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Difficulty with 4Lo

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OddyNuff

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I usually have to be moving like barely 1mph to get it to go in smoothly. Anything more than that and it sounds terrible. I would do it kind of like shifting gears and wait to put it in smooth when you feel it but the amount of effort it takes for me to move it stops that. How its been on 2 jeeps and 50k miles and lots of wheeling.
Thanks! This is what worked perfectly for me.
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D60

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Find a weekend of spare time and take the synchronizer out of the transfer case. I'll be doing this with mine to prevent any issues where I may break the cable or the ball ends of the cable at an inconvenient time.

The cables/cable ends on the JL are a huge improvement over the JK design, but this seems like an easy modification to make to remove any accidental breakage.

This will likely only come into play if you run any one piece axle shaft on the passenger side. I didn't have any issues with Fat Ninja once I went with one piece RCV's, but I would've done this if I didn't sell the jeep to @mgroeger.

https://www.dynatrac.com/blog/jeep-wrangler-jl-transfer-case-modification/
Unfortunately that's way beyond the capability or ambition of 97% of registered users here. But now that you posted that I remember seeing it before and I want to try it!
 

chevymitchell

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Unfortunately that's way beyond the capability or ambition of 97% of registered users here. But now that you posted that I remember seeing it before and I want to try it!
True... I'll make a DIY guide and get it posted up in the Axles section.

Mine will likely get done around the first of the year when wheeling has slowed down to a crawl...haha, get it?

Anyway, it would be a good thing for everyone to at least see and understand what options they have available to help with the little things they don't like.
 

RDiddy

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I took delivery of my wrangler two to three weeks ago, and I don't have a lot of info to offer you, but for good reason.

A week or so after taking delivery, I found myself in a big empty parking lot at work so I figured I'd finally shift through all the settings on the transfer case. I had read in advance that a brand new transfer case was going to be stiff so be prepared to manhandle it into gear.

I never expected it to be this tough, mind you I have zero prior experience with 4WD vehicles.

Going from 2H to 4H was an absolute bitch, I thought I was going to break the shift lever for sure. I did read to expect that, but holy crap it doesn't feel right at the time of actually doing it.

So eventually it did slip into 4H, strangely no grinding noises, just resistance.

Going from 4H to neutral was even worse. I thought there was no way in hell this is meant to work like this. I am beating the everloving piss out of my brand new jeep.

Finally it popped into neutral on the transfer case. Now I was really fucked. For the life of me, I could not get it out of neutral. I sat there for 25 minutes working the shifter back and forth trying desperately to either get back to 4H or down to 4L as I was literally stuck there, engine running but no way to put power to the ground and also no way to get rolling to 1-2 mph to help aid getting into 4 low. I thought for sure I was going to have to get it towed. Was a horrible feeling.

Finally for the love of god it popped into 4L after having to pull and push the shift lever with both hands damn near as hard as I possibly could... and I would not classify myself as weak in any sense. Then the sinking realization hit that I now had to go all the way back up from 4L... including back through the black hole that was neutral.

I eventually and luckily got it back into 2H and swore to never, ever do that again.

I am still really, really hesitant to try it.

Anyone out there have a similar experience?
 

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Dkretden

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I took delivery of my wrangler two to three weeks ago, and I don't have a lot of info to offer you, but for good reason.

A week or so after taking delivery, I found myself in a big empty parking lot at work so I figured I'd finally shift through all the settings on the transfer case. I had read in advance that a brand new transfer case was going to be stiff so be prepared to manhandle it into gear.

I never expected it to be this tough, mind you I have zero prior experience with 4WD vehicles.

Going from 2H to 4H was an absolute bitch, I thought I was going to break the shift lever for sure. I did read to expect that, but holy crap it doesn't feel right at the time of actually doing it.

So eventually it did slip into 4H, strangely no grinding noises, just resistance.

Going from 4H to neutral was even worse. I thought there was no way in hell this is meant to work like this. I am beating the everloving piss out of my brand new jeep.

Finally it popped into neutral on the transfer case. Now I was really fucked. For the life of me, I could not get it out of neutral. I sat there for 25 minutes working the shifter back and forth trying desperately to either get back to 4H or down to 4L as I was literally stuck there, engine running but no way to put power to the ground and also no way to get rolling to 1-2 mph to help aid getting into 4 low. I thought for sure I was going to have to get it towed. Was a horrible feeling.

Finally for the love of god it popped into 4L after having to pull and push the shift lever with both hands damn near as hard as I possibly could... and I would not classify myself as weak in any sense. Then the sinking realization hit that I now had to go all the way back up from 4L... including back through the black hole that was neutral.

I eventually and luckily got it back into 2H and swore to never, ever do that again.

I am still really, really hesitant to try it.

Anyone out there have a similar experience?
No. I did not and do not experience what you describe. I shift into and out of 2H/4H with a quick tug. 4H/4L with a similar quick tug. The T-case was stiffer when I first purchased it but not as you describe.

question: when shifting from 4H to 4L, you did have the transmission in neutral, right?
 

RDiddy

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No. I did not and do not experience what you describe. I shift into and out of 2H/4H with a quick tug. 4H/4L with a similar quick tug. The T-case was stiffer when I first purchased it but not as you describe.

question: when shifting from 4H to 4L, you did have the transmission in neutral, right?
I have a manual transmission, from what I understand either engaging the clutch, or taking the stick out of gear into neutral was satisfactory for this process. Was I misinformed?

