good road, and down we went
flat and all 5 miles an hour,
stopped at the bottom and changed the tire,
slow drive home,
,
temp-cure for my bent spring, 2X6 jamed between bumper and garage
cieling, bottle-jack (it does have its uses) under bent leaf
jacked like hell, bent it up past straight, sat and smoked a cig,
and swore alot,
releved tension, now almost straight but definatly crap,
,
i was told by a friend that i would have gotten better traction if i
had aired-down my tires, to 5-10 pounds,
is this true on packed slick snow on a very steep incline??
i grew up in maine and was always told thin and narrow was better
in snow,
i dont even think chains would have helped me,
,
i got lucky, and i know it, i could ov had a short ride, straight down,
im done with my mountain driving for this year,
,
johnP-almost in my pants,

Wow, another one who thinks 4x4 makes him invincible!

I am glad to hear you are still alive.

You were asking about 4x4 driving? Well, that was 'not' how you do
it....

When you cannot walk on the trail, you cannot head up the side of a
mountain on it, that's for sure!

We were out for 5 days over New Years and the trails went glass ice. We
stayed at camp the whole trip!

One person, (read half idiot) 'had' to leave for work and he had to ride
a snow bank for 10 km to get to a passable road. If the snow bank
hadn't of been there, he would have 'had' to wait like the rest of us.
As it was we were expecting them to come walking back looking for a
winch out.

Chains are about the only thing that might have helped you, but watch
it, Darwin has your number....
;-)

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

wrote:
>
> well me and the wife decided to go play in the snow so we climed a
> local logging road up a nearby mountain,
> i got 3/4 of the way up doing good no squirelling just a fun drive
> through 3 inches of snow,
> im running all-terrain raidials 30X950,
> then we got to a steep incline and i started spinning,
> and sliding backwards,
> let in the cluthh and weeeeeee
> 2 --360,s and no stopping, so i did what i always do i headed for the
> ditch,,,as there wasnt any ground on the other side of the road, just a
> steep, sheer, downward incline, no gardrails up here,
> once safely in the ditch, i climed up the pasenger seat and got out.
> after the wife, watching her imediatly land on her butt, i was more
> carefull,
> NOT kissed my ass also,
> HMMMM,,,packed, crust, with a nice powder coating, whooo weeeeee,
> and a 1/4 mile downward to a level area,
> ,
> used the high-lift to jack my front and rear over onto the road,
> (i know Bill, but the bottle jack wasnt going to cut it)
> opened the passenger door and leaned on it to get in,
> and the dam jeep started sliding down the road, luckily back into the
> ditch, and only 10 feet, thanking god for an inward crown
> i decided to try and drive the ditch,
> so down i went,
> (later by the way i saw i was over sideways enough for my
> power-steering fluid to leak out of my tank,)
> i got pritty far down and hit a culvert, crap, after digging some and
> backing and running hard i bounced up over,
> getting out after ditchin it again, i looked at my front,
> i now was sporting a bent leaf-spring on the drivers side,
> GRRRRRRRERRR
> drove quite a ways down the side close to te ditch,
> and then once again started to slide,
> again ditched it, and into another culvert, this time
> a flat tire, and the high-lift wasnt going to get me out, i was almost
> on my side,
> it was starting to warm up some, and another rig was comming up the
> road, he stopped laughed at me and helped pul me out,
> got around a hair-pin corner that was sporting a pluming van
> off the edge and into the sun, good road, and down we went
> flat and all 5 miles an hour,
> stopped at the bottom and changed the tire,
> slow drive home,
> ,
> temp-cure for my bent spring, 2X6 jamed between bumper and garage
> cieling, bottle-jack (it does have its uses) under bent leaf
> jacked like hell, bent it up past straight, sat and smoked a cig,
> and swore alot,
> releved tension, now almost straight but definatly crap,
> ,
> i was told by a friend that i would have gotten better traction if i
> had aired-down my tires, to 5-10 pounds,
> is this true on packed slick snow on a very steep incline??
> i grew up in maine and was always told thin and narrow was better
> in snow,
> i dont even think chains would have helped me,
> ,
> i got lucky, and i know it, i could ov had a short ride, straight down,
> im done with my mountain driving for this year,
> ,
> johnP-almost in my pants,

Hey Mike,
the lower elevation was fine, it was the last streach that got me,
and the area i was in was out of the sun, what little there was,
and yes your right, DUMB on my part, it was all good,, till it went
bad,,grin,
and i wont be going up again till spring, gettin too old for the snow,
,
and yup, im half an idiot too, but a lucky half, and i know it,
and i dont like looking darwin in the eyes, hes got a realy big smirk
that bothers me.
,

