Be Warned!!!

[AZ Outlaws]

This 35 cent plastic POS part can ruin your day. It's the plastic bushing that the 4wd shifter cable slides onto to keep it in place. They are located on either end of the cable, one at the shifter end and the other at the xfer case. When this POS part breaks, and you're in 4wd hi or low you're SOL. If you don't know what to do when it happens like I did, you either drive home in 4wd, or if it breaks while in neutral, you get towed home. I now know you can let the exhaust cool so you can reach in to access the linkage lever on the xfer case to manually put the Jeep back in 2wd.

Thanks Chrysler-Jeep bean counters for cutting corners on a 35 cent part rather than putting in a 40 cent metal bushing!! You really saved Chrysler a lot of money by having to replace the plastic bushing every time one breaks... and don't forget the labor to fix it under warranty. It would have been way cheaper to do it right the first time... no wonder with cost cutting efforts like this you idiots helped Chrysler go broke.

BTW... it happened to me last week on the trail in the middle of nowhere, and 25 miles from a one horse town once I did get back on the highway. I called the nearest Chrysler-Jeep dealer which was 200 miles away in Salt Lake City. Nobody in the entire state of Utah had the part, it was special order. Did a temp fix back in town by removing the skid plate and putting the cable back on securing it with a C-clip.

I've been told the same part can fail on a Liberty KJ as well as the Wrangler JK. I don't know about TJ's or YJ's.

 

[SUPERD]

Bummer dude, wranglers have linkages, no cables.
I'll bet all the new models are like that now!
Gotta love plastic $hit!!

 

[Shaggy]

Wow, its amazing how some people think! That sucks you had to deal with it when you were trailing. :nono:

 

[AZ Outlaws]

Bummer dude, wranglers have linkages, no cables.
I'll bet all the new models are like that now!
Gotta love plastic $hit!!

The Wrangler JK and Liberty KJ both have cables from the shifter to the linkage on the xfer case... don't know about the TJ or YJ. Never had anything like that happen to my '99 TJ and I've never owned a YJ.

I really wish I would of taken some money and fixed up my old TJ instead of buying the JK. The JK is more comfortable, has more room and has higher ground clearance than the TJ, but it's cheaply made. Too much hard plastic everywhere inside and the sheet metal is super thin. Go figure the JK comes stock with 3.21 gears and the Liberty came with 3.73 gears, but I guess that was due to trying to up their fuel economy numbers. Like I've said before... the bean counters are at work trying to save a few pennies and ruining the brand in the meantime. I'm really anxious to see what Fiat has in mind down the road for the Wrangler.

 

[SUPERD]

The Wrangler JK and Liberty KJ both have cables from the shifter to the linkage on the xfer case... don't know about the TJ or YJ. Never had anything like that happen to my '99 TJ and I've never owned a YJ.

yeah I meant the TJ & YJ, I don't consider the JK as a wrangler, it's too comfortable & plasticy!
Two things that should not be used to describe a jeep.

At least I can get to use my old fiat jokes again, been a while since we seen one at the body shop, do you know why fiat's have rear window defrosters?
So your hands don't get cold while you are pushing it!

 

[AZ Outlaws]

yeah I meant the TJ & YJ, I don't consider the JK as a wrangler, it's too comfortable & plasticy!
Two things that should not be used to describe a jeep.

LMAO!!! So, the TJ doesn't have it's share of plastic and is it not more comfortable than the CJ and YJ?? Remember back when the YJ guys felt the same way about your TJ?? "What is the world coming to?? A Wrangler with coil springs!!"

Time to stand back and rethink your statement that you don't consider a JK a Wrangler. Yes, there are times I wish I had kept my TJ, but when I think about it... the JK as you said is way more comfortable which makes a better ride on long road trips to Moab and Ouray, espicially for old fat guys like me. It is more capable right out of the box than a TJ was. I won't even get into the fact a JK is a better platform for much larger lifts and tires. Just trim the fender flares and you can easily fit 35's with a cheap 2.0" coil spacer BB lift and shocks. I remember back when a TJ with 33's was a well built Jeep and required a 4" coil lift to get there.

I think if you spent some time in a JK and put the money into it as you did with the TJ, you would be happier with the JK's capabilities with 35" or 37" tires. A lot of people are putting 40" tires on their built JK's... try that on a TJ.

Bottom line... a YJ, TJ and a JK are ALL Wranglers. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages over each other.

LOL... I'll even do some 2.0~2.5 rated trails in my stock height KJ with you. Let's go Jeepin.... atriot:

 

[SUPERD]

oh I agree, don't get me wrong!
people cried when the YJ got square headlamps too!
I know dozens of people with JK's, not knocking their abilites, just more like a car now, hell the new ones are gonna have front IFS! WTF?
also gonna have 8.25 rear axles unless it's a rubicon package!
I run a body shop & have seen dozens if not a hundred of these come thru my shop, they are the cheapest built things I have ever had the displeasure to work on, whats not plastic is 26ga. tin foil!
milk jug bumpers on a jeep, give me a break!
fenders held on with plastic pop rivets, plastic grille shells, put the windshield down. looks like a banana laying on the hood!
I'm not biased:flamingdevil: just my opinion, take it for what it's worth, probably nothing.
I'll wheel with anyone in anything, new people are what keeps this sport growing, our club welcomes everyone, not just jeeps either, we got sami's, rovers, hummers, yotas, even a few obnoxiously expensive buggys too.

