Ok I might sound dumb with this question, but I honestly don't know a whole lot about this stuff. So I was driving my 1998 Jeep Cherokee in the snow earlier and got it stuck/high centered. I had it in 4 wheel drive at the time. So I try to get out, and realize only one of my tires is spinning. I have the upcountry package on my XJ, which was comes with a Limited Slip Differential. I just feel like this is not supposed to do this. I eventually got two tires to spin; back left and front right by increasing weight on the back left tire (the one that had originally been the only one spinning). Just wanted to see if you all could give me some advice (if anythings broken), or just some info (if its working as it should). Thanks!

 

which wheel was spinning? Front, rear?

i take it front is an open diff, and rear is limited slip, correct?

if in 4x4, then one or both fronts will spin if one or both front wheels not on ground. If neither spin, nor move vehicle, then you likely are not in front drive, OR.... Some xj have a front axle disconnect, which if it fails will cause failure of front drive if open diff. Also failure to engage front drive in transfer case can cause no wheels to spin in front..
If in 4x4 or 2x4 drive, then rear axle is powered, if one rear wheel off ground, then rear limited slip should help prevent that wheel from spinning when power applied, and allow the other rear tire to turn.

 

Ok that makes sense. My understanding is the front is open diff, rear is LSD. Basically what happened was that I was in 4x4, and when I pressed on the gas, both in drive and in reverse, my rear left tire was spinning wildly while the other three were mostly still. It looked like those tires moved slightly, like maybe half an inch. All of my tires were touching the ground, but the weight was distributed very differently between them. My back left and front right had the least weight on them. Yeah, not sure what was going on exactly. Maybe I didn't get the LSD for some reason? Would the absence of that have made only the back tire spin? Also, I did notice that it kind of seemed like the rear tires had more power than the front tires.

 

Differentials aside, at least one front tire should be spinning as there is no center differential stuff like in some awd cars. Rear wheels could only have one spinning because differential was working, maybe not if an LSD, but at least one front tire should have been spinning at first. Possibly weren’t in 4x4 but that’s unlikely, if the lever is stuck halfway, you’ll hear a loud grind, at least I did when it happened to me. I’m just speaking from my experience owning my XJ and my knowledge off differentials and Transfer cases

 

Huh, well that's very odd. I did eventually get one of the front tires to turn, only after I dug it out a lot and it had less weight on it. Very strange.

 

Re do you have LSD and does it still work?

1) get rear of vehicle off ground and turn one rear wheel. If other side turns same way it's LSD. if other side turns other direction it's open diff.
2) if it's LSD is it still working (or are clutch plates shot).? With one rear wheel on ground and trans and TC in neutral turn other side using torque wrench and measure amount of torque it takes to get LSD to slip. Your service manual has the specs.
Note that these LSD's don't last forever.

 

Thanks, I'll have to check tomorrow.

 

Do you have an NP242 TX case that has the green light for 4wd, (and the orange one) ?

Only the orange light setting fully locks both axles into 4wd

you can try applying a little handbrake, that acts a bit like a LSD/diff lock for the rear wheels in some situations

 

Great question^^^^

 

The factory limited slip clutches are probably worn out, and even when new they aren't that good in conditions like that anyway, that is why only one tire in the rear was spinning. For the front not spinning it sounds like you may have a NP242 transfer case and it's in full time 4x4, you should use part time 4x4 in those conditions.

 

^ Worn limited slips wont work well or not at all. I forget what types jeep cherokees have if theyre clutches. even then limited slips arent like a locker you can still do a 1 tire fire easily with em i find in alot of limited slip cars.

 

Ok that sounds very likely actually. I did have it in full time 4x4 so that checks out. Thanks for the info!