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Is eTorque to 4xe conversion possible?

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Fargo

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Thanks for the info guys. It all helps.

My biggest concern with eTorque is probably the cooling system and cost to replace the battery. It causes me concern to have the battery under the Jeep where it can get damaged by rocks and submersed under water when crossing streams or even in heavy rains. It just seems like an expensive item that offers limited benefit and will need to be replaced a couple times during the life of the vehicle. So basically it sounds like an expensive maintenance item.

I've been looking at some of the options listed by SeanL above. I'm actually kind of torn between getting a Rubicon Unlimited (with hardtop and cold weather group) with the v6 and eTorque or for the about the same money, getting a v6 manual with the Xtreme Recon package. (When it becomes available on the manual) It seems kinda crazy that I can get the Xtreme Recon package for the same price as the auto transmission. But it is. The biggest advantage to getting the auto with eTorque is I can add everything in the XR package later. I don't think it would be as easy or cost effect to switch out the manual tranny for the auto later.
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CDRMidnight

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^ Call me biased or whatever... but why would you want to change out a manual with an automatic transmission? :movember:

I could understand doing such a thing if you lived or drove in San Francisco often, but that's about the only reason... :LOL:

Cheers & TGIAF,
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Fargo

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^ Call me biased or whatever... but why would you want to change out a manual with an automatic transmission? :movember:

I could understand doing such a thing if you lived or drove in San Francisco often, but that's about the only reason... :LOL:

Cheers & TGIAF,
-CM-
I hear you. The worse part about changing out a manual for an automatic is that I have always preferred manuals. In the past I always purchased cars with a manual transmission and avoided the auto as much as I could. But there are a couple reasons I am considering the auto:

1) I have heard nothing but fantastic reviews about how good the 8spd auto is. I have a friend who owns a 2018 JLUR that I drove out to CO for him this summer. It is indeed a nice transmission. On the other hand, Jeep kind of messed up this manual. I'm not thrilled that its cable operated. But the bigger concern is the fires they were having with some of the early releases. I understand they resolved the problem by detuning the engine when it encounters heat issues, but from my research it seems they should have used better pressure plates. So I'm just not sold that this is a great manual. But I've never had the opportunity to drive one yet.
2) I am getting older and I have some minor knee issues. Since I plan on keeping the Jeep 10-20 years I have to consider that.
3) I understand that an auto is easier to manage when rock crawling. I manage OK with my manual LJ. In fact sometimes its downright easy. I just put the Jeep in 1st low and it will crawl over anything. However, I can see where an auto might be easier on some obstacles and with the crawl control or whatever they call it, I can see where it would work similar to my manual LJ. Then again, with all the tech on modern 4wds, I suppose it might just suck the fun out of offroading if its too easy.
 

CDRMidnight

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^ All of the above makes sense, no worries. Just having a spot of fun on a crazy Friday...

Cheers & Aloha Friday,
-CM-
 
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Fargo

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^ All of the above makes sense, no worries. Just having a spot of fun on a crazy Friday...

Cheers & Aloha Friday,
-CM-
No worries. I wasn't offended by your comments at all. I knew it was just joking around.

I guess maybe I had to write that down because I still question my own sanity for wanting an automatic. I'm actually a 'Save the Manuals' kind of guy. So it pains me to think about buying an automatic. But I'm also a plan for 20 years in the future kind of guy. I'm just not sure how that manual will treat me when I'm 70. If it wasn't the planning for 20 years in the future part of my personality, I probably wouldn't care about the longevity of eTorque either.
 

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let's be honest... you aren't doing anything at all :LOL:

this thread is about as informative as the one where the 4xe girl made fun of the starbucks drive thru lady for commenting on her steering wheel.
 

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It would be nice to add some type of PHEV to the 2 door since Jeep decided not to give the OG 2D any engine options. I am 2/3 of the way to being a 4xe already. I got the i4 2L turbo & I got the e-torque system like the 4xe... I'm just missing the PHEV part... :)

I am hoping the after market will show the 2 door JLs some Love in the future... If not, Ill be doing a Hemi-swap when all those good parts wear out OR as soon as the e-torque/turbo apocalypse arrives in 10-15-20 years... hehe
 

scotty517

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Those are actually really interesting points for me to think about. The amount of torque required to turn over an engine would really depend on compression. Old engines didn't have much compression and modern engines often use decompression systems. So I'm not sure putting a torque wrench on one would tell the whole story, but it would give some insight. I'll give that some thought.

The bicycle example is very interesting to think about too. I don't know of any bikes that use a belt, but I know some motorcycles are belt driven. However, I think they always have teeth for the belt to ride on like a chain. Hmm I wonder why that might be? Maybe because its needed to keep from slipping when under torque load? Thats just my guess. But since the belt design on a bike is very different than a car belt, thats not really a fair example either since the eTorque system just uses a flat serpentine belt. (Unless I'm mistaken.) So although these seem like strong arguements, I'm still not convinced you can put 70lbs of torque through a serpentine belt.

Then again, don't most CVT transmissions use a belt drive system? So maybe you can run that much torque through the belt to the crankshaft. So accepting the argument for the moment that a belt drive system can indeed transfer adequate torque levels, the question then becomes, as you noted below, does the eTorque actually produce that much torque? How big of an electric motor would it take to produce 70 ft/lb of torque? Does the eTorque BSG appear big enough to produce that much power? I've never needed an electric motor that powerful to know.

If the BSG is big enough to produce 70 lb/ft of torque and the belt drive system is stout enough to deliver all that torque to the drivetrain. Then what is the weak link here? If we have all the systems in place to produce 70 lb/ft of additional torque, then why can't the eTorque system be used as a supplemental power plant to produce an extra 70lb/ft of torque. I assume its the size of the battery. Which brings me back to my original question wondering if the eTorque could be used as a hybrid system similar (but much cruder) to the 4xe, if future battery technology allowed a big enough batter to be installed. (Provided someone can program the computer to accept all of the changes.)




I'm in a rural area and never see traffic. Which is why I prefer to not have start/stop at all. But if the eToque provides additinal hp/torque, then its a lot easier to accept the extra cost and complications and vulnerabilities of the system.

Torque and Power are related but different. It's possible this etorque motor can produce 70 ft pounds at 300 rpm, enough to start the engine and start it rolling . Which would be around 3.5hp. completely possible. At 5000rpm this is more like 50hp. Anytime you see tq without an rpm figure attached you need to take it with a grain of salt. I mean a tiny battery impact gun can do 200+ foot pounds but it's a basically 0 rpm. So hp is close to 0.
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