,
johnp

Are we having fun yet? :-)

wrote:

> well me and the wife decided to go play in the snow so we climed a
> local logging road up a nearby mountain,
> i got 3/4 of the way up doing good no squirelling just a fun drive
> through 3 inches of snow,
> im running all-terrain raidials 30X950,
> then we got to a steep incline and i started spinning,
> and sliding backwards,
> let in the cluthh and weeeeeee
> 2 --360,s and no stopping, so i did what i always do i headed for the
> ditch,,,as there wasnt any ground on the other side of the road, just a
> steep, sheer, downward incline, no gardrails up here,
> once safely in the ditch, i climed up the pasenger seat and got out.
> after the wife, watching her imediatly land on her butt, i was more
> carefull,
> NOT kissed my ass also,
> HMMMM,,,packed, crust, with a nice powder coating, whooo weeeeee,
> and a 1/4 mile downward to a level area,
> ,
> used the high-lift to jack my front and rear over onto the road,
> (i know Bill, but the bottle jack wasnt going to cut it)
> opened the passenger door and leaned on it to get in,
> and the dam jeep started sliding down the road, luckily back into the
> ditch, and only 10 feet, thanking god for an inward crown
> i decided to try and drive the ditch,
> so down i went,
> (later by the way i saw i was over sideways enough for my
> power-steering fluid to leak out of my tank,)
> i got pritty far down and hit a culvert, crap, after digging some and
> backing and running hard i bounced up over,
> getting out after ditchin it again, i looked at my front,
> i now was sporting a bent leaf-spring on the drivers side,
> GRRRRRRRERRR
> drove quite a ways down the side close to te ditch,
> and then once again started to slide,
> again ditched it, and into another culvert, this time
> a flat tire, and the high-lift wasnt going to get me out, i was almost
> on my side,
> it was starting to warm up some, and another rig was comming up the
> road, he stopped laughed at me and helped pul me out,
> got around a hair-pin corner that was sporting a pluming van
> off the edge and into the sun, good road, and down we went
> flat and all 5 miles an hour,
> stopped at the bottom and changed the tire,
> slow drive home,
> ,
> temp-cure for my bent spring, 2X6 jamed between bumper and garage
> cieling, bottle-jack (it does have its uses) under bent leaf
> jacked like hell, bent it up past straight, sat and smoked a cig,
> and swore alot,
> releved tension, now almost straight but definatly crap,
> ,
> i was told by a friend that i would have gotten better traction if i
> had aired-down my tires, to 5-10 pounds,
> is this true on packed slick snow on a very steep incline??
> i grew up in maine and was always told thin and narrow was better
> in snow,
> i dont even think chains would have helped me,
> ,
> i got lucky, and i know it, i could ov had a short ride, straight down,
> im done with my mountain driving for this year,
> ,
> johnP-almost in my pants,
>

OH ya, were havin fun,,,,grin,,,

LOL!

That almost sounds like you needed a winch to get out of there. Hook it
around a tree or boulder and slowly let yourself down.

If we hadn't of been on an active logging road so the road crew actually
came alone with sand, we would have had a 'long' trip out. At least the
vertical drop was low...

Mike

wrote:
>
> Hey Mike,
> the lower elevation was fine, it was the last streach that got me,
> and the area i was in was out of the sun, what little there was,
> and yes your right, DUMB on my part, it was all good,, till it went
> bad,,grin,
> and i wont be going up again till spring, gettin too old for the snow,
> ,
> and yup, im half an idiot too, but a lucky half, and i know it,
> and i dont like looking darwin in the eyes, hes got a realy big smirk
> that bothers me.
> ,
>
> ,
> johnp

Ha,
im workin on convincing the wife on a winch,
she says ive got a wench, so whats the big deal,
,
i asked her to remember i TOLD her to walk/slide down the slope, after
me and the jeep,
johnp

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> well me and the wife decided to go play in the snow so we climed a
> local logging road up a nearby mountain,
> i got 3/4 of the way up doing good no squirelling just a fun drive
> through 3 inches of snow,
> im running all-terrain raidials 30X950,
> then we got to a steep incline and i started spinning,
> and sliding backwards,
> let in the cluthh and weeeeeee

This was your first mistake. Thankfully, it wasn't your last.

WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE
Assuming you were insistant on climbing the hill ...

Once forward progress stopped, you should have held your position on the
hill. This might even mean stopping the engine, but it certainly means
stopping your vehicle long enough to regain FULL control. While stopped, you
should have selected 4LO and Reverse. Then, you should have backed down the
hill IN GEAR, letting the engine have the main control of your decent, and
using your brakes just enough to keep things going in the right direction.
You should NEVER roll down a hill with the clutch pedal depressed and
attempt to control your speed with your brakes alone, ESPECIALLY if going
backwards.




