'14 Explorer Limited 4WD

[goochman]

I was following the other 4WD thread but today I finally got to use my Explorer in the snow and was extremely disappointed.

This winter was the first chance we've had snow to test it out and my wife was complaining that it drive like a FWD car in the 'snow mode' and was not safe.

I saw where folks were using the 'sand' mode so today we are getting a good 4-8 inches of snow which came in early while my wife was at work.

I told her to use 'sand' mode and very slowly was able to make it home.

I decided to test out the Exp with 3 inches of snow on our neighborhood roads and it was a nightmare.

First I left it in the normal mode and could not move up the slight incline hill on our street.

I switched to Snow mode and make slight progress but not much

I switched to Sand mode and after some fighting I was able to move forward to the top of our hill.

I came to a stop and that was it - no matter what I tired I could not move forward anymore. I tried all modes and it seemed the traction control was not allowing all 4 wheels to move at the same time, it behaved very much like a FWD car spinning the front wheels.

I looked for a button to turn TC off but didnt see it - it appeared in 'Sand Mode' that TC was off but again no difference.

I actually had to push the Exp in reverse and backup turn around to get back to my house.

My '08 Buick Enclave AWD had no problems in snow - I took it out in 8 inches of snow without trouble.

What am I missing - this is not acceptable.

 

[goochman]

One other follow up - My '09 Jeep Wrangler in 4-HI had 0 issues moving around as did a # of Jeep Grand Cherokees.

 

[dudefish]

What tires? And, I can't tell where you live, so what kind of snow are we talking about? Dry powdery stuff, wet slush, packed and iced over, etc?

 

[jmr061]

Yup my first thought too....Tires...we need to know what kind of tires you have. You can have the best drive train system in the world but if your tires are not designed for the terrain your on it won't do any good.

 

[goochman]

Troll post.......lol, Ive been on the forum for over a year................

I have the standard tires that come on the '14 Explorer Limited 20" rims.

Its a pretty powdery snow - hasnt been over 20 degrees in 5 days.

 

[dudefish]

Your description sounds like me in my Infiniti G35 with summer tires during last year's snowmageddon!

 

[jmr061]

Well if tirerack.com lists the correct OEM tires for what should have come on a 14 Limited those are ALL SEASON Hankook Optimo H426 tires. They have 2.5 out of 5 rating. Very poor ratings and especially bad reviews in the snow. Again it comes down to the tire. Get tires meant for snow and you will be good to go.

 

[tmg19103]

If you are having trouble it's the tires. The AWD is quite good.

Sand is tougher than snow. I've had my XLT with OEM tires with 33k on them on the beach and the EX has been fine. However, for beach bald tires are best and the tread is down a bit on my all-season tires so they are perfect for the beach.

In the snow this winter these same tires have only been so-so. You need some good tread in the snow.

You either need winter tires on the Ex come the cold weather, or some all-terrain year round to be sure footed in the snow - but the ride won't be quite as smooth on the pavement.

I'm curious if anyone has but all-terrain on their EX and how the ride compares to all-season as I'll be in the market for tires soon enough.

How about those with winter tires? How much of a ride difference from the all-season on dry pavement?

 

[sr71_1]

you should not be having the trouble you describe (not close)…. even with the standard all seasons. Sounds like something is not working as it should - take it in while there is snow on the ground and demonstrate to the tech.

 

[tmg19103]

you should not be having the trouble you describe (not close)…. even with the standard all seasons. Sounds like something is not working as it should - take it in while there is snow on the ground and demonstrate to the tech.

What I have noticed on my all-season tires that don't have a ton of tread left is some fish tailing on turns over packed (but not icy) snow. This is all tire and tread. Not the vehicle. That never happened with my Jimmy which always had all-terrains.

 

[goochman]

I have 19k on the tires and from what I can tell plenty of tread. They are the Hancock tires. With 3 inches of snow I would expect almost any AWD/4WD vehicle to not get stuck. Slushy muck is a different story.

The worry I had was when I tried to get moving it didnt feel like the tires were moving at all - almost like when your car gets lifted when driving through deep snow. The back tires really werent doing anything, but the 4WD display showed power going to all 4 wheels but I could feel the front ones trying.

Not sure if this made me feel any better but at 8 inches an Acura MDX AWD got stuck on my street making a turn. Had to dig out the wheels so it got traction and even after that barely was able move forward................

