Offroad-Express

hey. i've got a 95 Jeep cherokee and its my daily runner. however i've become more and more keen to take it offroad. but since i bought it at an auction, it didnt come with a manual or anything so im not too sure how to use my 4WD gears. any help would be great! thanks

ok ,this is from memory of an earlier cherokee but i think they are the same

you have 2 levers,
one is your gearbox ie:12345(or auto)
the other is your transfer case ie:4x4

there are two things to remember with the jeep T case,it has part time 4x4 and full time 4x4.

the full time 4x4 setting is for use when a little more than 2wd traction is needed like on snowy roads or gravel raods etc as it slips in the transfer case diff.

the part time 4x4 is when you want it to be really 4x4 and need the front and rear drive all locked together.do not use this option when on the road as you will break things

now all of this is relating to an older model so if any of it doesnt sound quite right,consult your jeep specialist

hey thanks for that! yeah it sounds a little confusing.. well not really.. but i'll have to find a jeep specialist to teach me before i go offroad cos i dont want to break anything. that would be bad. but yeah thanks for the help!

Yes wopass, your description was right all the way through. I'd guarantee its an auto which means it will have 1-2 gear right back on the auto. If held in that position they will stay in 1st till quite high revs before changing up and as soon as speed gets slowish it will lurch back into 1st.

It is easy to fit a switch to lock it into second in situations where less torque is required such as wet grass.

The girl from Myspace, I'm glad you found our little community

Kent

haha! yep. im the girl from myspace!

And yeah its an auto so its got the 1-2 gear. which gear do i put it in so i can use my transfer case? sorry if this is sounding really lame and amateur.. but i've gotta learn sometime.

ok....

you have your normal lever which has all your
P
R
N
D
3
2
1

and then you have another seperate lever next to it which i think has
2WD
PT4WD
FT4WD

so get yourself in a paddock/grassy area or gravel road or something like that and ...

STOP select Neutral( N ) then move your transfer lever into one of the other options ie:FT4WD and drive...instant 4x4 as i think they have auto hubs so you dont even have to get out...i think...

this is really difficult to explain in a typed message ..mad.. so so so much easyer in person....ok, where are you? in NZ ? if you are there has to be one of us that can show you as i think i just confused myself with all the typing i just did, lol

Hey, I almost understood what you said

I guess the full time 4WD and part time 4WD need a little clarification.

Part time 4WD: This locks all 4 wheels together, as long as they are all on the ground (in rough terrain it is possible to lift one wheel, which will cause lack of traction). This is your best option in the 'rough' as it will provide the most drive to your tyres.

Full time 4WD: This option give you a 4WD thats half way between the part time option and normal 2WD. Probably best described as a winter driving option. Good for slippery roads, skifield roads, etc.

To me it seems they named it accurately, but in a kind of stupid way for people who have not used 4WDs much, as the descriptions probably seem arse-about-face But they are the correct terms. Part time 4WD is the most 4WDey option

Best bet, as mentioned, is to let us know where you are and come out for a quiet play with some of us to get to know the vehicle and its ability offroad.

Welcome to the board, btw.

Steve

yee ha.

A lady 4wder. About bloody time.

Here is some more info to throw in the melting pot. Its from one of our most experienced members of the club that has recently purchased the same vehicle.

If she is going to try 4WD for the first time she should ignore all the
rest, and just use 4LO. To get this she is going to need to be stopped, with
the auto in NEUTRAL, and pull the 4WD selector right back as far as she can.
If it hasn't been used much this may be very stiff, but she needs to be sure
it has fully engaged.
When she puts it into Drive, an orange "PART TIME" sign will come on on the
RH side of the main instrument panel.
Dont drive on a hard surface like Tar Seal or concrete in this
configuration.
To get back to normal she will need to be stopped and in Neutral, and it
will probably be an act to get it out of LO. They free up pretty quick after
a bit of use.
The sign will go out when she puts it back into drive.

Its george again. John also mentioned that you should be using 1 and 2 for the down hill and steep up hill stuff but they are very low gears and you should stop before selecting them.

I think thats what he meant.

Enjoy.

G

Thanks for all the help! i really didnt expect so many replies! and im living in Hamilton.. yeah that would be awesome if some of you guys lived around here. I live over in flagstaff (its one of the newer development areas in hamilton) so theres heaps of land behind my house. im gonna try and take the jeep out there today just to get an idea of the 4wd gears and such. then i can let you guys know if i had any problems or difficulties. hopefully the previous owners have loosened up the gears for me! haha. but thanks again for all the help you guys are so awesome!

Guess thats your area Ben

hey thats me in a nutshell, and or pete, were in the same neighbourhood best as we get you sorted out so you can come with us on some of our play trips

if you want you can give me a call or text and i can pop over and give you some tutoring/lessons and then you can cut loose

Can we put it through the articulation test???



Pleeeease

Shouldn't you take it straight to Thompsons Track for testing?

Well, you're in capable hands.,.. I could say good hands, but i'll stick to capable for now and let you make your own mind up Have fun playing...

Steve

duhhh forgot to put my number in,

027 2705895

have sent PM as well

im sure we can get you going in the right direction

yay!! oh im so excited. yeah i took Eli (thats his name hehe) out on some of the empty land today. it was only for like 1 minute.. but i managed to get him into 4LO and wow i didnt realise how much power it has!! it was great fun while it lasted haha. Yep and i saved your number wopass so i'll be giving you a text probably tonight or tomorrow. I'm off to Rotorua early Wednesday morning till Thurs afternoon so maybe we can plan something for the weekend? i'll text you though.

Oh! And one more thing. When i put the 4wd gear back into 2wd and drove normally, the orange "Part Time" light was still on. hmm..

well a good day i think, putting around you did very welll i thought

thanks! well i had a good teacher! hope your dog didnt make your car too dirty after he got into that water haha.

nah thats one of the advantages of a short hair dog, dirt and mud just falls off them, and the back of the bus is his area so a little mud doesnt matter was good getting him out for a run to get some fitness into him so when hes carrying near on 15kg in a pack into the bush it doesnt kill him ....

yes he has a pack and carrys all his own food and gear no way im carrying it for him i mean, he is a small horse after all

but back to the driving lesson, i think next lesson should involve some mud and actual tracks so, maybe thompsons is on the cards, just a shiny trip to the top maybe

and me ? a good teacher ? ...why shucks im so flattered

Shariya85: Im not sure how dead this thread is but the PtTime 4X4 light is a common jeep thing, One of my Cherokees will not go out of 4X4 part time unless its no grass. the other i have to take it to about 30km/h then go from 4x4 PtTime to 2wd then button off the juce before it drops back.

Andrew

All depends which transfer case you have got , it could be a NP( NV)231 which is part time , then again jeep used heaps of different versions maybe best to buy a second hand service manaul off ebay or trademe or buy a new one for your year .

I had a a 82' FSJ ( cherokee/wagoneer ) and a 68 or 69 J2000 a few years ago .

hahaha, nice grave dig What did happen too her Wopass?? I recall some reasonable attributes

Just found this thread so not sure if the light problem is still a problem.

I have found that sometimes in wagons I have driven (for work, toy, Nissan and Mitsi) that although you are in 2wd you have to reverse up a bit and then drive forward an couple of times to get everything to release (usually hear or feel a clunk). This was more of a problem with auto locking hubs but maybe the tcase is under tension and the switch isnt releasing.

Dont know if this helped, but ya never know. Of course it could just be a sticky switch, after all the jeep and landrover were born about the same time so maybe they used some of the "accountants recommendations" when it came to buying parts are still in play.

Heath