Hills are a problem

[Russ]

I went to mess around the other day for the first time in my CJ-5 and i couldn't get up any steep hills. A friend of mine said I should get lockers to solve but my jeeps a road use and off road use so I'd need either electric or air compressed which are $$$ for my budget. Anyone know a better way.

[longboy]

just curious, why were the hills a problem?

was it loss of traction on a wheel (being off the ground)? Then, lockers would help, but a good-flexing suspension may help as well (to keep all 4 tires on the ground)

do you have good tires? poor traction tires can really affect how much traction you get on rocks, loose stuff, etc...

another thing to consider:
Fuel injection (carbs don't do so good uphills--especially steep ones in Colorado at high elevations)

I'm no expert, but those are some other things to consider. There are many things (including driver skill) that can make or break a hill climb.

[moabjeeper]

Have you looked into a lockright locker. I have one in the back and cant even tell its back their on the road. they are cheap too around $230. Plan on putting it in the front too.

[Russ]

Well the hill i tried was fairly steep but even. The tires are brand new A/T tires. The experience is low :( . I was loosing traction the tire was spinning but there was alitlle snow on the ground which could have effected it. I plan on getting a four wheel coil conversion when i can afford it so that would take care of the flexable suspension. But maybe I'll try it when it clears up a bit.

[ontherocks]

Sounds like there's more to consider about this situation before you go and drop big bills on some lockers.
Pushing a 4000 lb vehicle up a steep, snow covered hill is not easy no matter what you drive, especially if its packed snow! If you are running some wide A/T's, they aren't exactly snowbusters either. Barring any mechanical probs, I'm sure your Jeep is doing its best. Try the same hill sans snow and see what happens!

[jeepdriver02]

Your problem is easily solvable. If you want to climb snowy hills you need:
1. aggressive tires (not A/Ts)
2. skill

with that combination the hill should be defeatable.

And as for lockers and flex. Cant you just unlock your hubs and disengage the front locker anyway? (at least for the most part). And why not just throw on a $400 skyjacker lift or something. What the $$$$$ coil conversion?

[Russ]

Well as for the hill factor its was about a 55 degree angle. The experience would be right but then my cousin tire who has a high level of experience and couldn't make it. The snow was on the ground around the hill the hill was fairly clear with a patch here and there if anything it was alittle wet.

The reason I thought locker is because my friend whos recieved a free jeep from his dad got up it no problem in a treadless 98 Wrangler. But it did have posi traction and ofcoures coils which would allow for better flexability and traction. But he got up it like it was level ground but it wasn't real wet.

The tires are 31 10.5 with a pretty wide tread pattern and I have been suggested that thinner tires would work better but the budget doesnt allow ofr it.
Maybe that will describe the situation alittle bit better so if anyone has some more suggestions to solve the problem they would be appreciated

[moabjeeper]

Buy big axles, tires and two lockers. That would solve your problem. You should think about the locker. Look into lockright locker. They are pretty easy to install yourself and not very much.

[Warlock]

And while you are at it, throw a winch on there and just pull yourself up. :D

Keep driving it, get your skill up. Get some MT's or aggressive tires.

No need to get rid of the leaf sprung suspension unless you really want to. A good lift kit plus tires will cost less than the coil conversion.

[XtremeGod]

Don't do the coil conversion, it is not worth the money. If you want your rig to flex just as good if not better, go for a SOA.

[Russ]

Well the actual coil conversion is going to be a custom project I'm doing myself after alittle more testing and designing and will hopefully be done this before I go to moab. The only reson its expensive is the coils are pricy(atleast the ones I want). But the problem now at hand is traction. I am avoiding a lift because with the conversion im going to have to lift it about 3 inches to fit them.
Really I have been focusing on lockers and any other suggestions on ways to get traction.

As for tires I was going to prchase some of the BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A K/M but my parents beat me to it and bought A/T tires from firestone. They are not that bad though so until I got the $800 to throw away I can deal with them.

But thatnks for any suggestions.
Russ

[high_pinion]

Don't do the coil conversion, it is not worth the money. If you want your rig to flex just as good if not better, go for a SOA.

And you would know how exactly? Or just what you have read or heard? Parrot... Guess JU must be down again...

Russ, were you aried down enough to make a difference? 15-18 PSI won't make that big of a difference, but 10-15 will.

You might want to think about a spool. It has a couple of quirks but is nowhere near as bad a Detroit with it's drive train slop and re-engagment of the locker. The worst being tire chirp around corners and some minor torque steer but you aren't driving the '5' like a sports car anyway.

A mini spool can be had for as little as $40 and does not require moving the gears. A full spool can be had for no more then $200 for the big versions. They are solid one piece devices and therefore require no special lube and no moving parts means less things to break or go wrong.

Great little devices and cheap too.

[Russ]

Actually on the coil conversion I have helped my cousin, Travis, do it on a Bronco and he has all the specs for the design I just have to modify it and knowing auto cad makes it easy.

I am avoiding the lift because of the coils so I dont want to buy a lift and the coils but I have to drive anywhere I go in the jeep so I would ware tires fast thats why i was looking at ARB(and a compressor would be nice for fillinf).

But thatnks for your help and suggestions.
Russ

[Deanster]

Russ ... don't mean to sound insulting .... but what tire pressure were you running? Drop it a few pounds and see what happens.

It seems this is the number one mistake folks make when wheeling. I've rode with a guy in a CJ5 who was running 6#, couldn't make it up ... dropped to 5# and up she came.

Lots of folks thing 20, 15, 12, or even 10 is all that you need ..... and maybe so. But if you run into a problem ... drop the pressure into the single digits.

:)

[Russ]

I didn't really try airing down the tires and being the fact they were brand new they were probably aired just right for the road.

I'll definatily try that when I get my license though(which I dont have because the economy sucks) and actually need to get up a hill to go somewhere. This was just a quick test to see how good I was at it really but the CJ limited my capabilities but as I get some money and so on hopefully its capability will increase with mine.

[lynn]

So the tires were brand new... did you check the pressure after they were installed??
Most tire stores use 40 lb as a standard.
Far from perfect for the road, and ridiculous for offroad.
You really need to get a dial-type pressure indicator and some white chalk, find out what pressure really is correct for the road.
As for offroad, you almost always need to air down.
But you need a way to air up. Consider a power tank, or OBA. Even a good electric compressor, QAII or the like.

[Russ]

well if it a ll works out how I want it to ill be getting an air compressor to use the lockers and what I was doing wopuldn't give me time to air down as long as I could air down but then I would not have had a way to air back up so I just didn't try to air down.