RWD wheel spin

I don’t understand the ‘put the weight over the axle’ comment. The further back the weight is, the more of the total weight will be on the rear axle.

Having a lot of weight behind the rear axle can cause directional instability, especially if combined with low tire pressure in the rear tires.
Pickups loaded with a lot of weight behind the axle will ‘fishtail’ at high speeds. So will trailers that don’t have enough weight on the hitch.

Texases…technically you are correct. But, the added weight to the rear of the axle is gained by being levered off the front wheels, not a good handling situation. Like BLE states, that happens with high tongue weights when trailering which makes load leveling hitches necessary. Added weight should always be put on or between the axles.

I think throttle “tip in” is an issue in this case. Mfg’rs can make a car feel peppier by making a little push on the petal create a big affect on the engine, ie. a lot of throttle tip in. Jeep Liberty is not a heavy vehicle and wheel spin with a normal (non locking) differential is very easy to induce.

Check the engine and make sure they didn’t put an extra powerful one in there by accident.

The 3.7 six used in Libertys is at the low end of the spectrum as far as Horsepower in class is concerned. It is really more of a truck then a car motor…extra power with these motors is never the problem. With a max of 5200 rpm but decent low end grunt (235 ft. Lbs) it could easily be a problem with lead foots…like all poorly balance rwd trucks. This post has gone on too long over explaining the obvious.

Yeah … lots of feedback. Thanks though. Not the tires, not my driving style (lead foot), so it must be RWD … which is what I thought to begin with. Not enough weight in the back, so the tires easily spin. I didn’t know that pickups had the same issue, but I do now.

“not my driving style”

No offense, but I think it is. If I can drive a rwd car that’s about 800 pounds lighter, with roughly double the HP and double the torque and manage not to spin the tires on wet roads, then you’re doing something wrong.

I suspect there are several factors involved. However from reading your responses, you seem to be unwilling to take responsibility for your driving style and you are looking for another reason. Those other reasons are real, but it would appear that your driving style is also real and part of the problem.

Kinda flattered that some think I’m this aggressive driver with a lead foot. Sorry to dissapoint but I’m not (my wife thinks the notion is humorous). Since I can’t take you on a drive around town it might be futile to try to convince you otherwise. My best shot is … (1) While I’m having very frequent wheel spin with my RWD vehicle, again, I’ve never had it with my AWD or FWD vehicles. After 25+ years of driving … has my driving style changed overnight? Highly unlikely. Are we saying that I’ve got a “degree” of lead footedness that causes constant wheel spin on a RWD vehicle, but absolutely no wheel spin on FWD vehicle. That would be a very small sweet spot, if it even existed, so this too is very unlikely. (2) If I was the kind of driver that shoots into the intersection as soon as the light turns green … would I really have bought a Jeep Liberty? Really? If take off at great speed was of concern to me I’d buy a small SUV?

"What Edmunds Says

The 2010 Jeep Liberty can certainly hack it in the bushes, but it struggles on the pavement."

We have an 09 at work, I can test drive it tomorrow and see how it does.

My personal vehicle I have been very happy with the michelin crossterrain tire, no longer made, replaced by Michelin Lattitude tour, so my tire guy says. My old tires are getting close to replacement, but did fine in last weeks first snow of the year, so I’ll wait to replace them.

For happiness and safety, even though it is sad to have to spend $800 on new tires for a new car, replacing tires would be my reccomendation.

Tire Rack ratings for OEM Goodyears - wet traction 4.0, hyrdoplanning resistance 4.1. That is why I changed the tires after six months to Yokohama Geolander H/TS - wet traction 8.4, hydroplanning resistance 8.3. The Michelin Latitute Tour have the exact same ratings as the Yokohama in regards to these two “factors”.

And the Yokahama’s are less expensive, Maybe I’ll give those a try. Thanks. Too bad you are still having troubles.

