4WD engagement

[Arborman]

OK at the risk of sounding really dumb, How do I engage the 4WD system on my 87 GW? I have a switch below to the right of st. wheel and HI-LO lever on floor bosrd drivers side. I already told 'yall I'm new to this so I guess I shouldn't feel so dumb. It can't be as simple as "start engine- flip switch" I'm sure. redface.gif

[ibnfe]

Actually that's pretty close! 4wd can be engaged at "any safe speed" on your rig, just flip the switch, and if you listen close, you can hear the vacuum workin'. To shift from high to low (lever under your foot/leg), slow to just a few mph, put tranny in nuetral, pull lever up. You'll feel it engage. That's it. Have fun!

[Bob Barry]

Just don't engage the Low-range lever while it's still in 2wd! Make sure the "4wd" dash light is on before trying it.

[Arborman]

Thanks guys. So you can't start out in 4-low?

[Lindel]

You can start out in 4 lo, if that's the way you left it when you shut it off. With your 87, you can leave it in 4wd all the time, with no problem. Gas mileage won't suffer, since all the goodies are always turning, anyway.

[WillyPete]

hmmm... lindel, are you sure about the gas mileage thingy? if it's having to feed power to the front wheels, i'd think that mileage would suffer a bit cuz of that.

note: i don't really keep it on FT4HI often enough to tell about gas mileage. just enough to lube the innards now and again.

[Lindel]

My 87 showed no noticeable change in mileage. I kept it in 4 hi most of the time in winter (more for rain and the occasional bout with ice, than anything else. Doesn't snow much here), and no problem, not much more wear on tires. Didn't see much of a change in mileage, if any. Only real difference was when turning corners and get the "skip/jump" effect.

[tuckers89GW]

Lindel is correct. You probably won't notice any real gas change. Everyting is being turned anyway. only difference is in 4wd the front end is being driven by the t/c and in 2wd its being driven by ground. make sence? :rolleyes:

[WillyPete]

ehhhh... i spose. so will the xcase wear out faster if i drive around in 4hi all the time?

[Lindel]

It shouldn't, yours even more so, since you should have the NP228, which has an open differential in the t/c, and not the viscous coupler that the NP229 has. I put several thousand miles on mine (over 100,000, with about 30,000 of that in 4hi), with no problems. Always worked as advertised, with nary a hiccup.

[WillyPete]

hmm nope. the PO grenaded his 228 and replaced it with the 229. now i'm wishing he'd replaced it with another 228. ah well. no real need to run around in 4hi anyway, it's just fun to play around with all the levers and stuff smile.gif

hey, do you think there'd be a way to disconnect the hubs from the drive selector switch so that you could have a seperate switch for them? that way you could run lo range with RWD only.