I agree 4hi and 3 should do you DON'T slow down. 4hi and 4lo are for off road only. If you have full time like I do its fine to run it in town it doesn't lock anything.

 

elaborate on not driving on pavement with part time 4x4? i have a locker in the front and limited in the rear 4:1 in the tcase. is it ok to drive on hard dirt or a small distance on pavement in 4x4 hi or lo?

 

if there is no need to be in 4WD then why be?
part time 4WD in 4hi or 4lo on dry pavement/hard dirt is hell on transfer cases, especially the 4:1 cases, so what do you consider a short distance?
10 yrds to the next obstacle or 2 miles to the next trail?

 

Small distance and do not turn under power and you can get away with being in part time 4wd. I would not reccomend doing it as it puts a lot of stress on the drive train and if not careful you will break the weakest link in that chain.

At highway speeds the momentum alone will get you through light snow in 2wd. If there is heavy snow and the roads have not been cleared I highly doubt you need to go over 55mph anyways. I shift in and out of 4wd numerous times while driving in our foul weathers conditions we have in Michigan. I mainly use 4wd when taking off from a light, always fun to leave the front wheel drive sedans spinning the tires furiously at the light.

 

more like the 10 yards to the next pile of rocks.

 

which is usually the u joints and shaft ears.

this is my point exactly
if your goin 55 in 4WD you dont need to be in 4WD

10 yrds is fine, harder on the TC shifting in and out than keeping it in

 

4hi or 4lo are both acceptable on pavement as long as their is a traction issue(rain or snow). I do agree that you should never be in 4hi at 55mph. If you need to be in 4hi then there is a traction issue and good look steering at 55mph!

 

I use to have a np242 so i never had to deal with shifting all the time. Then i built up my current XJ with a 231 and its so much different and i was tired of shifting in and out of 4x4 this past winter. I came down to NC in December and it snowed bad, like 8 inches one evening. people where driving like 10 mph then they hit a hill (lots around here in the mountians) and get stuck. I blast by them goint like 35 -40 trying to make it up the hill. I had a cop pull out after me but a southern cop car isnt going to catch a northern XJ driver in 8" of snow.