 

[dudefish]

This Gen5 explorer is getting around in the snow okay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Nhbpf0rjQ

 

[77rednecktruck]

I had no issues with the stock tires in my Sport on the hills of Pittsburgh during the last 2-4 inches of snow we got this weekend. It is not as good as the Grand Cherokee the sport replaced but it does well. I could stop and start on the hills without issue. And the tires are the factory tires that were on it when I bought it in 2013. I have had the sport in some decent mud, the beach on the Outer Banks a few times, and numerous snow storms and never had any issues and the Explorer always went well.

Maybe go out in a parking lot and learn the vehicle better. Upgrading the driver is usually the best mod you can make. This Explorer takes a different approach to different terrain than the Grand Cherokee. The GC liked more throttle, the Explorer seems to like a little more restraint to the gas pedal. I don't have good luck with Sand mode in the snow, snow mode works awesome though.

 

[goochman]

77rednecktruck - Im trying to figure out the Explore '4WD' as you mention its not the same as other 4WD vehicles I am used to. I decided to brave taking out the Explorer again the next morning. The snow turned to rain for a brief period so there was about 4 inches of good 'snowball making' snow on my road - I backed the Explorer out in 'Snow Mode' and once stopped and put into Drive and nothing - couldnt move an inch. I put it into 'Sand Mode' and the vehicle rocked left and right just slightly but didnt move an inch.

Eventually I had to put Exp in reverse and move backwards slighty (going backwards seems to work great in any conditions!) and then forward. I was not 'rocking' the Exp but after 3 tries of this in Sand mode I was able to move forward and once going didnt have a problem. 2 minutes later I got a 'Terrain Management Fault' and it dropped me back into 'Normal' mode - anyone know if this code gets stored or is reflective of some other problem? 10 minutes later after a stop the Terrain Mgmt system was functional again.

I queried 2 other friends that have 4WD Explorers ans suprisingly their first comment on the Exp and driving in snow was that it was barely better than their FWD cars.......

At this point my big problem seems to be with getting moving from a stop on a snowy road - Are other folks having a similar problem?

I also dont believe the driver can disable Traction Control from any button, is that correct? I think TC is only disabled in 'Sand Mode'.

 

[goochman]

This Gen5 explorer is getting around in the snow okay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Nhbpf0rjQ

1 inch of packed snow is not a problem. Look at 45 seconds into it when it falls back on the hill - it can barely make it up which about sums up my experiences so far.

 

[FordService]

I was following the other 4WD thread but today I finally got to use my Explorer in the snow and was extremely disappointed...

Hi goochman,

Since you're concerned, I'd recommend having your dealership look things over to make sure everything is performing within spec. If you decide to get them involved, let me know so I can research ways to help.

Crystal

 

[goochman]

Thanks Crystal - Im going to take it up to the Ford dealer tomorrow - Ill post a follow-up if anything interesting comes up.

 

[jarettp]

Ironically I just came to the forum today to talk about how my 14 limited explorer performed awesome in this weekend's snow. I easily made it through roads other cars were struggling with. Found myself going around vehicles a lot. I had to use sand mode at one point to get out of my initial parking space but snow mode got me everywhere I needed to go after that. I did experience a slight fishtail at one point going up a hill but I got it straight pretty quick and it just acknowledged to me that the rear wheels were indeed engaged and working properly. Snow turned into ice on my way back home and it again performed just fine. (much better than me trying to walk across the same surface i had just driven over). Overall I'm happy with the performance.

 

[goochman]

Ironically I just came to the forum today to talk about how my 14 limited explorer performed awesome in this weekend's snow. I easily made it through roads other cars were struggling with. Found myself going around vehicles a lot. I had to use sand mode at one point to get out of my initial parking space but snow mode got me everywhere I needed to go after that. I did experience a slight fishtail at one point going up a hill but I got it straight pretty quick and it just acknowledged to me that the rear wheels were indeed engaged and working properly. Snow turned into ice on my way back home and it again performed just fine. (much better than me trying to walk across the same surface i had just driven over). Overall I'm happy with the performance.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the 'starting' part. Once I got moving it all worked good. Even my Wrangler will fishtail slightly going up slick hills

 

[goochman]

For those following this tread I found you can turn traction control off through the left hand multi-function display in the dash. Its under the Vehicle Setting menu.

I think TC off in snow mode might be the best from a stop - hopefully we get some more snow soon so I can test this theory.