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Shifting Into Four Wheel Drive And Transmission Question

54K views 29 replies 17 participants last post by  Jerry Bransford 
#1 ·
When I test drove my new Jeep today, I drove it to a hilly dirt lot to test out the four wheel drive to make sure it worked. I've never done this with an automatic transmission vehicle before so I stopped and put it in neutral (I'm not sure why). It shifted into 4HI ok but when I tried to shift it into 4LO it made a grinding noise but did engage. What's the proper procedure for shifting into four wheel LO? Is it ok to shift into four wheel HI while moving? If so, what are the speed limits for doing so? It's going to take me some time to get used to the whole modern Jeep thing but I'm loving it so far. What an improved ride over the CJ! That coil sprung suspension is a dream on the highway.

Another question I have is with the automatic transmission. It shifts great while driving, however, when I shift into reverse, there is a slight delay before it engages. Is this normal? I'm talking 1.5 seconds or so max? Once in, it works fine. There is no slipping of the transmission in forward or reverse at all and it drives great.
 
#2 ·
i have an 01 and everything is the same as what you have so the info they gave me on purchase will be good....you can shift on the fly 100% safely at 55mph but ive dont it at 65 just to be a tool but why would you need 4x4 at a speed faster than 35mph......for 4lo i always come to a completes stop and put it in neutral and then engage it.....somtimes theres a grind sometimes not but its not to worry b/c np231s are everywhere if you tear it up
 
#3 ·
flattietj sometimes 4x4 on the fly is good for snow.. you see a patch of snow and you're going 55.. its good to be able to shift just to make sure you have the extra 2 wheels if you need them.

As for 4 lo. In one of the jeep videos i saw jeep recommend shifting to 4lo while in drive with like walking speed.. they said it will make grinding noise..
I rather not take my chances and just like flattietj i stop, shift tranny to neutral, then go to 4lo and then shift to Drive again (or 1st in my case)
 
#26 ·
flattietj sometimes 4x4 on the fly is good for snow.. you see a patch of snow and you're going 55.. its good to be able to shift just to make sure you have the extra 2 wheels if you need them.
This manuever saved a friends life.... nothing like hitting a patch of ice going 55... :whistling:
 
#4 ·
I had an issue with a 2002 TJ going into 4 low, but if I stopped, put the auto trans into neutral, shut the vehicle off, and then shifted it, it went right in, no issues. May want to give that a try.
 
#8 ·
I can't stand automatics.

So whats the max speed you can drive in 4wd? If you can just shift in at 55 I assume that's just for shifting and you can drive faster than that, that's how it was for my Ranger.
 
#11 ·
I've been known to push things a bit, I've done 85 in 4x4 in a couple vehicles in the snow, I've never had a problem with any of my transfer cases. I don't think it will hurt anything but I really don't suggest going that fast in 4x4 or in bad weather. Your transfer case is spinning the rear shaft when your driving in 2 wheel drive at high speeds, I don't see why splitting the power would hurt it. AWD vehicles vehicles do it constantly.
 
#13 ·
If there's a decent amount of snow on the ground and your driving in 2 wheel drive then you can't go very fast, but if you put it in 4x4 you can go a lot faster. You can make it threw snow in just about anything, I see people doing it in neons and geo metros all the time...in my rear view mirror.

Michigan gets a lot of snow, and when everyone else is snowed in it's fun to go play in the snow when nobody else can. You slide all over the place and there's no other cars to get in your way, the worst you do is slide into the ditch, the snow usually cushions you enough to not hurt the vehicle to bad, key word usually :D

Who cares if you break something, as long as you had fun doing it.
 
#14 ·
Hello people,
Just joined this forum as this very thread was one I found on Altavista (no, not Google). Hope I'm not stealing the thread, but question is along the same lines.

When shifting into 4 wheel drive with manual transmission, it IS necessary to use clutch, correct?

Thank you :)
 
#15 ·
No, your transfer case doesn't know when your clutch is engaged, it only knows if your transmission is in neutral or not. You only need to be in neutral to shift into 4lo You can be driving down the road and shift into 4hi in gear with no clutch.

Welcome to the forum
 
#16 ·
Thank you.

Believe it or not, haven't even tried shifting it into 4WD yet and have had it for 5 months now!! I KNOW it works though, but figured with my luck, if I tried it without being absolutely positive about this, something major would screw up!!

Thanks again :)

Actually,
You CAN be moving to shift into 4LO, and in fact, in my owners manual, it recommends doing so, but no faster than 3-5MPH, so I'm ASSUMING you just shift in 4LO with no clutch also?
 
#23 ·
Just relocated my owners manual. It DOES say to use the clutch when shifting into 4lo and to be rolling 3-5mph, but it doesn't specify using the clutch or not when shifting into 4hi?

Man!
Am I confusing myself!!

I'm going to believe that's how it is. Use clutch for 4lo, don't use clutch for 4hi. Going to get a chance to check it out sooner than I hoped, as far as snow goes, as we got some last night already. Not much, but it is coming, as much as I hate it!
 
#24 ·
My question has been answered. I shift my Jeep on the move (4H) with even pressure on the pedal and NO clutch. Finally tried it a few days ago.

Shifted smooth as silk with absolutely no noise, jerking, grinding, or anything. In fact, if the part time light hadn't came on, I wouldn't have known I was in 4WD.
 
#25 ·
so sorry to beat a dead horse on this. My heep shifts just fine into 4hi and 4lo but the light never comes on anybody have this going on? I am not going to call it a issue because it is a dummy light and if you can't feel your in 4hi or 4lo trade it in.
 
#28 ·
So to be sure, I can just pop it into 4wd while moving in my manual tranny? I'm actually pretty worried about this maneuver, I always come to a complete stop to change it. Although, I can think of several times I could have benefited from this on the highway
 
#30 ·
4Lo is not synchronized, it will often grind a bit... be sure you're at a dead-slow crawl/nearly stopped when shifting into or out of 4Lo... and for me, it shifts with less grinding doing it that way than if I'm completely stopped since a dead-slow crawl can help the gears line up better than if you're stopped.

You can shift into or out of 4Hi at any legal safe speed without grinding since 4Hi is synchronized.
 
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