Sorry for the dumb question as I am a newbie to the 4X4 world.

I got my jeep fairly cheap ($2000 including the cost to overhaul the rear differential). So something is missing which is the owners manual. Please instruct how to use 4X4 properly. To be more specific,

Under what road condition, I should use 4H or 4L?
Thanks.

 

90% of the time, if You are on the road You don't need 4WD at all. Exception would be snow where 4WD HI might be handy. LO is for offroad situations such as Hill climbing and serious mud where pulling power needs to be maximized.

 

ok, it depends on wut transfer case you have but in general you can either do it in nuetral and pull it back into wut you wanna use, or on the fly i think, and 4lo is a 2.72:1 ratio for when you need that lowend torque like when your on the trails, 4hi is a 1:1 gear ratio and it is good for in snow and icey conditions

 

So I can use 4H on the paved road, even highway. What is the Top speed I can go with 4H.

 

No do not use 4hi on a road unless it is icy of loose gravel and you can go up to 55mph in 4hi

 

Unless you have a Fulltime spot on your transfer case do not put your jeep in 4H on dry pavement. Your driver's side visor has the road types for your transfer case selections. As to top speed in 4H, I believe you are only limited to what you can drive given the road conditions. I know you don't want to put it in 4H while going faster then 55mph, so if you want to play it safe set 55 mph as your top speen in 4H. Once again, if you don't have a fulltime spot on your transfer case I wouldn't put it in 4H going that fast unless I was driving on snow/ice and then I wouldn't be doing 55 mph! (While I can drive in snow just fine, I'm from the south and going that fast on ice scares the bejeebes out of me!)

 

Yes, if your transfer case gives you part-time 4WD, you'll almost ALWAYS be in standard 2W. 4W-Lo moves the torque to the front axles, which will literally, pull the car. Going up hills, getting out of being stuck, towing, is where you'll need it. For mine, its a 5-speed, and there is enough power in 4W-Lo to the point where I can have it in first, with no clutch or gas in, and the car will move without stalling.

4W-High, you may need if the road is icy, snowy, etc. Personally, I'm from NJ and we get the crappiest weather you can imagine (snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain, hail, nebulas, you name it :P ) , and I rarely use 4W in the inclement weather. The only times you may need it are if your stopped at a hill and you dont want to slide, your getting out of a funky driveway, etc. If you have nice tires and a soft foot, you shouldn't have much of a problem.

Neutral is self explanatory, disengages the transmission, use it when your being towed. (hopefully you'll never use it)

Hopefully this has helped!

 

Wow, a lot of information. It is really helpful. Thanks

But I am still confused about the 4Hi or the part time 4X4. What exactly does the "part time" mean? Does the transfer case distributes the power to front/rear at a fixed ratio or it only send power to front when tire spinning detected?

 

What Jeep means by "Part Time" is that is only to be used part time, a full time selection on a Jeep transfer case means that it can be used all the time and it will only send power to the front driveshaft when slipping is detected. So Full Time can be used on dry pavement with out causing damage, Part Time on dry pavement will cause damage to your transfercase.

OH and you only have a full time transfercase if you have 2 4Hi spots on your transfercase shifter. If you do then you have a 242 Transfercase. (one is usually green)