Q.Know your 4x4

[COLOR=#141823][FONT=helvetica][SIZE=14px]My first jeep, a cj 500d (now sold)...before and after restoration.I'll come back with complete story later. a very good story for each and every newbies. The moral of the story is don't jump into jeep world without proper learning, its full of crooks in different disguys like mechanick, brokers , part vendors etc etc. they will rob you in no time. Above the financial loss, you will lose your time,patience and more importantly your peace of mind.[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

Thank you Roshun. My 550 is in workshop for complete front overhaul. The work will be finished tomorrow. Thanks for the timely advice. I can easily do the checking since they have all equipments like jacks , axle stands and enough space, Dear members please post your ideas and doubts and lets keep the forum live. Thanks

It's a bit of a cumbersome process, but if you have a couple of trolley jacks you can check it fairly easily. First, to check if the limited slip differential is working, jack up thee rear of your Thar / MM550 using a trolley Jack and place on axle stands. Put a chock block in the front and behind the front wheels to prevent the vehicle from slipping off the jack. Then, with the vehicle in 2WD mode, start it and engage first gear, both rear wheels will turn. At idle speed grab hold of one of the rear wheels (use a wheel spanner on one of the wheel nuts or if you can get some one to help and grab the wheel). If the other wheel continues to rotate, you have an open differential. If you have a limited slip differential installed, the moment you grab that one wheel, within a couple of rotations of the other wheel you will find this wheel tugging and try to turn in small jerks. To check if the front wheel free wheeling hubs are working, jack up all four wheels using axle stands or a two post lift in a workshop. Get under the vehicle and rotate the front prop shaft by hand (engine off). After a half turn of the prop shaft you will hear a click sound in the wheel hubs and the front wheels will start to turn. You can also start the vehicle, engage four wheel drive and let it idle shifting to first gear. All four wheels should rotate freely. If you hear clicking or racheting sounds in the front hub you have to check. Have done these checks a few times on my Scorpio and on a friend's Scorpio after installing a mechanically locking differential (MLD).