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Jeep JK offroading question


Arno

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This weekend I drove a JK 2dr, and have to say, what an amazing smooth drive, especially when you compare it to my TJ.

 

I've got a question. With the TJ, when I select 4wd regardless if it's 4H or 4L, I can do it whilst stationary (my TJ is manual), as well when moving slowly.

 

With the automatic JK, it seems the vehicle needs to be moving when selecting 4wd, is this normal for the automatics? Oh and the transfer lever was rather stiff, not as easy to move as what I was expecting

 

If this is normal, then I guess one needs to plan ahead when offroading, to ensure you are in 4wd before attempting anything, compare to my TJ, where I can easily select 4wd if i get stuck.

 

Eager to hear your views on this!

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100% normal. Do not ever force it. )There is a small piece of plastic that will make your life hell for a few minutes having to pop it back in)

 

Get the JK rolling forward slowly then neutral gear and shift into or out of 4 low. 

 

Repeat that process if it does not shift smoothly.

 

4 hi on the fly on the other hand much easier than the TJ. 

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Ok .. it did took me a while to work it can only change whilst moving, guess an automatic future then 😉

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as Jim says Arno, normal. You can shift into 4Hi anytime but, yes, some planning ahead is a good idea if you want 4Low as it's tricky to select it once you're already stuck as ideally you need to be rolling shift into neutral then shift the transfer gears to 4Low then back into drive. I tend to shift it into 4Low in advance if there's any possibility I'm going to need it as it's not something you want to be faffing around with when things are going pear shaped. 

The other thing is that it can be very difficult to actually get into 4Low if the vehicle is new or has had very little use in 4Low. The first time I took mine out for 'proper off roading' was a Club outing on Salisbury Plains a few years ago and switching between 4Low and 4Hi ( or anything else really ) was a nightmare. Kept having to apologise to everyone behind me while I held them up trying to get it in gear. I actually thought there was something faulty with it but the advice from the likes of Stewart and Jim was "stick with it" after a while and some use it does free up and get a lot easier. Practice also helps.

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Stew the Jeep

Bit of a tip every now and then take your Jeep onto a gravel surface and drive it a few yards with pertinent transfer case levers moved eg 2wd-4wd hi low keeps the mechanism lubricated

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