I am not bashing the JK, just not a fan of it!

 

[SUPERD]

saw this the other day, hope it's a joke!

 

[AZ Outlaws]

SUPERD... I agree with everything you said. You forgot to mention all the rattles associated with the JK that I had to chase down to quite the ride. Boy, the bean counters had a field day with the current incarnation. It has it's advantages, but a lot of things were done wrong to save $$$. The entire Jeep brand is going in a direction I don't like. They should of left all the other models on the drawing board and concentrated on the Wrangler. You would of thought after all these years they could have gotten everything right by now.

Wasn't the JK designed when Daimler was still running Chrysler? I can't wait to see what the Italians do or don't do with it.

Oh... and tell me about the thin sheetmetal!! Almost put a dent in the quarter panel when I put on my US Air Force emblems. It's that thin!!

BTW... I never thought you were JK bashing, but rather stating an opinion, as i did. It's all good and for better or worse, the JK is a Wrangler.

 

[SUPERD]

amen brother
oh yeah, love your KJ

 

[AZ Outlaws]

amen brother
oh yeah, love your KJ

LOL... now that is not a Wrangler, but it's still a Jeep (maybe the only other model they should of kept). With careful driving and some good spotting in tough spots, I'm able to do 2.0~2.75 rated trails riding at stock height with full skids.

 

[SUPERD]

my nephew bought one for his wife, I was IMPRESSED with it off road, that 3 link on the rear works well!
definatley has jeep DNA.
he ordered a rock krawler 2.5 lift for it, think we can stuff some 31's in there without any trimming?
I'd like to find one with the CRD diesel in it to cut up into a trail rig.

 

[CT99XJ]

Us XJ guys run into a similar problem. When my T-case went Hiroshima on I-84, a small rubber bushing went flying out of the linkage. The part is no longer available from Chrysler, and even aftermarket companies don't make it. I was lucky enough to find a warehouse in Kentucky that had a stockpile of them left over, but at 35 bucks for a dime-sized rubber bushing, my wallet cried a bit.

 

[Dave]

Thanks for the heads up AJ. I use 4wd a lot so mine might be worn to a nub for all I know. Time to check it I guess.

Dave

 

[RumorsOFsurF]

Thank God my YJ has a proper linkage...of course I had to shift it underneath the rig manually when I swapped the trans and couldn't find the right shifter bracket. Fortunately, I picked one up later!



I really hope that pic is a joke. If Jeep goes to IFS on the Wrangler that will be the END of any of my remaining loyalty to the brand. They've already taken most of my favorite things away from the brand. The Wrangler is the only Jeep left that I feel has any Jeep heritage anymore. The people in charge of the brand have completely lost touch with the traditional Jeep.

On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with the 8.25 rear. It's LOADS better than the piece of shit D35. I broke two of those with 31" tires, open diffs, and a tired 258. I've never had a problem with my 8.25 I replaced them with.

 

[narleycarley]

Hey AZ, what's the name of the the part? or a part number? I may want an extra in the glove box.

 

[AZ Outlaws]

Hey AZ, what's the name of the the part? or a part number? I may want an extra in the glove box.

Here you go: Bushing... MOPAR P/N 1-68064273AA

It was .35 cents + tax out the door at the dealership, your price may vary depending on how greedy your dealer is.


Some information I've discovered about this problem:

- Unless you know how to shift the xfer case back to 2wd manually you are SOL and have to drive back to town in 4wd low (like I had to). If you don't know how... find out before it happens to you!!

- There are two of these plastic POS parts. One at the transfer case end which is a little difficult to get to. Usually it's best to pull off the xfer case skid and let the exhaust cool before sticking your hand up there.

- There is an identical bushing at the shifter end that also has been known to break which is much harder to access. You have to pull the entire center console to get at it.

- The easiest thing to do while on the trail is to manually put the xfer case back into 2wd when your done driving in 4wd and fix it when you get home.

- Some people while on the trail that don't have a spare bushing put the cable back on without a bushing and use a zip-tie or a C-clip to hold it in place.

- If you use your 4wd shifter... at some point, the bushing WILL break again, it's only a matter of time.

There seems to be two permanent fixes to keep from having this problem happening again:

- some people have filed the top of the bushing off and installed it in the cable and slide the cable end back on the xfer case or shifter. Then they slide a washer next to the cable end and to secure everything to the shaft using a C-clip or a cotter pin. There is a small groove near the end of the shaft that kept the bushing head in place. The groove is also used to hold everything together after you file down the head on the bushing.

- Here is a more detailed fix that does away with plastic bushings altogether....

Picasa Web Albums - Rik - jeep

Note: if you go to jk-forum.com do a search for "transfer case bushing", There are several threads on the subject, some with pictures showing the zip-tie fix etc.

Being old, fat and too lazy to crawl under the Jeep and attempt a solution, I'm taking my Jeep to a 4x4 shop to see if they can come up with an easier permanent fix... maybe a metal bushing held on with a nut or something instead of a c-clip or cotter pin. At the minimum, I want a metal bushing to replace the plastic POS ones Chrysler decided to cut corners with.

One other fun thing to know about... the cable ends that slide over the bushing are also made of plastic and have been known to break. You gotta love the bean counters cutting corners!!

Here are a couple of pics showing the location, my temp fix and the lack of room to work on it.....

The C-clip I used as a temp fix....

Not much room to work on the problem, especially with a hot exhaust nearby....

​

Happy trails!!

 

[narleycarley]

Word, thank you sir.