🛠️ What did you do to your Jeep 392 today?

[Riad]

Long post warning

Was getting the Jeep ready for a long trip a couple weeks ago. Had just done the usual service - oil change, filter, check all fluids etc. and was about to set off on a 250 mile trip to the edge of the Empty Quarter. The Jeep was running awesome after the tune I recently did so I was excited to try it out on some of the biggest and freshest dunes in the country. 5 minutes after leaving the house my power steering suddenly cut off and the steering stopped responding in the middle of a round about. Revved the engine a bit and got steering back so I concluded bad alternator. Drove carefully to my Jeep shop and they unfortunately didnt have an alternator in stock for replacement. Thought the trip was a bust but then the guy at the shop took my alternator apart and fiddled with it some (sanded down something inside) and it seemed to have solved the issue. Thanked him and promised him a beer and was on my way.
Before leaving I mentioned there was a bit of a whine from the front diff. He went for a quick drive with me and said I'd need to swap out the ring and pinion but I should be OK for one drive if I took it easy.
Reached the camping spot for the night with no issues and started the drive the next morning in good spirits. Jeep was driving amazing. After about 6 hours of some amazing dunes the whine started getting louder and turned into a jangling sound. Knew my diff was toasted so pulled over and told the boys id need to exit. Couldn't push the Jeep as the sounds it was making were scary af. Decided to get towed to try and limit the damage - in hindsight I should've taken the front drive shaft off and then gotten towed but we were pretty close to the exit so I thought id be OK. Wasn't.
200 meters from the track where a recovery truck could've come and got me out, the axle joint snapped and (i found out later) the drive shaft joint snapped. Had to pay $1200 to get someone to come take out the axle shafts and drive shaft as we didnt have the tools for the axle shaft job.
Delivered to my shop for repairs. Knew all internals in the front diff were toast so was glad to see they had a used Dynatrac pro rock 44 hybrid 60 at a good price and told them to go for it. Drive shaft also to be replaced. But turns out the drive shaft somehow smashed the transfer case on it's way out - there's a chunk of metal missing from the t case. So it is also Atlas time..
Total bill just shy of $17k. Should've just called the trip off

 

[Sabre]

Long post warning

Was getting the Jeep ready for a long trip a couple weeks ago. Had just done the usual service - oil change, filter, check all fluids etc. and was about to set off on a 250 mile trip to the edge of the Empty Quarter. The Jeep was running awesome after the tune I recently did so I was excited to try it out on some of the biggest and freshest dunes in the country. 5 minutes after leaving the house my power steering suddenly cut off and the steering stopped responding in the middle of a round about. Revved the engine a bit and got steering back so I concluded bad alternator. Drove carefully to my Jeep shop and they unfortunately didnt have an alternator in stock for replacement. Thought the trip was a bust but then the guy at the shop took my alternator apart and fiddled with it some (sanded down something inside) and it seemed to have solved the issue. Thanked him and promised him a beer and was on my way.
Before leaving I mentioned there was a bit of a whine from the front diff. He went for a quick drive with me and said I'd need to swap out the ring and pinion but I should be OK for one drive if I took it easy.
Reached the camping spot for the night with no issues and started the drive the next morning in good spirits. Jeep was driving amazing. After about 6 hours of some amazing dunes the whine started getting louder and turned into a jangling sound. Knew my diff was toasted so pulled over and told the boys id need to exit. Couldn't push the Jeep as the sounds it was making were scary af. Decided to get towed to try and limit the damage - in hindsight I should've taken the front drive shaft off and then gotten towed but we were pretty close to the exit so I thought id be OK. Wasn't.
200 meters from the track where a recovery truck could've come and got me out, the axle joint snapped and (i found out later) the drive shaft joint snapped. Had to pay $1200 to get someone to come take out the axle shafts and drive shaft as we didnt have the tools for the axle shaft job.
Delivered to my shop for repairs. Knew all internals in the front diff were toast so was glad to see they had a used Dynatrac pro rock 44 hybrid 60 at a good price and told them to go for it. Drive shaft also to be replaced. But turns out the drive shaft somehow smashed the transfer case on it's way out - there's a chunk of metal missing from the t case. So it is also Atlas time..
Total bill just shy of $17k. Should've just called the trip off

HI RIAD,

What do you accrue all these problems to? Is it sand intake? I too spend all my time in dirty dusty rocky high stress roads, so your issues concern me. What year and what mileage is your rig?

I've been trading in my 392 AEV's at 10k as my mechanic tells me I'm stressing the components like you do.

 

[Riad]

HI RIAD,

What do you accrue all these problems to? Is it sand intake? I too spend all my time in dirty dusty rocky high stress roads, so your issues concern me. What year and what mileage is your rig?

I've been trading in my 392 AEV's at 10k as my mechanic tells me I'm stressing the components like you do.

The main culprit was the ring and pinion I believe. Imploded and jammed the other things I think.
Wear and tear on the ring and pinion. Too much torque with heavy tires, lots of jumps and bumps and tight turns with the u joints I had with my teraflex axle housing. Hoping less stress with the rcv that will come with the dynatrac should extend the life of the ring and pinion. My current R&P lasted around 8 months
My Jeep is a 2022 with just over 60k km on it. However almost everything is aftermarket. Last OEM straggler was the transfer case which is now getting swapped

 

[Un4seen4]

Put the skids on sat and went to test them out Sunday.

