damn my lack of experience
 

so my 99 xj has the np242 with 4pt and 4full. when in 4full (the second position up on shifter, in case my terminology is wrong...) the rig will turn lock to lock w/o issue. put in 4pt. (the first position past 2wd) it seems to have issues turning. i am hoping that this is its normal function of more or less locking the front end and getting some wheel hop... but there is some clunkiness and it feels like the 4wd hasnt either fully engaged, or something... the other day i put it in 4full for all of one minute just to climb the steep part on the side of where two roads meet... and when i was done doing the 10ft. climb... (it was just to f' around:tongue_smilie:) i droped it back to 2. and came to the stop sign. where i stopped completely, and then proceeded to make a hard left turn (50deg. or so) and it clenked and popped mildly. the steering was jerky everytime there was the clunk. i was going slow through the turn but immediately pulled over and shifted in to park(AW4). upon resuming driving, it was fine. yesterday i went to my folks. there was company so i headed for the shared parking lot. i decided that due to lack of space, i would pull up to where the side wher there is a steep bank... i initially put it into 4pt and began to turn into the neighbors drive to get an approach to the hill. well, it clunked and popped again. i had just kicked it into 4 seconds before the turn, so maybe it wasnt fully engaged? so i backed out with it doing the clunk. i shifted into 4full and it was fine. pulled me right up to where the lawn plateaued, like a 5 ft climb. (just f'in around :)) i left it in 4, pulled th ebrake to take some of the stress of the drive line as i was still on enough of a downhill angle to cause gravity to work well... when i left, i backed down and took off in 4, then switched back to 2wd w/o issues and it been fine since. used it to f' around today and it was fine... well, thats my story...

You know you can shift the 4x4 on the fly?

part time is only for really low traction circumstances like offroading, DO NOT USE ON PAVEMENT.

full time is meant for when the road is slippery but 4x4 isnt always needed, like a snowy roads in winter when some are plowed and some are not

It could be that your u-joints are going bad if it clunks really bad when turning in 4x4 offroad

On my 94 Jeep I usually need to pop it in neutral after wheeling so the T-case releases back to 2 wheel...Tj

my on the fly wasnt working/working well when i got it. the xj had been sitting for a year. now my on the fly works well. we have been in the front end to replace the u-joints with some decent quality ones. im gonna assume that like with posi. there is wheel hop on the inside wheel when turning due to the locked axle...?

wheel hop is due to binding while turning in 4x4

so only use the 4pt when on some seriously slippery ****, then?