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Stock JK TechBulletin board forum regarding issues with OE (original equipment) components of the Jeep JK Wrangler (Rubicon, Sahara, Unlimited and X) such as factory suspension parts, engine, transmission, body parts, interior fixtures and the on-board computer.
Talking about powering the front axle- have you driven around in 4wd in the JK?
Yes, an like any Part-Time 4wd vehicle, on pavement it works fine in straight line, but has to slip a tire to turn. Hence the swap for a TCase with a Full-Time option (center differential).
Originally Posted by karls10jk
I've driven around with the rear ds out and in 4hi (effectively FWD) and it works but takes a little more.
A little more... throttle? Shouldn't really make that much difference, if anything it should negotiate turns easier, but I've never tried it.
Originally Posted by karls10jk
As far as wear and tear on the pinion- there's plenty of folks that just drive these things with no real maintenance and they work just fine.
I'll agree that ring and pinion should not be a high maintenance item, fluid change intervals are pretty long and often ignored. But going to a higher (numerical) ratio will increase pinion speed and wear accordingly.
Originally Posted by karls10jk
What you may see here with excessive wear and tear is a result of what we're doing. I'm sure dropping my pinion on rocks and having to give it excessive throttle with extra weight and 35's didn't help prolong bearing life. Infrequent fluid changes could also be a contributing factor.
Yeah, abuse and neglect will shorten the life expectancy of any component but my Jeep will probably not suffer from either of those. I'm pretty anal about maintenance and I'm building a mall crawler.