(1) While I’m having very frequent wheel spin with my RWD vehicle, again, I’ve never had it with my AWD or FWD vehicles. After 25+ years of driving … has my driving style changed overnight? Highly unlikely. Are we saying that I’ve got a “degree” of lead footedness that causes constant wheel spin on a RWD vehicle, but absolutely no wheel spin on FWD vehicle. That would be a very small sweet spot, if it even existed, so this too is very unlikely.

(2) If I was the kind of driver that shoots into the intersection as soon as the light turns green … would I really have bought a Jeep Liberty? Really? If take off at great speed was of concern to me I’d buy a small SUV?

I have over 50 years of driving experience and I can say I have never had a problem with RWD. It is slightly more sensitive than FWD or AWD, but frankly, I find it hard that you are having any difficulty with RWD unless you are pushing it.

That said, I wonder if the cause may lie, at least in part, with the tyres and not the driver. Different tyres, sizes, tread patterns and rubber formulas can make a serious difference as well as air pressure can. What is your air pressure set to? What is the pressure recommended by the car’s manufacturer?

I have over 50 years of driving experience and I can say I have never had a problem with RWD. It is slightly more sensitive than FWD or AWD, but frankly, I find it hard that you are having any difficulty with RWD unless you are pushing it.

Depends on the vehicle. While my 4runner with AT tires and in RWD doesn’t experience this…my 68 Firebird with the BEST snow tires and studs available…would spin like crazy. The high HP/Torque and very light rear-end made it very very easy to spin the rear tires.

Here’s a wild idea / question:

Does the Jeep Liberty offer the option of starting off from a stop in Second Gear?
If yes, use that.

BC.

(1) While I’m having very frequent wheel spin with my RWD vehicle, again, I’ve never had it with my AWD or FWD vehicles. After 25+ years of driving … has my driving style changed overnight?

Perhaps, just perhaps, you are spinning the tire because of you 25+ years of driving with FWD or AWD vehicles. Also, perhaps, just perhaps, the pavement at the intersection you mentioned in you Jan 13 post has a bit of polishing of the pavement. If so, then you have a greater chance of spinning a tire on a RWD vehicle. From your posts, it appears you don’t spin the tires there with FWD or AWD, but do with RWD.

Since you are turning, you are un-weighting a drive wheel in a vehicle that has a “light” rear end, similar to a P/U. That is not the same as your FWD, which has more weight on thise tires even when turning. As for the AWD, the odds of spinning the tire are even less. Add in less available traction on the road surface and, yes, you can spin the tire quite un-intentionally.

Look, you’re just not used to a RWD car. I grew up driving them. It’s much easier to spin the tires on a RWD car. On a FWD car, you have all the weight of the engine and transaxle over the driven wheels. (the fronts) With a RWD car, you have a light back end and have to adjust your driving habits accordingly. Ultimately, RWD cars will typically handle better than FWD cars, but you have to know what you’re doing to get this benefit. A grippier tire might help, as might keeping the gas tank full and putting some extra weight in the back, but really it just takes some getting used to. I drive a RWD car with about 120 more HP than you have and I can start off without spinning the tires in the wet if I’m careful. Or light them up on dry pavement if I want to. You just need to adjust a little to the difference if you’re going to keep the vehicle. Using the 4WD feature might help in snow or ice, but if you’re engaging and disengaging it all the time just to cope with damp roads, you’re going to put a lot of wear on it.

Got our first snow/ice of the winter and the RWD is a hoot. Me and a friend took the car out and we were racing around and sliding all over the place … it was great fun. So I’m used to the RWD now. Narrowly missed a few other cars … particularly with my bud driving … but gotta let off some steam. Can’t wait for the next ice storm.

I think that many manufacturers are a lot less honest about how much power their products make. In many cars these days, the throttle is calibrated such that it orders a lot of power in the initial travel then the throttle response is dulled.

This nonlinear throttle response helps to mask the fact that the engine is not all that powerful, as almost no one hammers on a brand new car during a test drive. It also makes a vehicle annoying to drive in heavy traffic and even unsafe on slippery road, as the driver needs to be extra careful with the throttle at low speed driving.