Hi i have the 1996 Jeep Cherokee Classic and want to take it off road .. i needed some guidance.

can anyone please explain me the difference between 4wd part time and 4wd full time as on the TC.?

and as to which one should i use when i'm in the desert sand.

thanks,
Alzy

 

It refers to WHEN you can use it. Full-Time can be left engaged indefinitely although fuel mileage will suffer. It's more for days when there are patches of show then clear roads, or in a driving rain when there's a danger of hydroplaning etc.

Part Time is for loose surfaces only, like dirt, mud, lots of snow etc. In Full Time the differential in the t-case allows for the different speeds the front and rear driveshats need to spin in order to go around corners on hard pavement. Off-road the Full Time can also let all the engine power go to the wheel with the least traction. Part Time splits the power 50/50 front to rear without differentiation for more severe off road use where getting one wheel light or airborne would cause loss of traction with your Full Time.

 

^yup, pretty much covers it for ya.

simply put, full time can be used full time. whereas part time should only be used part of the time.

think of it this way, in part time, the diffs are locked together, so might cause drive line damage on dry pavement.
in full time, the diffs are separate, so it can be used on dry pavement with no drive line binding.

while off road, you can get away with part time during the complete trail.
on slickrock, part time will work fine, but full time for most of the trail will suffice.

 

Wow, thats almost the exact opposite of what I would have thought it was.

 

4wd wont do anything for hydroplaning. Just saying.

 

Full time Tcase 242 More funtionaly for the daily driver, hangs 1" lower thatn 231
Part time Tcase 231 more of a 4X4 Tcase if used correctly bit higher ground cleareance.

 

See, I thought it was some kind of automatically engaging 4WD or something, but that didn't make any sense to me because it was a manually engaging style 4WD, not an air actuated type thing. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

A related question so hopefully not threadjacking ?

When I engage in the first position my part time light comes on in the instrument cluster, I then have to be moving forward to engage full time 4x4 do ineed to depress the clutch and should the full time light engage ?

I'm sure it engages because it goes much more slowly presumably a low ratio ?

 

read this


http://jeep.us41.org/4WD/index.html

 

Great article thanks for posting !

 

Maybe poor choice of words, but heavy rains, slick pavement. Added security to keep the vehicle going in the direction you want since the front end is pullin, too.

 

You're describing shifting to 4 Lo rather than full time.

 

It is because of wisdom such as this that I keep coming to this forum!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist! )

 

X fricken 2!!!

 

yeah yeah, laugh it up fuggers.

you should throw the clutch in or shift to neutral just to disengage all power transfer to the axles when shifting into either 4hi or especially 4lo.

you only have 4 full time if you have the 242 t-case. it will say on the 4wd shift bezel. i think full time is green and part time is in yellow.
if you don't have full time, then you have the 231 and it is a part time only t-case.