Rear locker use in sleet/iced roads......

Question for you guys with rear locker use in winter weather. Last night we got 4" of snow (rare around here) with about 1" of sleet on top. Went out for a drive and with the rear locker engaged the truck wants to go straight with almost no steering control . Over exaggerated steering input is needed to make turns. Is this normal due to the locker? Or is it the KM2's just performing like crap in all the sleet/ice? Plain 4 wheel drive (locker off) seemed to possibly perform better.....is this the better option?

 

this. I tried using my locker.. bad idea. Never again.

 

^^^^ What he said. Locker bad on road in snow and ice. Very bad...

 

For normal winter driving I wouldn't use it. Plowing through deep snow trying to get up a hill or driveway its a good idea. Under just slippery conditions I wouldn't want to run it because it will make it much harder to turn, and when you are turning it will have to slip throughout the turn, if your moving fast enough when the slip happens it make have a butterfly effect.

 

Roads are untouched here.....my tracks were the first of the day. The snow is hard & icy.....been sleeting non stop sense 6am & they're calling for 12 to 18 hours of it. This state is screwed for a day or 2. Nobody is prepping the roads.

I kind of figured the locker might be the main issue.

 

I pretty much only use the locker when I'm stuck and spinning a back tire. As soon as I'm free I stop and disengage. If traction is so bad on the road that I'm having problems with 4-lo, out come the tire chains.

The crappy handling is likely a combination of the diff lock and your tires. Driving on ice is a whole different ball game and really needs tires that are designed for it or chains.

 

Best thing in that situation would be 4x4 with a limited slip diff.

 

Good info guys...appreciated. Us southern guys don't know much about winter driving.

 

You're sure as hell learning about it this year!!

 

Yup......I was stationed in Germany for 18 months. Their snow was soft & fluffy......fairly easy to drive in. Ours is always hard & crunchy like ice.

 

A few minutes ago....

 

We normally get good amounts of snow, but this winter we've hardly had any. Send it our way, I don't mind.

 

I enjoy it too but this sleet/freezing rain for 12 hours is a nightmare.

 

Yup, x2. I still make fun of them but it's nasty stuff. It's amazing you get up in the mountains into powder and you can drive all over the place, no issues. A few inches of wet slushy snow, but icy underneath, and it's a disaster.

 

for trying to get somewhere I agree don't use the locker till you need it. but did a some nice tight doughnuts with 4wd and the locker engaged lol. but wouldn't recommend doing a lot of it

 

I quite disagree. 4x4 with limited slip will behave in a similar way. A locker and limited slip is great for getting traction, but for vehicle stability it's better to let one tire spin up to 70mph than put power to both if you're cornering on ice.

If you're wondering why I have this opinion.... I have a 2004 Subaru STI and it's a fucking hoot. So much traction, it can get up and go, but it's not "stable". To someone like my mother (who is used to throttle cutting traction control) it's very loose. Both axles act as if they're locked because when it loses traction both wheels lose it at the same time. Very prone to rotating out from under you. If you're not used to driving on snow that throttle-cutting traction control or an open diff is really the safest, best option.

 

It sound more like some bad alignment.

 

Why the fuck would anyone try to drive on road in snow with the locker engaged ?

 

Lack of locker knowledge?

 

Im in atlanta and was out playing a bit and yes, the locker will make it hard to turn and when it does you'll likely loose traction if your going fast enough. Good for straight line only. This winter blows for us so far. lol. Atl is getting nailed again