Offroad capability!

camper · **Posted:** Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:52 pm

my '04 sport with tow package and automatic transmission has had the transmission temperature light come on a couple times when I was poking along on some forest roads in 4-hi.....on all of those ocassions, I didn't really need 4wd so when I switched back to 2 wheel drive, the light went off....I've never had the temp. light come on when in 4-lo....I figured it was a lesson for me to use 4-lo for off-roading and save the 4-hi for snow-road conditions.....still waiting for some snow here where I live to test that theory.....

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:24 pm

I've had the opposite. 03' Freedom automatic with towing. Poking along easy flatish dirt road in 2wd and tranny light came on. Put it in 4 hi and it went off. The light also came on while towing my trailer up the mountain to Big Bear after being stuck in stop and go traffic for about an hour and a half. I figure it meant it that time and just pulled over for a bit. A tranny temp gauge would be handy.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:19 pm

fish eye wrote:

I bent my tranny skid. How you ask? Imagine landing on a rock with that skid plate. Hard. That'll do it....!!

Been there:

fish eye wrote:

Now imagine all the weight crashing down on the rock sliders when you just clear a rock with the front wheel. This is how I bent the drivers side slider too.

Done that:

fish eye wrote:

Oh, and I vote for the Renegade.

DITTO THAT!

RENEGADES RULE!!! (And Rocks are hard :roll:

)

jason thompson · **Posted:** Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:02 pm

Se7enLC wrote:

zeero wrote:

trac-lok is still available.....rear diff :wink:

hehe, for YOU it was :-P

But the general public won't have that kind of luck, they'll have to add something aftermarket.

As far as manual vs auto, In my personal opinion, here is the main reason for people who prefer manual:

In an automatic, there is a torque converter, so when you have the gas down at a particular level, the engine provides X amount of torque to the wheels. If you are rolling along and come across a (rock, log, stick, etc), the jeep will want to to just stop and the engine slips (the mechanism to prevent stalling for normal driving). In a manual transmission, the engine is locked to the wheels via the clutch. When you come up to that same stick, the engine will keep turning the wheels at the same speed and you'll roll right over it. The only way the jeep will stop is if it stalls out (and in 4Lo with the 3.51:1 in the back and a 4.56:1 1st gear, that's a LOT of torque, it's not going to stall very easily at all (in fact, with that torque, the starter motor can actually start driving the jeep, you don't even need the clutch in in 4Lo)

i am not trying to start the age old auto vs manual debate but i know from my experance that if you put the auto in our '03 in #1 gear and leave it there that if you get on a steep up hill and dont hit the breaks when you stop but rather let it roll back the engine will stall just like a stick
at first this made us very nervious that something was wrong how ever jeep said that this was normal because 1st gear in taht trans as well as the 3 speed auto in the TJ will lock up when they are put in first gear just like putting a stick in first gear
as far as the over heating trans we have never hade it happen but when we go off road it is mostly 4lo and 1st gear slow going hills and mud so who knows

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:43 pm

jason thompson wrote:

Se7enLC wrote:

zeero wrote:

trac-lok is still available.....rear diff :wink:

hehe, for YOU it was :-P

But the general public won't have that kind of luck, they'll have to add something aftermarket.

As far as manual vs auto, In my personal opinion, here is the main reason for people who prefer manual:

In an automatic, there is a torque converter, so when you have the gas down at a particular level, the engine provides X amount of torque to the wheels. If you are rolling along and come across a (rock, log, stick, etc), the jeep will want to to just stop and the engine slips (the mechanism to prevent stalling for normal driving). In a manual transmission, the engine is locked to the wheels via the clutch. When you come up to that same stick, the engine will keep turning the wheels at the same speed and you'll roll right over it. The only way the jeep will stop is if it stalls out (and in 4Lo with the 3.51:1 in the back and a 4.56:1 1st gear, that's a LOT of torque, it's not going to stall very easily at all (in fact, with that torque, the starter motor can actually start driving the jeep, you don't even need the clutch in in 4Lo)

i am not trying to start the age old auto vs manual debate but i know from my experance that if you put the auto in our '03 in #1 gear and leave it there that if you get on a steep up hill and dont hit the breaks when you stop but rather let it roll back the engine will stall just like a stick
at first this made us very nervious that something was wrong how ever jeep said that this was normal because 1st gear in taht trans as well as the 3 speed auto in the TJ will lock up when they are put in first gear just like putting a stick in first gear
as far as the over heating trans we have never hade it happen but when we go off road it is mostly 4lo and 1st gear slow going hills and mud so who knows

I have an `04 auto and I have not had that happen (engine stall on rollback-the way you described). An `03 issue?

InCommando · **Posted:** Sat Apr 08, 2006 12:06 pm

I'd go with a Sport. You can get the better aftermarket rock rails and skids and still be cheaper than the Renny, in most cases. My '05 Sport came with the 235 tires, but none of the factory tire options are very good off-road. My sister-in-law's Renny has some issues with the fake bolt caps on the flares, and that light bar looks like it would get ripped off if you 'wheeled a lot in tree covered areas. I don't think the Renny flares are any wider, so there is no better coverage if you go to a wider tire. The 17" rims of the Limited limit your tire choices even further. They don't give you a taller stock tire, and the shorter sidewalls offer less give.

As to auto vs. stick:

Many feel that auto's are easier to drive in most situations, but many feel that the stick gives you better finite control . Also, auto's can overheat off-roading, so make sure your auto has a good cooler (aftermarket if possible) if you go that route. Auto's are much more easily damaged by deep water crossings than the stick is. Auto's are about $1000 more than a stick.

My '05 has the 6-speed, and I am very happy with how it works with the 3.7L. For off-roading, the low first gear of the NSG370 works pretty well and offers a lower crawl ratio (IIRC) than the auto does.

I have 'wheeled hard in auto rigs and stick rigs. There are pluses/minuses to each. But both my KJ and my trail basher SJ have sticks.

Also, the 6-speed gets you the heavier duty np241 t-case over the 231 that most (all??) of the gas powered auto's come with.

I like steel rims. It was not on the KJ, but I have sucessfully straightened bent steel rims with a hammer as an emergency repair. I BELIEVE that the same damage that bent the steel rim would have broken an alloy rim.

Just my 2 cents, and it may not even be worth that much... :lol:

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:30 pm

Good thoughts.

Just one factual correction: the light bars will not be in the way at all while wheeling in heavily wooded areas. I've done it A LOT.

The Renny has a different look. If you like it, buy it. The rest of the stuff said here is pretty good (like avoiding a 17" rim, etc).

Oh, and I bent my stock aluminum rims and was able to bend it back with a hammer on the trail. It bent enought to let air escape as I rolled over the bent section. It's fine now. How's that for aluminum!

Offroad capability!

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