Several years ago I got stuck on a Iowa class B road driving a rearwheel drive New Yorker. It had rained about .25 inch and the road was smooth, even and wet only down to about 1/3 of an inch. I was stopped going up one of the rolling hills and could not even back down the hill without sliding off the side due to the crown which was not very pronounced. That mud was the most slippery surface I have ever encountered. My first clue that things were going wrong was that the front wheels stopped responding quickly to steering wheel. This small hill was Southeast of Tama IA. Can anyone from Iowa tell me how the standard Liberty 4X4 package w/o LSD or Lockers can be expected to behave in that stuff.
Lewis

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Mail Rated 2005 Red CRD Sport with large rectangular hole in top right behind the EVIC and above the heated leather seats.
2004 Jetta TDI

you will drive right up

realy it will depend on tires in mud like that even at's will cake up easy but as long as you keep moving you should be fine

The stock tires may give ya a problem. Those things suck. Get some good A/T's or good all weather tires and it should work out just fine.

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LOST KJ'S
Where are you going???
Current Jeep: 2004 Jeep Liberty
-Atlantic Blue
-Air Ride Rear Suspension ; OME/Rustys Lift ; Powertrax Locker ; Moog Lower Ball-Joints ; 245/70/16 Yokohama Geolander A/T-S's on MOABS ; Flowmaster 50 SUV
Lost #007082
http://www.cardomain.com/id/jeepjeepster

Driven on many iowa Back roads, works like a charm. You could even deal with a few cornfields, not like I've ever done that

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My Jeep won the war, your Honda mowed my lawn.
CHECK OUT: http://thesoundofthunder0.tripod.com/fa ... alwebsite/ for more videos.

I live in southeast Iowa. I have a 2005 Sport 3.7 4x4 auto and have no trubal in the mud. And I have the stock rubber. They do spin on pavment.
SMITTY

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I dont give a dxxm for a man that can only spell a word one way. MARK TWAIN (1835-1910)

Wat pavment that is. SMITTY

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I dont give a dxxm for a man that can only spell a word one way. MARK TWAIN (1835-1910)

Yea tell me about it. Spun into a 360 twice now, not even going 10-15 around a turn.

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2004 Silver Sport
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2681621

a RWD 2WD is probably the worst vehicle to have in adverse conditions (rain, snow, ice, mud, etc). One afternoon last winter I helped about a dozen cars free themselves from the snow in the parking lot at work. Of these cars, the HARDEST one to free was a jeep cherokee 2wd. Easiest? the little 2wd civics.

Front Wheel Drive vehicles have an advantage for a few reasons:
1). The weight is over the driving wheels, keeping pressure to the ground, which adds traction
2). You can turn the driving wheels. When traction goes away, you can turn the wheels and maybe have a better chance at traction at a different angle. Very helpful in snow.
3). There's a distinct difference between FWD and RWD when the vehicle loses control. in FWD when it fishtails, you can stay on the accelerator and it straightens out. in RWD do NOT do that, or it will oscillate out even more.

Any 2wd vehicle without a locking differential, AWD, or a limited slip really only has ONE driving wheel when push comes to shove. If any one wheel slips (mud, ice, snow), the vehicle stops.

A 4x4 vehicle will give you 2 driving wheels (one front, one rear). They would both have to be spinning in order for the vehicle to stop moving forwards. Much less likely. Plus, you get the advantages of:
1). Weight over the front wheels (which are driving wheels in 4wd/awd)
2). Low-Range gears (4LO). They don't give you more traction, but they do give you more torque when you have traction.
3). LSD, AWD, or Traction Control will keep more wheels turning, even when one is spinning.

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Jeff 2005 Jeep Liberty Renegade
4x4, 6spd, Leather, Sunroof, trak-loc, skids/rails, hitch+shackle, hooks, Alpine/iPod, Thule, GPS, CB, Frankenlifted w/ 31" MTRs
Photos Cardomain

I think it has to do with stock tires and 2WD. I was just in WY this weekend and was traveling on I90 in Billings, MT. I lost control doing 40 MPH going slightly uphill. I fishtailed a couple of times and ended up doing a 360 and ended up nice and neat off to the side. My KJ died during the ordeal and I started it up put it 4WD and away I went. No more sliding or feeling of loss on control in 4WD. Moral of the story...put it in four if you have stock tires and the conditions are slip and go slow... One comment about front wheel vs. rear wheel is that once you lose control it's easier to get it back under control in a rear wheel drive (IMHO)...

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2005 4x4 Sport
Yakima Low Riders
Hidden Hitch
MOPAR tow hooks
RL Skink Step Sliders
Magnaflow
3/4 armored
235/70/16 Grabber AT 2
and a lot of little stuff...

I always felt that if driving one of my long wheelbase minivans. I probably would not have notice how slippery the road was and would not have had to slow down due to the fact that the wheels pull the same direction that they are steered. I think that at higher speeds on packed snow the frontwheel driveMopar minivans may be as stable as anything on the road even better than the KJ in 4wd. That said for the past 6 days we have had 2" or more sleet and ice on the roads locally and I am amazed at the traction I have gotten with open differentials and the stock Wrangler ST's. The wet pavement 2wd performance is not so impressive.
Lewis

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Mail Rated 2005 Red CRD Sport with large rectangular hole in top right behind the EVIC and above the heated leather seats.
2004 Jetta TDI