I really, really hope not to repeat that as it was horrible, so in one sense it would be relieving if it was shown I flubbed it somehow.

On the other hand, if I did do something incorrectly I hope I didn't cause any damage....

Edit: I can't exactly remember now, but I believe I put it into neutral (clutch engaged) for every transfer case shift I attempted. Is that not necessary for 2H into 4H, and vice versa?
 
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DavidArmen

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My transfer case was also very stiff on my 2021 JLUR when I bought it. During the test drive, I couldn’t even shift it into 4H because I was too afraid to give it a good strong tug. A few days later however, I found some time to play with it a little. Knowing that the t-case shifter is the only thing in the jeep left that is still fully manual and cable operated so, as some have already stated, it needs to be broken in.

After a strong initial tug into 4H, going from 2H to 4H is absolutely no problem now and keep in mind this can be done at up to 45mph since the 4H gear has a synchro and you will never grind shifting 2H to 4H and back to 2H.

4L however, does not have a synchro and more crucially, it is a major gear reduction. I have found that the easiest way to tug into 4Lo is to roll at 1mph, no more than that if you don’t want to grind. Btw, some grinding is no issue whatsoever, these t-cases are much more tough than we imagine.

Another tip is to give it a good strong tug in order to not accidentally stay in Neutral and to ensure you are fully engaged into 4L.

Shifting at a stand-still is also possible and easily doable. If you have an auto tranny and shift it to neutral and you cannot shift the t-case lever into 4L no matter what, it just means the gears are not lined up. In this case, just shift into Drive or Reverse and then back into Neutral without moving the car. This shifts the gears ever so slightly, lining them up better in the t-case and allowing you to shift into 4Lo smoothly. If the first time doesn’t work, do that trick once or twice more and you should be able to shift into 4Lo without moving your car at all.
 

Pgslater

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Ok, so I went in and out of 4hi and 4lo a good 15 times or so, this time at 1mph and it has become like butter in comparison. No grinding, shift it with authority, but not slamming the selector while rolling in neutral seemed to be what she liked, so manual lied to me I guess. It stated 2-3mph being ideal, however i got violent, clunky engagement rolling that fast.

I learned that attempting to engage 4lo while moving any faster than 1mph resulted in clunking, increasing in intensity the faster i'd roll, up to 3mph. I haven't yet tried to engage from dead stop again, but each shift using this method became smoother each time and it literally feels more broken in now, virtually never grinds. I'm still gonna have them give it a once over for piece of mind, it did pop out of 4lo when i put it into drive a handful of times, but it may not have been fully engaged at the lever. Not sure, but i think it was a mix of operator error/learning curve of this particular Tcase and it just being stiff and new.
With my 2021 jlu, I could not get that sucker to stay in 4 lo. It would always slip out into neutral. I finally gave up and brought it in to the dealership. The dealership was convinced it was user error, but after convincing them to go test drive it, they came back and said their was an issue - it was there first 2021 with this problem. It took them two visits to properly adjust the cable but now it goes in so smoothly and stay in 4 lo.
 

Dkretden

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I have a manual transmission, from what I understand either engaging the clutch, or taking the stick out of gear into neutral was satisfactory for this process. Was I misinformed?

I really, really hope not to repeat that as it was horrible, so in one sense it would be relieving if it was shown I flubbed it somehow.

On the other hand, if I did do something incorrectly I hope I didn't cause any damage....

Edit: I can't exactly remember now, but I believe I put it into neutral (clutch engaged) for every transfer case shift I attempted. Is that not necessary for 2H into 4H, and vice versa?
Ok.

here is what I think that you should do: head off to your dealer but no need to make an appointment or even telling them that your coming — you are only going there to use their lot. Pull in, find a spot “out back” and shift until the cows come home. If this is just an unusually stiff transfer case because it’s new, it will loosen up. If there is a real issue.... well, no need for a tow.... you’re right there.

oh, and I doubt that you did anything that would have caused damage.
 
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Stormin’ Moorman

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My rubicon was really tight, and would often pop out of gear when it would get into a bind. Probably from not getting engaged fully. After a while it loosened up.

My buddy just got a 2021 JLUR with the new transfer case that has full time 4H, his shifts much, much better.
 

RDiddy

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@RDiddy has this been resolved?
Hey, sorry I just noticed this notification now. My apologies.

It snowed a ton here overnight and I actually used 4H this morning for the first time since my previous run in with it. Strangely enough it gave me momentary pause from 2H to 4H on the first try, but on the second attempt it popped right in smooth as butter... (?)

I was fully impressed with how stable and grippy the Jeep was on unplowed roads. No issue whatsoever. I would have been struggling to get to work with my old Lancer.

Still haven't built up the balls (or the need to) to try 4L though... however I do eventually have an appt. with my dealership to deal with an unrelated hard top issue, I will likely use that opportunity for your suggestion above with 4 low. If it is still giving me grief they can deal with it.
 

xtremejoe

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I just picked up my 2021 JLUR a week ago and I have to concur that this transfer case sucks. Perhaps I can't remember it being so stiff in my old Jeep and I did switch out the linkage to a cable setup but it is smooth as butter.
Went out for a 5 day trip and 2H>4H definitely got broken in but 4Lo is still a bitch. I felt like a beginner even though I have been wheeling for 20 years.

Does 4lo "break in" or is this a dealer visit?
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