I did have the service 4wd light come on once after the first major obstacle, cleared the code and it didn’t come on again, I may check the fluid level, or maybe it was just unhappy with low being used for real for the first time ever (was a mall crawler with the previous owner)

 

[Earl 392]

Installed Rusty’s Offroad engine skid. Easy install and clears header crossover pipe.
View attachment 27873
View attachment 27874

Love the ceramic coating on exhaust

 

[EBYCREEK]

Put the skids on sat and went to test them out Sunday.

I did have the service 4wd light come on once after the first major obstacle, cleared the code and it didn’t come on again, I may check the fluid level, or maybe it was just unhappy with low being used for real for the first time ever (was a mall crawler with the previous owner)

That's how mine started. I even changed the transfer case fluid every 4,000 miles. My last trip the clutches started slipping and the font wheels quit pulling. I had to be towed several miles to get off the trail. I have since installed an Atlas Transfer Case. Problem solved.

 

[Un4seen4]

That's how mine started. I even changed the transfer case fluid every 4,000 miles. My last trip the clutches started slipping and the font wheels quit pulling. I had to be towed several miles to get off the trail. I have since installed an Atlas Transfer Case. Problem solved.

hopefully it was just a hiccup on mine, but ill have to keep an eye on it, as much as id love an atlas its a little over kill for me at the moment, i may stop by the dealer and see if i can talk them into a new case or something as i have a little left on the drivetrain warrantee, otherwise id prob end up doing the sport swap to be honest

 

[EBYCREEK]

hopefully it was just a hiccup on mine, but ill have to keep an eye on it, as much as id love an atlas its a little over kill for me at the moment, i may stop by the dealer and see if i can talk them into a new case or something as i have a little left on the drivetrain warrantee, otherwise id prob end up doing the sport swap to be honest

I considered the sport swap but also wanted a lower gear for rock crawling. To achieve that I would of needed to replace my 3.73 gears also. So when I added up the sport swap and gears it was about the same price. With my new Atlas and the 3.8:1 ratio my 4 Lo is perfect.

 

[Un4seen4]

I considered the sport swap but also wanted a lower gear for rock crawling. To achieve that I would of needed to replace my 3.73 gears also. So when I added up the sport swap and gears it was about the same price. With my new Atlas and the 3.8:1 ratio my 4 Lo is perfect.

that math maths to me, would be just a bit lower than a XR with 456s and stock 2.7

I had twin cases in the yota (2.28/4.7) and 5.29s and it was wayyy to low, the 456s I have now and going to a 3:1 would be prob a little deep for me with 37s not nearly as bad as the yota was but if I went up to 40s it would be just about right I think

 

[Wizza]

Not to the 392 but for the 392

Installed a ceiling hoist for my roof rack. Hope to test it out next weekend when the rack and awnings come off and raise up out of the way

 

[Sabre]

winter so far has been minor snow with freezing rain... so tracks the 392 AEV with 37's normally just cruises became a sneaky snare for the sleeping driver:

Last year with WildPeak W's we merrily cruised here in 18" of fresh. This year in 12-14" of crusty, I kept spinning - thinking are these tyres worn out??? Then we hiked our track.....

The heavy rains had frozen below the snow so we were driving on continuous ice, the crusty snow helped keep us straight but hardly any drive... very scary deceptive conditions.

Here kinda looks like 12" of snow:

But deep and dark a foot down was 3-4" of sheet ice visible here impossible to walk on.

Note to self-snowshoes hence forth.

ice in the right

ice in the left

This '24 has been excellent with 6 month winters, the boys just don't want to plant it before the '26 arrives.

 

[RubiconHemi]

Built custom exhaust for my 392.
Used a Flowmaster 3" X.

 

[Earl 392]

Built custom exhaust for my 392.
Used a Flowmaster 3" X.
View attachment 51880

You won’t be dragging that tailpipe

 

[Mccullum1]

Happy New Year all. Not so much a “did” as a “got”. Thanks @jchrisbauer13 for everything, great to meet you.

New to me half doors and plenty of time to get them ready before spring.

 

[jchrisbauer13]

Happy New Year all. Not so much a “did” as a “got”. Thanks @jchrisbauer13 for everything, great to meet you.

New to me half doors and plenty of time to get them ready before spring.

Thanks for the tag and great to meet you as well. I hope you enjoy the 1/2 doors as much as I did! Gotta see pics when it’s all done. Also for those out there who wonder about the fathom blue color - saw it first hand today meeting up for door sale and I have to say it is the sharpest color in these 392s. That deep metallic blue with the gold accents is just damn sexy! Nice beast you have there @Mccullum1 !

 

[ameldorf]

Paid it off!

 

[Sabre]

What will you do to your 392 in 2026???

All 5! Boys [finally visible] say Daddy is going to organise the 392 AEV for 2026. All these ski towels n bags, gear MUST be neat and tidy!!!!

And the probability of this occurring..... 7%, based on 50 years of sustained messiness.

 

[albdriller]

CMM universal mounting bracket. HKVP9SK, Rounded Universal IWB Holster.

 

[YGBSM]

What will you do to your 392 in 2026???

All 5! Boys [finally visible] say Daddy is going to organise the 392 AEV for 2026. All these ski towels n bags, gear MUST be neat and tidy!!!!

And the probability of this occurring..... 7%, based on 50 years of sustained messiness.

View attachment 51979

1. 7%? So you're saying there's a chance?
2. Best Jeep fluffy cargo EVER!

 

[BenLandry]

Installed a performance and transmission tune from Shawn Ellis at SSI. Absolute beast on 38s