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xj89
12-24-2009, 08:24 PM
okie dokie so...i got this jeep from a younger kid who goes hunting all the time with his dad and said the 4x4 worked well and never let him get stuck yadda yadda, WELL he took the vacuum lines off of the actuator on the axle to engage the 4x4 and replaced them with one line...:stars: said they would climb down there and move the vac line when needed:lame: but not the point, to test it out i moved the line in my driveway rather when needed in the mud thankfully and low and behold it went into four low:thumbsup: however one hundred feet down the road at idle speed it came to a stop and made a funny noise like something was binding:thumbdown::mad0090:so!! i got it back into two wheel and in my driveway i am a gearhead and know how to work on street machines all day BUT i don't know 4x4's:confused: PLEASE HELP

Mudderoy
12-24-2009, 08:32 PM
okie dokie so...i got this jeep from a younger kid who goes hunting all the time with his dad and said the 4x4 worked well and never let him get stuck yadda yadda, WELL he took the vacuum lines off of the actuator on the axle to engage the 4x4 and replaced them with one line...:stars: said they would climb down there and move the vac line when needed:lame: but not the point, to test it out i moved the line in my driveway rather when needed in the mud thankfully and low and behold it went into four low:thumbsup: however one hundred feet down the road at idle speed it came to a stop and made a funny noise like something was binding:thumbdown::mad0090:so!! i got it back into two wheel and in my driveway i am a gearhead and know how to work on street machines all day BUT i don't know 4x4's:confused: PLEASE HELP

Well if you are in 4x4 part time then it will feel like a bind when you try to turn. The front wheels are locked to the rear wheels. When you turn to the left or the right you are making the front wheels turn faster than the rear, so you'll get binding.

Part time 4x4 should only be used on slippery surfaces.

Do you know what transfer case you have? NP231, NP242? If not just tell us what it says on the transfer case selector.

xj89
12-24-2009, 08:42 PM
i had it in four low and what do you mean by the transfer case selector ...like inside?

Mudderoy
12-24-2009, 08:45 PM
i had it in four low and what do you mean by the transfer case selector ...like inside?

Yeah the selector inside. Well if you had it in 4x4 lo it doesn't matter if it is a NP231 or NP242 you had it in 4x4 Part Time.

Were you trying to turn the wheels when you felt the bind?

xj89
12-24-2009, 08:49 PM
no was not turning it will roll straight for about ten feet then start binding and come to a stop without touching the brakes

Mudderoy
12-24-2009, 09:00 PM
no was not turning it will roll straight for about ten feet then start binding and come to a stop without touching the brakes

Well I'm at a loss then. I had a problem with a stretched chain. I would get a popping noise as I came to a stop. Then later it would make a hell of a noise and you could feel something was very wrong.

Hmmm have you checked the ring and pinion in the front diff? How about u-joints on the drive shaft and axles?

Hopefully someone will jump in here soon with more experience with the problem you are having.

xj89
12-24-2009, 11:02 PM
you may have been more help than you know...just a thought, i was under the impression that all four tires turn at the same rate of speed, could it be binding cause im on asphalt?

xj89
12-24-2009, 11:16 PM
thank you very much mudderoy for helping an ignorant noob you said(Part time 4x4 should only be used on slippery surfaces.) wich fixed the entire situation for me now hopefully i diidnt screw anything up to bad...NOOBS lol thank you again:oops::smiley-angelic011:

Mudderoy
12-25-2009, 12:17 AM
you may have been more help than you know...just a thought, i was under the impression that all four tires turn at the same rate of speed, could it be binding cause im on asphalt?

Well if all the wheels and tires are the same size, and you are going straight on a level surface then yes all the wheels should be turning at the same rate. As soon as you add in an unlevel surface, like a rock on one side, or you start turning the front wheels, then the wheels start turning at different rates. If the front wheels are locked to the rear wheels then one or more wheels must slip, or the transfer case chain must slip over the teeth of the gears (bad), or the chain has to stretch (bad) or break.

I wouldn't think that going straight in part time 4x4 would make your rig come to a stop in idle.

Mudderoy
12-25-2009, 12:21 AM
thank you very much mudderoy for helping an ignorant noob you said(Part time 4x4 should only be used on slippery surfaces.) wich fixed the entire situation for me now hopefully i diidnt screw anything up to bad...NOOBS lol thank you again:oops::smiley-angelic011:

I believe the service manual says the transfer case chain should be replaced at 100k miles. That is about when mine went out on me. One of the problems I had (noobish) was that my NP242 wouldn't switch out of part time 4x4. I would have it in full time, then switching back to 2wd hi it would get stuck in part time 4x4.

I found out from a couple of members here that I needed to be going about 25 mph, shift the transmission into neutral, then push the transfer case lever to 2wd high. Unloading the transfer case let me get it to 2wd high almost 100% of the time.

I hear this is only a problem with the NP242 as they age, so if you have a NP231 this tidbit of information may not be relevant.

Hey if that fixed it great. I still don't understand why it would slow you down going straight and level.

cheap jeep
12-25-2009, 03:11 PM
If 1 or more tires was a little low on air it would roll a little different distance,and possibly bind.

4.3LXJ
12-25-2009, 07:16 PM
There are others who have had this problem, including me on my 84 Toyota. It is caused generally by different gear ratios between front and rear ends. Check the tags on them and see what they say.

Mudderoy
12-25-2009, 07:27 PM
There are others who have had this problem, including me on my 84 Toyota. It is caused generally by different gear ratios between front and rear ends. Check the tags on them and see what they say.

I never even thought of that. How much of a difference would there have to be? 3.55 and 4.11 for example?

4.3LXJ
12-25-2009, 07:41 PM
About a few feet before it stops on pavement. I had a 4.11 in the front and 4.27 in the rear on the yota and it did not like that all.

xj89
12-28-2009, 03:41 PM
i took it up to shasta lake area and tested it out, once i was in the dirt it did just fine and outperformed my brother's 2006 chevy 4x4 :>

Mudderoy
12-28-2009, 03:53 PM
i took it up to shasta lake area and tested it out, once i was in the dirt it did just fine and outperformed my brother's 2006 chevy 4x4 :>

Hey thanks for the follow up. It's great when you find out the problem was just a problem in how you understood how things work instead of having to spend money and time.

alwaysxj
12-28-2009, 05:02 PM
from what you have said two things come to mind different r&p gears or the cv joint on the front drive line is bad. my cv went out on my 94 and it was verry bad it hoped and skiped when it was in 4x4. take the front drive line out and check the front cv.

pvt.Tadpol xj
12-30-2009, 05:23 PM
Sorry i cannot be exactly right, But possibly a U-joint. over time if they have not been serviced regulary I mean fresh grease... they can have issues..