JKU Use and Abuse

[dazelburg]

Hey there,

I went up to Waiparous Easter weekend and was the hardest on my Jeep thus far. Just put in a 2.5" Teraflex lift with Fox shocks and the suspension was great! Broke that in quite well, but the drivetrain of my Jeep however, I am afraid she's been broken in too much. I washed the vehicle last night and heard a weird sound taking off with the clutch after. If someone could tell me all the things to look/listen for after a weekend of hard wheeling I would really appreciate it. This is my first Jeep and aside from taking the suspension apart, I don't know much else about them yet. Any knowledge and opinions welcome. Please feel free to ask any questions, for those who know, I took the run up to the lake and it was snowy. A couple hills were a challenge to say the least.

Thanks and cheers!

[JadeMonkey07]

Did you get into any deep mud? And use the clutch in said deep mud?

[dazelburg]

No, well after the ordeal in question ya I found myself playing in some muddy ruts but nothing deep enough to get hungup or wheel spinning.

Ill just explain what happened. The steep hill I had trouble with was immediately after coming down another steep hill. So you had to pin er to win er and make it up the hill. Snowy and muddy and pretty rough.

I put it in 4low and locked the factory rubicon differentials. In 3rd, I gave er crap, made it a good ways up, realized I wasn't going to make it, put the clutch in, steered myself down to the bottom sliding. Tried again in 2nd, made it halfway up, tried to use the motor to slow myself down, in and out of the clutch a few times, stalled by the time I made it to the bottom. Tried again in 3rd with similar tactics, stalled again. Made it the 4th attempt in 4th flying down then back up again. After getting out and assessing the damage, everything in the gearbox shifting while in 4low and locked up was super clunky. I noticed yesterday a weird sound from the front, almost like a spring shifting or something when I release the clutch while turning and sometimes goin straight.

Sorry, I can be very descriptive at times and hope I haven't lost you.

Thanks!

[JadeMonkey07]

Sounds abusive lol. I was more concerned with mud in the clutch.  When you depress the pedal it opens some vents on the bottom of the housing letting in water and crap. It can mess up your clutch parts in an instant. Never clutch in deep mud is what I'm getting at.  No idea what your issue could be. Good luck

[Vinman]

When you depress the pedal it opens some vents on the bottom of the housing letting in water and crap.

Then after its fixed, disable the linkage that opens the bell-housing vents and never have this problem again.

[Bnine]

Bellhousing vents?

[Vinman]

Bellhousing vents?

Shhh...