> 2 --360,s and no stopping, so i did what i always do i headed for the
> ditch,,,as there wasnt any ground on the other side of the road, just a
> steep, sheer, downward incline, no gardrails up here,
> once safely in the ditch, i climed up the pasenger seat and got out.
> after the wife, watching her imediatly land on her butt, i was more
> carefull,
> NOT kissed my ass also,
> HMMMM,,,packed, crust, with a nice powder coating, whooo weeeeee,
> and a 1/4 mile downward to a level area,
> ,
> used the high-lift to jack my front and rear over onto the road,
> (i know Bill, but the bottle jack wasnt going to cut it)
> opened the passenger door and leaned on it to get in,
> and the dam jeep started sliding down the road, luckily back into the
> ditch, and only 10 feet, thanking god for an inward crown
> i decided to try and drive the ditch,
> so down i went,
> (later by the way i saw i was over sideways enough for my
> power-steering fluid to leak out of my tank,)
> i got pritty far down and hit a culvert, crap, after digging some and
> backing and running hard i bounced up over,
> getting out after ditchin it again, i looked at my front,
> i now was sporting a bent leaf-spring on the drivers side,
> GRRRRRRRERRR
> drove quite a ways down the side close to te ditch,
> and then once again started to slide,
> again ditched it, and into another culvert, this time
> a flat tire, and the high-lift wasnt going to get me out, i was almost
> on my side,
> it was starting to warm up some, and another rig was comming up the
> road, he stopped laughed at me and helped pul me out,
> got around a hair-pin corner that was sporting a pluming van
> off the edge and into the sun, good road, and down we went
> flat and all 5 miles an hour,
> stopped at the bottom and changed the tire,
> slow drive home,
> ,
> temp-cure for my bent spring, 2X6 jamed between bumper and garage
> cieling, bottle-jack (it does have its uses) under bent leaf
> jacked like hell, bent it up past straight, sat and smoked a cig,
> and swore alot,
> releved tension, now almost straight but definatly crap,
> ,
> i was told by a friend that i would have gotten better traction if i
> had aired-down my tires, to 5-10 pounds,
> is this true on packed slick snow on a very steep incline??


Of course it's true. You will always get better traction with low air
pressure.





> i grew up in maine and was always told thin and narrow was better
> in snow,
> i dont even think chains would have helped me,
> ,
> i got lucky, and i know it, i could ov had a short ride, straight down,
> im done with my mountain driving for this year,
> ,
> johnP-almost in my pants,
>

maybe i worded it wrong,
once i lost forward momentium, i had already started to go backwards
i was in 4 low,
there was no regaining my grip, i was in a backward, slide, and then a
slow, sideways,
slide,
i hit, softly,,, the brake and in the slow spin around, when facing
down let off the brake, and
slid-steered into the ditch,
there was zero-grip,
,
at this point even at a dead stop the weight of the jeep was making it
slide,
,
the ditch was the only option,
,
as i addmitted, too far up, without knowing what was under me,
i assumed wrong that the incline was as the previous road, good
gripping,
NOT,,,suprise,,,,,,
,
johnp

>
> This was your first mistake. Thankfully, it wasn't your last.
>
> WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE
> Assuming you were insistant on climbing the hill ...

Ever driven up a hill covered with wet, packed snow, Jeff? I was riding a
trail recently on such conditions with about 7 jeeps ahead of me. Once I got
to the hill, the snow had packed considerably and was fairly slick, but not
terribly steep, I had enough traction to inch up the hill. But when I had to
stop just shy of the top, I could feel myself slowly inching down, even with
my foot on the brake. (And no, Bill or Mike, the ABS was not activating.) It
was sliding just about half a foot per second, so I had enough time to radio
to the fellow behind me to get out of the way. I couldn't get enough
traction to get back up at that point, so my only choice was to slide all
the way back down and have another go. Spinning the wheels just makes a
situation like that worse...the tires melt a layer of snow and so now you
have a water-slicked layer of snow that won't give any traction at all.

>
> > i was told by a friend that i would have gotten better traction if i
> > had aired-down my tires, to 5-10 pounds,
> > is this true on packed slick snow on a very steep incline??
>
>
> Of course it's true. You will always get better traction with low air
> pressure.
>
Assuming there is any traction to be had, and on a snow-packed slick incline
ther is almost zero. if the snow isn't too deep, taller and narrow tires
will work better, especially on the street, but for really deep stuff, if
it's firm enough you *can* float on top, or at least not sink all the way to
your frame. However, spin your tires once and you literally get that sinking
feeling...the jeep just drops and there you are, with your jeep doing an
impersonation of an igloo.