I'm really used to driving my 08JK with my hand on the auto shift stick (sometimes). I find myself still doing that in my 12JK but keep switching damn gears by accident! Anyone have this problem?

 

On another forum, a few people talked about the down shifting being hair-trigger. They were taking them back to the dealers. It was also mentioned in an AOL Wrangler Review article.

I'd take it to the dealer if I were you.

 

Well, I don't see anything actually wrong with it. I am physically shifting it by accident. Maybe, it should nt be so easy, I see what your saying

 

I have this same transmission on my SRT8 and it takes getting used to ... its electronic so you don't feel a notchy shifter when downshifting or upshifting.

And yes, if you leave your hand on the shifter, without thinking and a slight movement, it will downshift.

Not sure that can be programmed out and I wouldn't mess with it.

The Cherokee SRT8s have had some issues with the shifter mechanism. I won't go into details, it's a well known problem. Just hope it doesn't carry over to the JK because it causes the vehicle to go into "limp mode" when it fails..

.

 

That is what they were having trouble with....accidental down shifts. The shifting worked fine...it was just that the slightest touch caused it to down shift when they didn't want it to....especially for people who were used to driving with their hand on the shifters (or came from stick shifts).

 

My wife bumped it last night while cruising on the interstate... went from "everything is cool" to "oh shit we are doing 75 in second gear".

Was afraid that we screwed something up, but everything seems fine. :-)

 

This was my deciding factor to go with the 2011 vs the 2012. Sure I wish i had the power of that Pentastar engine but i can drive with my hand on the shifter. That, and I saved $5000!

 

I've been driving a standard for quite some time, and learned a long time ago to keep two hands on the wheel, and only put your hand on the shifter when shifting. It's especially important when on road courses due to the high-G turns. Not saying the touchy gear limiter/shifter isn't an issue, but I would suggest learning to drive without having your hand on the shifter. You'll have better control of the vehicle with two hands on the wheel, and also not need to worry about rapid stops/sudden acceleration/wheel slip/etc causing you to bump the shifter into some mode you don't want. Also, not as much of an issue on an auto, but leaving your hand resting on a shifter in a manual can put additional wear on the transmission. Depending on which direction you're applying that slight pressure, you can put some wear on the synchronizers (or so the theory goes, I've never actually seen anybody wear our synchronizers extremely quickly due to this, and lots of folks rest their hands on the shifter). Either way, unless they figure out some way to modify the shift assembly to make it less touchy, that may be the only way to avoid accidental shifts. When I test drove the '12, I managed to bump the thing a few times into the wrong gear even without resting my hands on the shifter. I'm planning on just being more careful.