Hi All,

Just purchased my first Jeep one week ago. Its a 2 Door Jeep Wrangler Sport JK. I just noticed yesterday the O/D button, which appears to be on by default.

My question what is the benefit to having it on vs off, and is there certain times when you would want it on as opposed to off. I do not even see this button referred to in the manual (I may have missed it), so I seek help/info on the interweb.

Thanks in advance for your time,

Paul

 

Mostly for if your pulling a trailer it's best to shut the OD off. I turn it off when desending steep hills/ mountain roads. Helps maintain a steady speed going down. If your driving on roads with a lot of steep hills with the cruise control on you can shut it off to keep it from kicking down continuously.

 

basically overdrive is a gas saving gear... it is making the engine spin slower than the output of the transmission... so 3rd gear is typically a 1:1 ratio and 4th is 0.69:1 meaning the engine is doing less work, and saving fuel... yet maintain a higher speed.

this is why when you are trying to gain speed and put your foot on the go pedal, it doesn't pick up much speed cause the engine is running so much slower, the tranny kicks down, and theres power to quickly gain speed.

but as dan said, if your climbing a large hill or towing and the tranny keeps kicking you down to the lower gear, you can hit the switch and the tranny will just stay in the lower gear and get you up the hill...