I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.

So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
not steep.

 

Which transfer case do you have? If you have a part-time transfer case
("Command-Trac" or NP231), it is not designed to be driven on hard surfaces
at all, even if the surface is wet. Snow, sand, gravel, dirt is OK, but hard
surfaces are not. The full-time "Selec-Trac" or NP242 can be driven in
full-time mode on any surface.

If you're somewhat handy or have friends that are, you can find low-mileage
Jeep transfer cases on ebay for a couple of hundred dollars (including
shipping) and install it yourself in a day or 2. $900 sounds quite high to
me as well, just for replacing parts.

<bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
>
> So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> not steep.
>

 

Which transfer case do you have? If you have a part-time transfer case
("Command-Trac" or NP231), it is not designed to be driven on hard surfaces
at all, even if the surface is wet. Snow, sand, gravel, dirt is OK, but hard
surfaces are not. The full-time "Selec-Trac" or NP242 can be driven in
full-time mode on any surface.

If you're somewhat handy or have friends that are, you can find low-mileage
Jeep transfer cases on ebay for a couple of hundred dollars (including
shipping) and install it yourself in a day or 2. $900 sounds quite high to
me as well, just for replacing parts.

<bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
>
> So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> not steep.
>

 

Which transfer case do you have? If you have a part-time transfer case
("Command-Trac" or NP231), it is not designed to be driven on hard surfaces
at all, even if the surface is wet. Snow, sand, gravel, dirt is OK, but hard
surfaces are not. The full-time "Selec-Trac" or NP242 can be driven in
full-time mode on any surface.

If you're somewhat handy or have friends that are, you can find low-mileage
Jeep transfer cases on ebay for a couple of hundred dollars (including
shipping) and install it yourself in a day or 2. $900 sounds quite high to
me as well, just for replacing parts.

<bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
>
> So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> not steep.
>

 

<bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
>
> So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> not steep.
>


Yes, it sounds right. If you can do 80, you should not, that's NOT, be in
4WD. You exploded your tcase. While they are putting in the obvious parts,
you may as well get a new chain and sprockets too.

 

<bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
>
> So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> not steep.
>


Yes, it sounds right. If you can do 80, you should not, that's NOT, be in
4WD. You exploded your tcase. While they are putting in the obvious parts,
you may as well get a new chain and sprockets too.

 

<bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
>
> So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> not steep.
>


Yes, it sounds right. If you can do 80, you should not, that's NOT, be in
4WD. You exploded your tcase. While they are putting in the obvious parts,
you may as well get a new chain and sprockets too.

 

Ahh well.....

I have the Command Trac NP231 in my Cherokee and the owners manual on
page 50 specifically says it is ok to drive on wet pavement with it.....

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Chuck Bremer wrote:
>
> Which transfer case do you have? If you have a part-time transfer case
> ("Command-Trac" or NP231), it is not designed to be driven on hard surfaces
> at all, even if the surface is wet. Snow, sand, gravel, dirt is OK, but hard
> surfaces are not. The full-time "Selec-Trac" or NP242 can be driven in
> full-time mode on any surface.
>
> If you're somewhat handy or have friends that are, you can find low-mileage
> Jeep transfer cases on ebay for a couple of hundred dollars (including
> shipping) and install it yourself in a day or 2. $900 sounds quite high to
> me as well, just for replacing parts.
>
> <bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> > I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> > in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> > bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> > rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> > got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> > realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> > About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> > grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> > grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> > vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> > being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
> >
> > So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> > case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> > fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> > sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> > fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> > bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> > seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> > not steep.
> >

 

Ahh well.....

I have the Command Trac NP231 in my Cherokee and the owners manual on
page 50 specifically says it is ok to drive on wet pavement with it.....

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Chuck Bremer wrote:
>
> Which transfer case do you have? If you have a part-time transfer case
> ("Command-Trac" or NP231), it is not designed to be driven on hard surfaces
> at all, even if the surface is wet. Snow, sand, gravel, dirt is OK, but hard
> surfaces are not. The full-time "Selec-Trac" or NP242 can be driven in
> full-time mode on any surface.
>
> If you're somewhat handy or have friends that are, you can find low-mileage
> Jeep transfer cases on ebay for a couple of hundred dollars (including
> shipping) and install it yourself in a day or 2. $900 sounds quite high to
> me as well, just for replacing parts.
>
> <bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> > I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> > in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> > bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> > rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> > got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> > realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> > About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> > grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> > grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> > vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> > being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
> >
> > So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> > case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> > fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> > sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> > fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> > bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> > seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> > not steep.
> >

 

Ahh well.....

I have the Command Trac NP231 in my Cherokee and the owners manual on
page 50 specifically says it is ok to drive on wet pavement with it.....

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Chuck Bremer wrote:
>
> Which transfer case do you have? If you have a part-time transfer case
> ("Command-Trac" or NP231), it is not designed to be driven on hard surfaces
> at all, even if the surface is wet. Snow, sand, gravel, dirt is OK, but hard
> surfaces are not. The full-time "Selec-Trac" or NP242 can be driven in
> full-time mode on any surface.
>
> If you're somewhat handy or have friends that are, you can find low-mileage
> Jeep transfer cases on ebay for a couple of hundred dollars (including
> shipping) and install it yourself in a day or 2. $900 sounds quite high to
> me as well, just for replacing parts.
>
> <bcoker@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1102537107.758871.187870@c13g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
> > I've got a '99 Cherokee Sport with ~90k miles. I was recently driving
> > in 4wd at around 80mph on a wet highway when I experienced a couple of
> > bumps from somewhere in the drive train. It felt just like a hit some
> > rough pavement, in fact that's what I initially thought had happened. I
> > got out and walked around the vehicle after feeling it again and
> > realizing that it wasn't the road. I saw nothing out of the ordinary.
> > About thirty minutes later I got the bump again followed by a horrible
> > grinding noise. I quickly slowed down and threw it into 2wd. The
> > grinding stopped, but I'm still getting intermittent bumps. The bumps
> > vary in intensity and frequency. It basically feels like the vehicle is
> > being bumped from behind or hitting a large pothole.
> >
> > So, I took it to a local transmission shop and they opened the transfer
> > case. They're telling me that the problem is a broken shift fork. The
> > fork needs to be replaced along with some damaged bearings. Does this
> > sound right? I don't know much about 4wd since this is my first, but I
> > fail to understand how this happened or how it was causing the
> > bump/lurch/jerk. They want to charge me $900 to do this work which
> > seems steep. Again, I don't know what I'm talking about, so maybe it's
> > not steep.
> >