How to turn on 4wd

I purchased a 89 Cherokee Limited over the summer and have never used the 4WD. I am getting ready for a trip and if we come accross some bad weather I want to make sure I correctly engage the 4WD.

My question is what is the proper way to engage the 4WD?

Thanx

well the 89 has whats called shift on the fly which means you can shift into 4hi at anytime if you are traveling under 35 mph. but for 4lo you have to stop, put it in neutral then yank it back into 4lo. you must do the same to take it out of 4lo.

Thanks

One more quickie. If you can shift in to 4 hi when you are doing less than 35 mph, what if you are stopped and want to use 4 hi do you need to put it in neutral bfore you shift into 4 hi? or do you just put in 4 hi and go?

Thanx again

4wd

Just shift into 4hi and go.

And a final note: you probably won't be able to get it into 4 high if you have a wheel spinning, so either do it before you start slipping, or back off on the accelerator when you shift.

Matthew Currie said:

And a final note: you probably won't be able to get it into 4 high if you have a wheel spinning, so either do it before you start slipping, or back off on the accelerator when you shift.

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Heh-heh ...

Matthew is being gentle. "Probably" doesn't apply.

Early in the life of my '88 I was exploring an unplowed road in Vermont, and found the rear wheels spinning as I tried to ascend a hill, even with Trac-Lok. "No problem" I say to myself as I reach for the 4WD lever. The instant result was a horrifying cacaphony of grinding noises.

:doh: Which was only reasonable. Shift-on-the-fly is great when all four wheels are turning (or stopped), but when the back wheels think they're going 30 MPH and the front wheels aren't turning, shift-on-the-fly doesn't work so well

bigglew said:

One more quickie. If you can shift in to 4 hi when you are doing less than 35 mph, what if you are stopped and want to use 4 hi do you need to put it in neutral bfore you shift into 4 hi? or do you just put in 4 hi and go?

Thanx again

Click to expand...

You can put it in 4 high in park and key off/out. But with the year you have, the vacume disco releases the front axle when motor is off.

M. Lake said:

You can put it in 4 high in park and key off/out. But with the year you have, the vacume disco releases the front axle when motor is off.

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I probably shouldn't quibble, but because the disco engages and disengages by vacuum, it should stay engaged when you shut off the engine. This comes into play when flat-towing a disco-equipped vehicle, because in order to keep the TC bearings happy, the front end must be engaged. So the instructions call for shifting the TC into Neutral while engine is running, then shutting it down, to ensure that the disco is engaged.

Man, go find some dirt and play with it. You want to be familiar with how it acts before you need it.
Shame on you for never using it. The owner’s manual clearly states that you should put it in 4WD at least once a month.

Here's some more insight, that of which I'm SHOCKED no one else mentioned...

Look on your drivers side visor, flip it down, there should be instructions on what all those 4 HI and 4 full mean, and when it's appropriate to use each of them. Also check your owners manual.

Find a dirt/gravel road or lot and test it out.
Since you have a Cherokee Limited, odds are pretty good you have what is called Selec-Trac 4WD, this allows you to run in 4WD Full Time mode if you'd like on dry pavement.
Shift on the fly is up to 55MPH.
Works great on some jeeps, not so great on others, with wheels spinning unevenly, as mentioned, it might not work so well.
Also depends on how easy it is to pull up that t-case lever. My 87 is nice and smooth, but my 90 requires two hands and some elbow grease, it works properly, lever is just really hard to move.

Teron

go easy BRONCO..... he just bought it and has never used 4WD before.... but i agree to go find some dirt and get a "feel" for it ... and being a LIMITED i will assume its a full-time t/case with 3 4WD selections to choose from... this would be the best set-up for your intended use since it has a "full-time" selection to put it in 4WD and just leave it there regardless of road conditions... and even though i have the exact same t/case in my trail rig i have never used anything except 4LO... so i wont detail the acctual operation of the full-time mode....
mike
bigglew...... what does the shifter bezel say?
2wd - 4HI - n - 4LO
or
2WD - 4 PART TIME - 4 FULL TIME - N - 4LO

Sorry I was only joking. Didn’t mean to come off all unfriendly.

Thanks for the info been out of town. It says it has 2WD - 4 PART TIME - 4 FULL TIME - N - 4LO.

I have a '91 with Select-Trac (same as you).
Here's what I do:

1. 4LO
Stop. Trans in neutral. Smartly pull the stick back to neutral, then in to 4LO. Trans in drive and off you go. (Dirt only!)

2. 4 Part time. On dirt only. Any speed up to 55mph. Foot off the gas. Pull stick smartly back to 4PT. Foot back on the gas - gently.

3. 4 Full time. Any surface. Any speed up to 55mph. Foot off the gas. Pull smartly on the stick until it stops. I say smartly, because you want to go through the 4 Part time gate without stopping. The first hard stop is full time so you can pull it back quite heftily to the stop. Foot back on the gas and the green full time light should light up. If the amber part time light comes on then off the gas, back to 2wd, back to 4 Full time, then back on the gas - gently.

To get out of full time, just get moving, foot off the gas, stick all the way forward - smartly, then back on the gas.

Since every XJ is different, just practise. Soon you'll find the best method for yours. Hope this helps while you get used to it.