Did I break something?

[KevinC11]

I would suggest a Off Road Driving 101 course before you do something else.

KevinC

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[GATORB8]

Hey all, thanks for the replies on insight. Really appreciate the help, I know how dumb this has to sound for you guys. I’ll do more reading and start off-roading the jeep more iteratively to hopefully avoid as many mishaps as I can in the future.

Things learned so far:
- Snow is deeper than I think
- Tracks in the snow doesn’t mean it’s able to be traversed
- Soft snow is worse
- Once snow gets in the tread, it’s like a slick
- 4L is for crawling
- Lockers won’t help when there isn’t any traction
- No turning with lockers, and 4L doesn’t like it either
- No 4L and definitely no lockers on pavement

Other advice?

- Once snow gets in the tread, it’s like a slick

This is a trait of All-Terrains like the KO2. Same thing can happen in mud. You'll notice that mud terrains have open/tapered voids so they can throw it out.

- 4L is for crawling

Not as much crawling as it is for control. You've still got all eight trans speeds. Helps a lot to increase engine braking in situations where you do not want to allow your brakes to lock up.

- No turning with lockers, and 4L doesn’t like it either

Basically the less traction the easier it will be to turn with lockers. You'll likely end up doing some of it since the stock elockers are super slow to disengage. The combo of front locker and 4 low will make it difficult to even turn the wheel on hard surfaces. One of the reasons for how the switch is split. With just rears engaged, you can still turn the wheel off road.

- No 4L and definitely no lockers on pavement

You got it.

 

[meechy6ix0]

- Once snow gets in the tread, it’s like a slick

This is a trait of All-Terrains like the KO2. Same thing can happen in mud. You'll notice that mud terrains have open/tapered voids so they can throw it out.

- 4L is for crawling

Not as much crawling as it is for control. You've still got all eight trans speeds. Helps a lot to increase engine braking in situations where you do not want to allow your brakes to lock up.

- No turning with lockers, and 4L doesn’t like it either

Basically the less traction the easier it will be to turn with lockers. You'll likely end up doing some of it since the stock elockers are super slow to disengage. The combo of front locker and 4 low will make it difficult to even turn the wheel on hard surfaces. One of the reasons for how the switch is split. With just rears engaged, you can still turn the wheel off road.

- No 4L and definitely no lockers on pavement

You got it.

Great, thanks. Question for the steering with lockers. When I was trying to straighten the wheels to disengage the lockers, the steering wheel felt looser and easier to turn, but in reality it wasn’t turn the wheels straight very quickly as I had to keep centering it and rolling and letting the steering wheel turn by itself to nudge it back to center and repeating that until the Jeep straightened out. Why was it behaving like that? Unless I’m misremembering and it was actually really physically hard to turn in that moment.

 

[meechy6ix0]

I would suggest a Off Road Driving 101 course before you do something else.

KevinC

I’m going to do that once I get back. I didn’t even think of that or know it exists. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[NWJeepr]

Everybody learns somewhere, none of us were born knowing this stuff...

I'm not sure about an "off road driving school", I mean, maybe. Most people plug into local Jeep groups that host adventures. If they make you feel dumb for asking questions, it's probably not the right group.

Ditto on what others said, you didn't hurt anything. When you can avoid it, don't use 4L or lockers on pavement. Someday you will probably use both on rock, like in Moab, maybe. You just have to know where to be careful and when to disengage lockers and 4L so you don't put too much stress on the driveline.

You probably did a good thing by not attempting to winch yourself out. Recovery is a whole different school, and you'll want to learn from actual experts on that. Recovery can go poorly in a hurry. This is where you need knowledgeable Jeep friends.

Chalk it up to adventure, now get back out there and enjoy your Jeep!...

 

[GATORB8]

Great, thanks. Question for the steering with lockers. When I was trying to straighten the wheels to disengage the lockers, the steering wheel felt looser and easier to turn, but in reality it wasn’t turn the wheels straight very quickly as I had to keep centering it and rolling and letting the steering wheel turn by itself to nudge it back to center and repeating that until the Jeep straightened out. Why was it behaving like that? Unless I’m misremembering and it was actually really hard to turn in that moment.

