Has anyone offloaded their 392 regularly and not broken the transfer case ?

[onfire392]

View attachment 25383I’m at 22,000 miles and use my exclusivity for off-roading.

1. T-case has not been an issue.
2. Hot steering was an issue AND I could barely steer when I engaged my front lockers.
3. While off-roading, my Jeep has completely stalled on me, many times, when I have less than than 1/2 a tank and I’m headed downhill.
   • Jeep has replaced everything, between the gas pump and the gas tank, and it still will stall!
   • Almost crashed a couple times and Jeep still hasn’t figured it out!

For the T-case, the TrailRecon guy is the only person that I have heard of that has experienced a failure… I chalk that up to bad luck or being in the wrong 4-wheel drive mode… possibly with an overweight trailer. This should be easy to warranty or replace with an aftermarket upgrade.

IMHO, the steering on the 392 cannot handle the weight of a 37” tire. This is disappointing because my old 2019 JLUR had the same wheels and tires on it, never overheated, and I could still steer when I used my front lockers! I added a PSC when I moved to 40’s and 1 tons.

As far as it stalling, I suspect that this is a software issue to possibly protect the fuel sending unit or they need to add another sending unit in the front of the gas tank. It is absolutely ridiculous that a Jeep can stall with 1/2 a tank of fuel on as little as a 15 degree slope. Assuming Jeep never solves this issue, I’ll eventually replace the fuel tank when I do a 4-link in the rear.

That........is......the......test......of.........tests ! Kudos

When the Jeep stalls on a down slope, will it start back up on the slope or do you have to drift to the bottom first ?

 

[prodriquez]

Ha, there is no drifting. You literally lose power to everything. No steering, no breaks, nothing! The worst was a 4 foot drop on Holy Cross. I escaped with a few scratches on my front-left fender.

Since then, I carry an extra 4 gallons of fuel and always fuel up before I hit a trail. I also make sure that I’m not pointing downhill for too long when I’m around 1/2 a tank.

If I am pointing downhill for too long, the fuel gauge will start to drop and it will eventually read empty. When this happens, the Jeep will act like it is out of gas. If I’m quick and the spot permits, I can turn the Jeep up hill and wait for the gauge to return to normal. If I’m not quick, or simply do not have a place where I can level out, the Jeep will start to sputter and then stall. This has happened twice on Holy Cross, once on Red Cone Pass, and once on some other trail that I cannot remember the name of.

The entire file system, from the gas tank to the fuel pump was replaced by AutoNation, on Arapahoe, in Denver, Co. it was covered under warranty… but they charged me over $700 to drop and reinstall my skid plates… and I still have the frigg’n problem! Totally ridiculous and I won’t be back until Jeep has a proven fix for it.

 

[onfire392]

Fuel level shut off protection. Terrible. Fuel level sensor is wacked. Sadly, the programming protocol is also wacked imho , to shut it down just based on the sensor.

 

[jee123]

I have almost 20k miles on mine, it’s been off roaded in Moab, Arizona and Colorado. So far so good, I do use 4h and 4l and not the full time auto tho.

 

[SuperSeven]

15k miles. Probably 1k off-road in Utah & Rockies. 4L crawling, 4H dune running & dirt roads. No issues. Stock XR except for under armor.

 

[onfire392]

Plenty of real world data above to prove the design is strong if used properly.

QC issues can happen to anything.

My 392 was just delivered.

 

[ValB]

If the 392 came with an Atlas and free spin hubs all this would not be an issue. But people would moan about having to ge out and lock in the hubs.

I'm all in for locking hub's !

 

[stumblinhorse]

You read a few places like TrailRecon that tows and off-roads that has broken the transfer case, plus a few on road failures, but has anyone used their Jeep 392 like a Jeep and not had any problems with the transfer case ? Mine should arrive in a week.

Trailrecon put out another video today and you see at 24 minutes in he is using completely the wrong power steering fluid for a 392 or any JL…. i am glad he can make a good living with his content. But that is not the person I would use to judge the reliability of a vehicle.

 

[XRecon]

I have read this entire thread, there is some really good info in it. I suppose what I am doing has saved my transfer case. I have 43,000 miles on my 2022 392 and I have wheeled a fair amount in those miles. Here is what I do when wheeling, 4 low up to 15 mph. When going faster than 15 mph I switch to 4 high and reconnect the sway bar because as you know, the sway bar light will flash at you. If I drive on a dirt road, I always go to 4 high. Can you imagine what the clutches are doing in your transfer case on a wash board road in 4 hi auto, now add a wash board curve. Everyone can take this with a grain of salt, but maybe this is why I have not had a transfer case failure.

