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21 JL first outing, what did i do wrong?

Bobbys

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Ok so i took my jeep rubicon on its first outing on saturday.
Mind you im new to jeeps and wheelin.
Jeep is a totally stock JL Diesel rubicon

I tried 4 wheel low with lockers on for kicks. Wow did it make a racket. Is that normal?

The other thing i notices was, wow i had like zero brakes. Why did i all of a sudden have a mushy brake pedal? This was a very mild trail.

I also tried the 4X4 offroad cruise control, wow that thing is strange as hell. The jeep made even more groans and noise with that on.

The other thing that happened was, i noticed it popped out of 4 wheel drive twice and kicked itself into neutral.

What the hell did i do wrong?
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desmo2

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4 low and lockers are for very low speed, crawling over rough terrain. If you are on a trail resembling more of a rough road, all you need is 4WD. If the terrain has too much traction, you will bind up your drive train in sharper turns. You shouldn't even be using 4WD on dry pavement, and for goodness sake don't use the lockers on dry pavement!

If you are asking too much speed of your 4L and lockers, it may well make unsavory noises.
 
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Thanks, any idea why i all off a sudden had no brakes?
 

ToolMan514

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It happens to many of us that the first few times you put it in 4L that it pops out. After 3 years, I still have to make sure to "slam" it into 4L to make sure it stays.

Like mentioned above, do not use lockers on dry pavement. Turning will put a lot of force on your axles shafts.

The reason it feels like you don't have brakes is because of the amount of torque in 4L, especially with the diesel.
 
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Bobbys

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It happens to many of us that the first few times you put it in 4L that it pops out. After 3 years, I still have to make sure to "slam" it into 4L to make sure it stays.

Like mentioned above, do not use lockers on dry pavement. Turning will put a lot of force on your axles shafts.

The reason it feels like you don't have brakes is because of the amount of torque in 4L, especially with the diesel.
ok thanks, yea i would never do it on pavement. I was actually in some fairly rocky steep terrain.
I was just surprised i couldn't stop.
 

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WRT to the brakes, it probably just feels like that due to the significant torque available, even at idle, to the wheels. As for the popping into N from 4LOW, that's likely because they transfer case shifter needs to be slightly adjusted. It can be done by you or the dealer, there's a thread around here explaining how. With the noise, if you're going too fast, it'll make a grinding gear noise, too slow and it's difficult to pull into LOW.
 

40”JLURD

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Ok so i took my jeep rubicon on its first outing on saturday.
Mind you im new to jeeps and wheelin.
Jeep is a totally stock JL Diesel rubicon

I tried 4 wheel low with lockers on for kicks. Wow did it make a racket. Is that normal?

The other thing i notices was, wow i had like zero brakes. Why did i all of a sudden have a mushy brake pedal? This was a very mild trail.

I also tried the 4X4 offroad cruise control, wow that thing is strange as hell. The jeep made even more groans and noise with that on.

The other thing that happened was, i noticed it popped out of 4 wheel drive twice and kicked itself into neutral.

What the hell did i do wrong?
This happened to me until I read the manual.

It stated you can shift into and out of 4H at up to 45 MPH.

BUT

WHEN shifting to 4 LOW you should do it while rolling at 1-3MPH. NOT at a dead stop.

1. Get rolling (forward or back)
2. Pop trans into neutral
3. While rolling at 1 to 3 MPH (but not over 3) shift transfer case into 4 LOW
4. Do NOT PAUSE IN NEUTRAL, make one swift shift from 4Hi to 4Low

If you do it this way it’ll never pop out again once you get it right.

Something about the teeth don’t line up most of the time while your stopped. Stupid that Jeep made it like that

Popping out of 4Low is straight forward and doesn’t seem to be an issue while stopped. But I typically just do it at 1 to 3 mph now also while driving
 
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Bobbys

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lol good to know i have company! Thanks for the thoughts
 

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SilverSurfer

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Your brake problem could be related to the hill decent that was most probably switched on.
 
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Bobbys

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What does off-road + do
LOL I must look like an idiot to you guys haha

I just got off-road and hit every button I could LOL I’m an idiot
 

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i did , no idea what it did though.
I might actually have to pull out the manual it seems.
Read the manual. :)

I activated Off-Road+ on my 2.0T and yeah it makes the engine feel stronger and takes more pressure on the brake pedal to stop.
 

shane340

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What kind of “racket” was it making? What speed did you do? Flooring it in 4L would certainly make a racket and isn’t was 4L is used for. 4L with both lockers should be for extremely rough terrain where traction is very limited - think crawling over large boulders, steep inclines with loose/rough terrain, mud, or washouts.

I reserve 4L for slow crawls where I hardly touch the throttle, the JL will crawl by itself. Other than bumping over large rocks, I’m on the brake with no throttle at all. The majority of the trail other than obstacles is done in 2H at 12-18psi. Putting it in 4H and disconnecting the sway bar is another way I like to drive on the trail for high speeds (10-30mph) greater traction and smoother ride over bumpy sections with small rocks, mud holes, or loose gravel with holes/washouts.
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