Big Bend Capability

[Cabezone]

You’re both right. Turn off traction control and you don’t lose torque due to individual wheel braking, but you do give up transferring power to the wheel with better traction. It’s a trade off. In some situations more wheel spin (sand mode allows more wheel spin) is better. In others you want maximum traction. The trick is know which is which.

That's incorrect, even with it off it still applies the brake locking to keep the tires spinning at the same speed.

You pretty much wanted to disable traction control anytime you're off road.

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[Cabezone]

i dunno, me personally the 1.5 is stout. power isnt everything, i mean it helps, but ive also owned suzuki samurai and sidekick/trackers, that were unstoppable offroad. and the sidekicks were rated at 87 hp haha.
my dodge w150 power ram has about 275 hp, and it has been stuck … ALOT lol too heavy.
traction control off, my base model is a lil tank.

Those little Suzukis were true four-wheel drive with low range and were incredibly light.

I'm not saying the base models are useless off-road they're just significantly less capable than the Badlands and people should keep that in mind when they see Badlands reviews and off-road tests.

 

[hwildey]

If you start out with the Low range switch engaged , I will say you have plenty of Torque from the 1.5, if needed . Switch off the Traction Control & the Wheel braking doesn't hinder you ,if needed .

As said , above , it's a pretty capable system .

I have been wondering about that L switch. The owners manual is not super clear, I think it just drops you a gear from where you are, so from a stop you are in the lowest gear you got? Also.... if you switch off the traction control you will not have the problem of going nowhere if both rear wheels are slipping, your wheels will keep spinning? I thought the traction control system was the one monitoring wheel slippage and transferring power to the non slipping wheels, so if it is off your wheels spin, that makes sense. I noticed traction control is turned off in Sand mode. For us Big Benders, is Normal with traction control off the closest thing we get to a true 4x4 experience? Would it ever be advisable to be in Sport with traction control off?


Thanks in advance, sorry, my 1 question turned into several.

 

[Dude]

… I noticed traction control is turned off in Sand mode. …Would it ever be advisable to be in Sport with traction control off?

The “time to turn off traction control is when stuck in mud, sand, snow, or ice”, “If your car gets stuck, you need the wheels to spin furiously to dig through the mud, snow, ice, or sand to find solid ground. Most times, once your car reaches the bottom of the substance, you can regain traction and move on your way”

from: https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/traction-control/

 

[Bucko]

From the reads I have experienced here on this forum, I'd be cautious with how much water I forge through. Seems the weakest link is the location of the PCM.

 

[hwildey]

The “time to turn off traction control is when stuck in mud, sand, snow, or ice”, “If your car gets stuck, you need the wheels to spin furiously to dig through the mud, snow, ice, or sand to find solid ground. Most times, once your car reaches the bottom of the substance, you can regain traction and move on your way”

from: https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/traction-control/

Just to be sure, turning off Traction Control does not turn off the smart AWD system? All 4 wheels are going to dig for you but it doesn't do the brake/reroute power to nonspinning wheels?

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