Ok please easy on the answers i dont know to much about automatic trans. yet. When i get my jeep up on a hill and then throw it in park then hop back in after i took a picture or whatever, Is it bad that when i put it back into neutral or reverse it bangs hard? Is there something i can do to release the pressure or do i just have to deal with it?

 

Engauge the parking brake. Then put it in park. You're putting your drivetrain under stress when using your transmission for braking.

 

use your parking break before you put it into park it takes some of the strain off the tranny so it dont bang so bad and when you go to move apply brakes first then release the parking brake this is what ive allways done

 

ok so..

Drive
Then come to complete stop and apply e-brake/ parking brake.
Put into park
*do my thing*
Put back into drive
release parking brake
and ease off brake?

 

that is correct or if there is something you can turn into like a rock or something that wont move to hold the xj in place.

 

Lol i wheel in jersey. Only thing we got is sand hills and swamps lol

 

That's the best way to do it... inside the trans, "Park" is accomplished by a pin engaging a notched ring on the output shaft... YOU DO NOT WANT TO RELY ON THIS LITTLE PIN ALL BY ITSELF ON A HILL!!! I've seen them break, and then down the hill goes your Jeep, taking out anything or anyone in the way!!! E-brake, then put 'er in Park... the "clunk" you've been hearing is the pin disengaging from the notched wheel while under a load: the load being the entire weight of your Jeep wanting to let gravity have it's way!!! Do it too often and you either break the pin, or you wear out the notches...

Here's a pic I found on the 'net to kinda show how it works...



When you shift into Park, a lever in the trans allows the cam to engage the notch, which locks the trans output shaft... put too much stress on it, and you can guess what happens... not easy to fix, either!