making a 4x4 a 4x2,

blitzbuggy · Feb 26, 2009

i was at the body shop getting my patriot fixed from an accident. When I got it back the check 4wd lite was on, later that day we had a snow storm, and i realized that the vehicle was only front wheel drive, well to make a long story short, the dealer said that 2 wires from the kick panel were just barely connected, causing the center diff to not enguage, any way, just a thought, but you could run a switch to make it just 2wd, then a awd, then a locked 4wd, its not that hard but is pretty cool, i dont know why you would,

i just posted this because i havnt posed in a while and to let you know i am still here!

APT · Feb 26, 2009

I haven't studied the undercarriage of my Jeep, but if the connector to the ECC is convenient and we know the wires, a switch would work great. You'd just have to deal with the DTCs that other modules have and the dash light.

I have thought about a similar approach to disabling ESP if I would locate the inertial sensor.

Welcome back!

blitzbuggy · Feb 26, 2009

thanks!

and as for your esp is concerned, i hammer would work well!

while having that switch for 4x2 u could run a wire to disconnect the dash lite as well,

Tyler-98-W68 · Feb 26, 2009

I have often thought about this, there's a few videos on youtube of other 4x4's running in 4x2 mode and seeing if they can get themselves unstuck. I can't imagine running in fwd mode would hurt much of anything

alexp81 · Feb 26, 2009

In the greek suzuki grand vitara forum in which I'm still a member from the days I was thinking of buying one, there was a post about how you can engage 4WD-lock in the 3-door vitara (it's AWD). That sounded like an issue. Why the hell would someone with an 4WD drive FWD? Especially when without 4WD-locked it handles almost like an FWD.

Hitzy · Feb 26, 2009

I'd like to disable the ABS. I wish there was a switch to turn that off in the winter.

Tyler-98-W68 · Feb 27, 2009

alexp81 said:
In the greek suzuki grand vitara forum in which I'm still a member from the days I was thinking of buying one, there was a post about how you can engage 4WD-lock in the 3-door vitara (it's AWD). That sounded like an issue. Why the hell would someone with an 4WD drive FWD? Especially when without 4WD-locked it handles almost like an FWD.

Just for something to do, some of us like to tinker with things, I think it would be neat of the T handle allowed FWD the AWD mode and the 4x4 lock, is it practical probably not but it would be something fun to play around with.

Hinzy I'm with you on the abs, except I don't mind it at highspeeds for quick stops, around town though it is a pain in the ass.

blitzbuggy · Feb 27, 2009

Hitzy said:
I'd like to disable the ABS. I wish there was a switch to turn that off in the winter.

just pull your abs fuse and you are good. Well exept for the abs lite one

APT · Feb 27, 2009

Pulling the ABS fuse also disables ESP in our case.

Why ... would someone with an 4WD drive FWD? Especially when without 4WD-locked it handles almost like an FWD.

The power to weight ratio of the MK leaves no situation I can think of required 4WD on dry pavement. Personally, I'd like to reduce wear on the ECC from it locking up every time I turn and accelerate hard for example. Since I don't know when the ECC is locked in AWD mode, I have no idea how frequently it is done.

todde702 · Feb 27, 2009

APT said:
The power to weight ratio of the MK leaves no situation I can think of required 4WD on dry pavement. Personally, I'd like to reduce wear on the ECC from it locking up every time I turn and accelerate hard for example. Since I don't know when the ECC is locked in AWD mode, I have no idea how frequently it is done.

Then the first step might be to wire an LED to the ECC so you can see how often it does engage. There may even be a way to get the information through a ScanGaugeII X-Gauge if we can figure out the proper request/response codes...

heckler · Feb 27, 2009

http://www.jeep.ca/en/4X4TrailRated/

check out Freedom Drive I and II.

The Jeep engineers already did this for you. The 4X4 Patriot is 2wd on dry conditions.

you want to disable the rear wheels so when you chirp the front tires on pavement, they squeal? Buy a 2X4, not an AWD.

you want to disable your ABS in the winter when it's most useful? Be my guest and buy an old cherokee without advanced safety systems, just please don't rear-end me.

APT · Feb 27, 2009

heckler said:
you want to disable the rear wheels so when you chirp the front tires on pavement, they squeal? Buy a 2X4, not an AWD.

That is but one example. With gravel on the roads and my driving style and brake LSD, I don't want AWD.

UA_who · Feb 27, 2009

Here's what I have for my Charger:

http://noesp.com/

That turns off the ESP completely to allow for tire destroying burnouts.

There's got to be a similar system in the Pat. Just a matter of finding the right wires.

heckler · Feb 28, 2009

UA_who said:
There's got to be a similar system in the Pat. Just a matter of finding the right wires.

which already has an ESP off function, but still can't chirp a tire?

UA_who · Mar 1, 2009

The Charger has an "off" but, like the Pat, it kicks back in at 35mph or so.

That's no good for long burnouts

jessi · Mar 1, 2009

if u disable like it like you said by wire messing with the wires, wont the drivetrain components still be spining and wont it mess itup?

APT · Mar 2, 2009

Burnouts on dry asphalt in a straight line at 35mph? No near stock Charger can do it anyway. ESP Partial and ESP off do not limit engine torque at any vehicle speed. ESP Off is to disable the help while turning. If you want to oversteer/understeer >35mph, that's when you'd want to defeat the OEM system options.

And Heckler, I like the AWD/4WD benefits for gravel, snow and ice, so your recommendation for buying a 2WD Patriot is not helpful.

UA_who · Mar 2, 2009

APT said:
Burnouts on dry asphalt in a straight line at 35mph? No near stock Charger can do it anyway.

LOL you're right APT. The "near stock" is the key though.

But even starting up the burnout from a dead stop and with the rear wheels spinning... once they reach what the car thinks is 35mph (actual car still not moving) then the ESP kicks back in.

rocal · Mar 2, 2009

I'm kind of with Heckler on this. I don't see what advantage disabling this stuff would make under the circumstances that people are quoting. Around here where I live the sheep is King of the Range. Sheep simply emerge unexpected from the moorland furze like a pop-up advert. I do ABS stops on a weekly basis. There have been about a half dozen or so Cleveland sheep that have no idea how big-time they owe the design team at Jeep.
I'd like to have seen Hill Descent Control featured into FD1. Once you've built ABS into a vehicle it's peanuts to go that extra inch and it would have been an extra selling point. Don't forget, we dont have FDII in Europe.

Rocal

UA_who · Mar 2, 2009

Rocal,
For the Pat, I am in complete agreement with you. I wouldn't even think about disabling any of the systems.

The only reason to ever do it would be for "fun". Burnouts, doughnuts, sliding, etc. The burnouts are pretty much scratched off the list for the Pat already. And there are many posts here about people doing doughnuts and sliding with just using full ESPOFF setting, I don't see much reason to tinker with it.

My only point was to agree that there is one or two wires somewhere that you can disconnect to completely disable the ESP, ABS, etc.

making a 4x4 a 4x2,

blitzbuggy

APT

blitzbuggy

Tyler-98-W68

alexp81

Hitzy

Tyler-98-W68

blitzbuggy

APT

todde702

heckler

APT

UA_who

heckler

UA_who

jessi

APT

UA_who

rocal

UA_who

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