how to lock the wheels on my jeep?

Cherokee Jeep, 1997, Auto, 4Litre, ..

I've managed to get the vehicle stranded a few times, with the wheels revolving in thin air..., and even with two wheels on the ground, had to be pulled out (soft sand, wet, uneven ground) Question is.. is it possible to lock the wheels on each axle? seems to me that would be sensible.

I am a woman, of course, so I need all the help I can get!

Tks

Nichollette

Reply to
derek
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Yes, with practice it is possible to get all 4 wheels spinning. I find it is more likely to just get 3 of them going, but have managed all 4 a few times.

It is an old trick and involves using the brakes to load up the torque on the wheel that is spinning free. The owners manual in both my Jeeps mentions it but doesn't go into a lot of detail. The book says to use the emergency brake to load up the free spinning wheel.

With a normal open differential like you have, the engine sends 'equal' torque to both wheels on each axle setup. So lets just talk rear for ease with one wheel on ice and one on dirt. The one on ice spins and you go nowhere fast as you found out.

Both rear wheels see the same torque. The one spinning on ice needs 'very' little torque to free spin, so the other side on dirt sees the same 'very' little torque.

The owners manual says to put on the emergency brake in this situation, but I find a hard hit with the brake pedal works best while giving it gas. This hit with the brake pedal wants to stop the free spinning wheel so it loads up the torque on it by trying to stop it from moving. The torque will climb way up and eventually become enough that the wheel on dirt that sees this equal torque will break free and start spinning on the dirt. Bingo, away you go shooting 2 rooster tails.... I have managed to get all 4 shooting tails on slush/ice bottom.

Something like the free wheel sees or only needs 'say' 1 ft lb of torque to spin on ice. The brakes load it up to 'say' 100 ft lb and the wheel on dirt only needs 75 ft lb to start spinning free.

It does take practice and it does work. I have never had any luck using the book method with the emergency brake, but hitting the brake pedal hard while giving it gas works well for me.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Reply to
Mike Romain

I had a similar question a while back and was pointed to this link. It explains open, limited slip, & locked differentials very well.

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CD

Reply to
CD

In addition to what others are saying, keeping all four wheels on the ground is a good idea too. You can lock the wheels together with special equipment or even with the brake method, but this is more stress than the system is designed to handle. People who regularly get wheels in the air invest in heavier axles, special differentials and equipment that we ordinary mortals can only dream of.

Earle

Reply to
Earle Horton

Hi Nichollette:

Welcome to the group. Here is an excellent site explaining how differentials work.

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Tom

Reply to
mabar

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