 

[Bobo57]

I have read this entire thread, there is some really good info in it. I suppose what I am doing has saved my transfer case. I have 43,000 miles on my 2022 392 and I have wheeled a fair amount in those miles. Here is what I do when wheeling, 4 low up to 15 mph. When going faster than 15 mph I switch to 4 high and reconnect the sway bar because as you know, the sway bar light will flash at you. If I drive on a dirt road, I always go to 4 high. Can you imagine what the clutches are doing in your transfer case on a wash board road in 4 hi auto, now add a wash board curve. Everyone can take this with a grain of salt, but maybe this is why I have not had a transfer case failure.

So what's the difference between 4 high and 4 high auto?

 

[dgerb]

So what's the difference between 4 high and 4 high auto?

It's my understanding that the transfer case clutches are "locked" in 4 high. While in 4 high auto, the clutches can "slip in and out" based on various sensor information, causing wear. I didn't know this earlier and have done a fair amount of dirt road traveling in 4 high auto, perhaps that's why my transfer case clutches burned out at 10 k miles....

 

[Bobo57]

It's my understanding that the transfer case clutches are "locked" in 4 high. While in 4 high auto, the clutches can "slip in and out" based on various sensor information, causing wear. I didn't know this earlier and have done a fair amount of dirt road traveling in 4 high auto, perhaps that's why my transfer case clutches burned out at 10 k miles....

Do you mean 4 High Auto and 4 High Part Time?

 

[dgerb]

Do you mean 4 High Auto and 4 High Part Time?

Yes...

 

[Bobo57]

Yes...

Ah thanks................

 

[stumblinhorse]

It's my understanding that the transfer case clutches are "locked" in 4 high. While in 4 high auto, the clutches can "slip in and out" based on various sensor information, causing wear. I didn't know this earlier and have done a fair amount of dirt road traveling in 4 high auto, perhaps that's why my transfer case clutches burned out at 10 k miles....

I just want to say it again, 4H PT doesn’t “lock” 50/50. It is very much better than 4H auto, but depending on throttle it will slip the front and be biased to the rear. Truly a significant mistake on Jeeps part to do this, but it does happen. I suspect it is to try to “save“ the drivetrain at higher speeds .

 

[Bobo57]

I just want to say it again, 4H PT doesn’t “lock” 50/50. It is very much better than 4H auto, but depending on throttle it will slip the front and be biased to the rear. Truly a significant mistake on Jeeps part to do this, but it does happen. I suspect it is to try to “save“ the drivetrain at higher speeds .

So if 4 High Part Time doesn’t lock the diffs 50/50 what the difference between this and 4 High Auto?

 

[stumblinhorse]

So if 4 High Part Time doesn’t lock the diffs 50/50 what the difference between this and 4 High Auto?

4H auto wants 0/100 front to back. 4H pt wants 50/50 front to back.
Sensors control where it is in between.

 

[XRecon]

It's my understanding that the transfer case clutches are "locked" in 4 high. While in 4 high auto, the clutches can "slip in and out" based on various sensor information, causing wear. I didn't know this earlier and have done a fair amount of dirt road traveling in 4 high auto, perhaps that's why my transfer case clutches burned out at 10 k miles....

Thanks for answering his question dgerb, also thanks to stumblinhorse for the info. Sorry about your transfer case.

 

[guruman]

After doing several hundred miles of off-road traveling recently. I noticed, what. First thought to be anti-lock brakes activating, at low speed in 4L. After a while I began to notice that it only did it when turning sharply.

I think what I am hearing and feeling through the steering column, is the transfer case "loosening" the clutch for the front output to help prevent binding when the steering angles are near max. I expect this is the same behavior it might be doing in 4h part-time. Easing the binding between the front and rear drivelines during cornering. If that's what it is doing, this actually makes some sense, as it that binding (and or quickly releasing) on high traction surfaces that breaks u-joints, shafts etc...

 

[npgtech]

I'm at 26K miles, drove cross country from VA to CA, with off-roading stops in UT and CO, and I wheel regularly (just about every weekend) with and without gear in the back. No issues so far (knock on wood) I've had my 392 since new back in Nov 22.