It gets hard to visualize what's going on with the axles. The rear locked wants to go straight forward. The front locked wants to go exactly where it's pointed. The T-Case in 4 wants both front and rear to spin at the same rate. The only way those three things happen together is when it's pointed straight forward.

 

[meechy6ix0]

Everybody learns somewhere, none of us were born knowing this stuff...

I'm not sure about an "off road driving school", I mean, maybe. Most people plug into local Jeep groups that host adventures. If they make you feel dumb for asking questions, it's probably not the right group.

Ditto on what others said, you didn't hurt anything. When you can avoid it, don't use 4L or lockers on pavement. Someday you will probably use both on rock, like in Moab, maybe. You just have to know where to be careful and when to disengage lockers and 4L so you don't put too much stress on the driveline.

You probably did a good thing by not attempting to winch yourself out. Recovery is a whole different school, and you'll want to learn from actual experts on that. Recovery can go poorly in a hurry. This is where you need knowledgeable Jeep friends.

Chalk it up to adventure, now get back out there and enjoy your Jeep!...

Thanks for the reassurance. I’m looking forward to making some new friends in the hobby. My partner and I thought it was funny that our previous car activities and friends were always late at night and nowhere to be found during the day, but on our drive here in the morning we found dozens of over landing and off-roading builds instead.

 

[meechy6ix0]

It gets hard to visualize what's going on with the axles. The rear locked wants to go straight forward. The front locked wants to go exactly where it's pointed. The T-Case in 4 wants both front and rear to spin at the same rate. The only way those three things happen together is when it's pointed straight forward.

Gotcha. I’ll just conclude that I’m misremembering that the steering wheel felt loose when I was trying to straighten out with the front lockers engaged.

 

[JeepFiend]

Gotcha. I’ll just conclude that I’m misremembering that the steering wheel felt loose when I was trying to straighten out with the front lockers engaged.

meh, stuff feels weird off road...if you were locked on ice/snow it's possible the "loose steering" was just the locker breaking traction and sliding (every things is easier in a slide :D). And 4LO isn't just for crawling, it has it's place, and you'll learn with experience when you prefer to be in 4LO vs 4Hi. A 101 course, or hooking up with a local 4x club is about the best thing you can do, IMHO.

 

[meechy6ix0]

meh, stuff feels weird off road...if you were locked on ice/snow it's possible the "loose steering" was just the locker breaking traction and sliding (every things is easier in a slide :D). And 4LO isn't just for crawling, it has it's place, and you'll learn with experience when you prefer to be in 4LO vs 4Hi. A 101 course, or hooking up with a local 4x club is about the best thing you can do, IMHO.

I was on pavement, this was after I was pulled out and I was trying to straighten out so I could disengage the locker. So not sure what I was feeling. I just remember thinking this felt loose.

And got it, I would like to explore the vehicle’s capabilities. Just have to be more cautious and restrained on how. I’ll look for a course/group soon.

 

[Rubi6mt]

I would suggest a Off Road Driving 101 course before you do something else.

KevinC

100% agree

 

[tomk62]

@meechy6ix0 to be clear, you want to avoid (sharp) turns in 4L or 4H on dry pavement. The reason is that the wheels spin at different rates in a turn, and when you're on dry pavement one wheel has too much grip and can't slip to catch up to the other wheel, which can cause a binding and snap of the gears. When on dirt, or mud, or wet pavement, then that wheel can slip and not bind.

 

[SargeDiesel]

Likely nothing.

Just remember that 4 Lo on pavement is a no-no.

Please explain ?
Tnx

 

[Recce]

Please explain ?
Tnx

Do not use 4H or 4L mode on dry, hard surfaced roads. Doing so will produce excessive noise, increase tire wear and may damage drive components. 4H and 4L mode is only intended for consistently slippery or loose surfaces. Google knows

 

[SargeDiesel]

Do not use 4H or 4L mode on dry, hard surfaced roads. Doing so will produce excessive noise, increase tire wear and may damage drive components. 4H and 4L mode is only intended for consistently slippery or loose surfaces. Google knows

Yeah... definitely going to have to Google it up. I would also like to find an offroad 101 course close by... but so far no joy.
For people not use to 4x4... the simple system doesn't seem so simple.
Still wrapping my head around it, coming from an AWD, things are a little different.

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