Liberty - engage 4WD from a stopped position

You can still engage 4x4, but in my experience you can forget about the 'getting out' part at that point in time. LOL!

By then you normally have dug the back two tires in beyond help and it is strap time.

Been there, done that.....

It also is a bad idea to change gears in a standard transmission halfway through a mud hole. Mud can jam up the clutch very easily. The t-case or an auto shift doesn't matter in mud.

4x4 can be engaged on the fly though, so when you see crap coming, you can just shift into 4 high at any legal speed and keep on going or if you are crawling along under 5 mph, you can shift into 4 low without stopping.

From experience I now slow right down and hit 4x4 low before water crossing. I got caught in 4 high recently and the water was suddenly up over my tail light and I just barely had the oomph to pull out with 25' of water left to get through. I knew better. My wife was saying 'more gas, more gas' and I had it mashed to the floor doing 400 rpm in 1st....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Barry Bean wrote:

Are the new autos that bad to shift?

The Command Trac in my standard Cherokee can be shifted into 4 low when moving slow still without troubles. That is how the owners manual says to use it too. Same for the automatic, you can put it in neutral while still moving slow and shift into 4 low.

Sometimes if you 'have' to stop, you 'will' be stopped.....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

bowgus wrote:

Yes, you can select 4WD from a standing position, but it can be tricky.

The problem is that the tcase gears slide together, and when stopped, the edges of the gears can collide and keep them from engaging. When the vehicle is moving, the gears are turning, so they slip together easily. If you are stopped, you have to create the movement by GENTLY releasing the clutch while pulling on the tcase selector. The gears will eventually mesh properly, at which point you immediately depress the clutch pedal again, and regroup.

Shifting into 4-Lo is best accomplished at a very slow speed of 1 or 2 mph. Shift transmission into neutral, shift transfer case into 4-Lo while just barely rolling, then shift transmission back into gear.

If you try to shift into 4-Lo while completely stopped, sometimes the gears will not mesh and it will not shift. Just BARELY rolling is the best (and recommended by Jeep) way.

Tom

Dunno if yer Liberty is Command-Trac (auto), but if it is, then I guess it's the same procedure as my '96 Cherokee ... to use 4L, I have to stopped and in neutral before I can select 4L ... then select drive and away I go in 4L. So for me, the answer is ... yes.

I'll rephrase that then :-) ... if I try for 4L in drive ... even stopped ... it's grind, grind, grind. So yeah ,,, I could be coasting in neutral and get 4L. But the point of the response to Barry is ... yes, I can get 4L while stopped :-)

Well not to start another thread ... I use 4L typically to pull the boat out of the drink ... so it's down the ramp backwards in 2H ,,, stop in park ,,, run the boat up onto the trailer ,,, start up, neutral, 4L, drive ... and up the ramp I go. I will not shut down on the ramp in 4L ... I just don't trust it not slipping into neutral. So for my application ... parked on a ramp with a 3000 lb boat/trailer ... the procedure I'm using works consistently ... no grinding of gears ... and is imo the best/safest I can do. Mmmmm ... boating :-).

You need to be moving at a speed where the idle speed of the motor matches the ground speed. If you come to a stop for any reason, then you have to shift into N with the trans, attempt to shift the tcase, and WHILE working the tcase, shift into D. Alternatively, you can shift into N, and work the tcase while the gears are spinning down.

You are absolutely right about that ... a very interesting (to me anyway)

3.8 litre GM odd-fire with Rochester 4bbl ...

Why not just engage 4-Lo, then back straight down the ramp, hook up the boat, and pull out? You can drive in 4-Lo or 4-Hi part time on dry pavement for a short distance with no problems as long as you drive straight back or forward without turning the steering.

Tom

I do not leave my jeep in 4L on a slope unattended. I leave it in 2H, Park ... hey, it's my jeep ... isn't it? :-).

consistently

Yes it is, but just curious, why?

Tom

There *IS* a trick to going into 4L. My TJ has command track and auto trany and I sometimes have to jack with it to get into 4 low. I seem to remember that the transmission has to be in neutral or it grinds. I do not remember exactly what the correct incantation is, but it does not work everytime but requires a little fussing with. That is why I much prefer the setup in the old Willys - one lever for in/out of 4wd, a second lever for High-Neutral-Low.

Ok ... put yer command-trac 4spd auto, or borrow a buddies, on a slope in

4L, park and shut it off. Notice that in 4L the transmission gear select is positioned way up front in park ... and the 4L select is left sticking up in the breeze like a ... well ... it's left sticking up. Give it a little nudge forward and ... geez ... the jeep is freewheeling it down the slope.

Alrighty then ... I'm down to the 1000 Islands with my wife and friends for a day of boating. We''re done, I back the jeep down the ramp ... let's go worst case and pick the ramp in Ivy Lee beside the restaurant ... I shut down in 4L, park. I head down the dock to get the boat to run it up onto the trailer ... I look back ... everybody's in the jeep ... but I guess my wife reached back for something and nudged the 4L because the jeep, occupants and trailer are disappearing into 120' of water. Now maybe the trailer will jackknife stopping the freewheeling, but that would be in probably the 50' depth range. Let's say there are no human casualties ... still not my idea of a good day out ... especially when all I had to do was ... put the jeep in 2H, park ... nothing sticking up, no accident waiting to happen ... run the boat up onto the trailer, hop in the jeep ... start up, neutral, 4L, drive ... gotta love that 4L ... just idles up the ramp ... stop, neutral,

2H ... and off home for a shower and a night out ... spent most of my money on women and beer, the rest I just wasted :-).

Mabar ... I added a second pic I took before a day out at a relatively tame ramp ... but it'll give you an idea of where my jeep would go if it went freewheeling

That's one way to clean out the pickup at the end of the work week ... I guess :-)