Auto 4WD works well in the snow and ice.

Davew277 · January 3, 2023

3 hours ago, swathdiver said:

When in Auto, the front driveshaft is spinning. You will wear out the transfer case prematurely by leaving it in Auto, these are not AWD transfer cases with a planetary and made to run on any road surface all the time. Use it when you think you'll need it and then switch back to 2HI.

Sorry, I don't buy it. You do what you want, I'll do what I want. According to you, this is the same transfer case as my Jeep has and it's full time auto, there is no 2wd option and it's not AWD, and Jeeps aren't dying left and right from it.

Even if it does fail, it's a warranty issue. The owner's manual makes no statement about leaving it in auto being a bad thing. If it was it would be mentioned as a condition which would not be covered under warranty like they do with many other things.

I also read that Police vehicles are required to remain in auto mode at all times.

I don't buy snake oil. Show me proof that full time auto mode is bad and will cause a failure in under 200,000 miles (which is the expected life of our vehicles), or else it's just conjecture. I don't care if it will fail at 400,000 miles...

dal1980 · January 3, 2023

20 hours ago, Davew277 said:

I plan to use auto all of the time on my 3500 too. I don't see any good reason to not use it. It only engages when it's needed. Otherwise it's in 2wd.

When you engage Auto it locks in movement of the entire front drive system which is usually "unlocked" in 2 wheel drive. Leaving it in auto will cause drag and wear on parts with little to no benefit "all of the time". On dry pavement it will engage on turns as it works with wheel speed sensors, which will be hard on the 4x4 components (binding etc). It is a great system and functions well when you need it. I would refrain from using it full time but thats my opinion.

Jimmy R · January 3, 2023

I too had the opportunity to try out the auto function. No problem at highway speeds over the passes or street speeds on icy roads. It worked real smooth, no herky-jerkey in sharp turns like I remember from my other 4wd trucks. I also saw that if a wheel looses traction, the HUD shows which wheel is loosing traction when braking and accelerating. Not that it helps much, but it shows that the computer is monitoring all wheels.

nocturnalmotors · January 3, 2023

I love it when it works...

2nd winter with the truck and was out running errands at lunch the other week and popped Service 4WD error and lost all 4WD! Dealer reprogrammed the TCCM and so far so good... Hope it doesn't leave me stranded miles out on a frozen lake with the Ice Castle.

swathdiver · January 3, 2023

13 hours ago, Davew277 said:

Sorry, I don't buy it.

It's your money. I learned about it by reading these forums in an attempt to learn from other people's mistakes.

diyer2 · January 3, 2023

Engaging 4 wheel drive of any mode makes no sense to me if road conditions don't warrant it.

Davew277 · January 3, 2023

6 hours ago, swathdiver said:

It's your money. I learned about it by reading these forums in an attempt to learn from other people's mistakes.

It's not my money, it's a warranty issue if it fails at any time for me. I have a lifetime warranty on my powertrain. I guess my Jeep will be in the shop soon along with every other Trailhawk owner out there since it's always on auto with no way to disable it...

Using your doors will cause your door hinges to wear out prematurely. I guess you shouldn't use those either.

9 hours ago, dal1980 said:

When you engage Auto it locks in movement of the entire front drive system which is usually "unlocked" in 2 wheel drive. Leaving it in auto will cause drag and wear on parts with little to no benefit "all of the time". On dry pavement it will engage on turns as it works with wheel speed sensors, which will be hard on the 4x4 components (binding etc). It is a great system and functions well when you need it. I would refrain from using it full time but thats my opinion.

To each his own. The only real downside is the slight impact to mpg. I'm not concerned about mpg. There is no evidence that using the system full time will cause any breakdown in the powertrain before other powertrain components fail. Most people will sell their trucks long before it will even become a potential issue, and the people that do will surely have other powertrain issues before they have issues resulting from using auto mode.

But if people want to keep their front powertrain in great condition for the next owner of their vehicle, have at it. It will not have any impact on the resale value, at all.

Edit: It will not engage on turns unless it loses traction. People clearly have no idea how this system works. Auto is 2wd until a wheel slips. If the wheel slips then obviously 4wd was needed...

Edited January 3, 2023 by Davew277

Pryme · January 4, 2023

2 hours ago, Davew277 said:

It's not my money, it's a warranty issue if it fails at any time for me. I have a lifetime warranty on my powertrain. I guess my Jeep will be in the shop soon along with every other Trailhawk owner out there since it's always on auto with no way to disable it...

Using your doors will cause your door hinges to wear out prematurely. I guess you shouldn't use those either.

To each his own. The only real downside is the slight impact to mpg. I'm not concerned about mpg. There is no evidence that using the system full time will cause any breakdown in the powertrain before other powertrain components fail. Most people will sell their trucks long before it will even become a potential issue, and the people that do will surely have other powertrain issues before they have issues resulting from using auto mode.

But if people want to keep their front powertrain in great condition for the next owner of their vehicle, have at it. It will not have any impact on the resale value, at all.

Edit: It will not engage on turns unless it loses traction. People clearly have no idea how this system works. Auto is 2wd until a wheel slips. If the wheel slips then obviously 4wd was needed...

Someone earlier stated the transfer case is engaged in auto and only the front differential is disengaged until it’s needed.

I don’t have auto so I’m just sitting here with my popcorn.

Jettech1 · January 5, 2023

23 hours ago, Pryme said:

Someone earlier stated the transfer case is engaged in auto and only the front differential is disengaged until it’s needed.

I don’t have auto so I’m just sitting here with my popcorn.

Would someone who please knows the answer to this question here please answer it? I have many doubts anything going forward into the transfer case is actually moving while in 4 auto mode. Why would that be the case? The 4hi mode is still there to press for full time 4wd. From what I've read, the auto mode only engages the transfer case when slippage is detected. So there should be no worries about being in auto mode, well, all the time. Is what I've read true or not? Just asking is all.

grandpapa20_ · January 5, 2023

1 hour ago, Jettech1 said:

Would someone who please knows the answer to this question here please answer it? I have many doubts anything going forward into the transfer case is actually moving while in 4 auto mode. Why would that be the case? The 4hi mode is still there to press for full time 4wd. From what I've read, the auto mode only engages the transfer case when slippage is detected. So there should be no worries about being in auto mode, well, all the time. Is what I've read true or not? Just asking is all.

As far as I know you are correct. When I’m auto 4wd t-case and front diff only activates when rear tires are starting to slip. Just do not leave auto 4wd engaged unless it’s slick outside. I have seen it mess things up.

Davew277 · January 5, 2023

1 hour ago, Jettech1 said:

Would someone who please knows the answer to this question here please answer it? I have many doubts anything going forward into the transfer case is actually moving while in 4 auto mode. Why would that be the case? The 4hi mode is still there to press for full time 4wd. From what I've read, the auto mode only engages the transfer case when slippage is detected. So there should be no worries about being in auto mode, well, all the time. Is what I've read true or not? Just asking is all.

Auto is NOT 4wd, not by a longshot. If you want to know for sure, try going off-road using only Auto. Then switch to 4H or 4L. It's a night and day difference. I have went off-road extensively and have tried Auto in that scenario. I only use 4L on my acreage.

Auto transfers power to other wheels when the primary drive wheels (in the rear) lose traction. It is a high tech traction control system, not full fledged 4wd.

Some Chrysler models use Auto full time and have options to engage 4wd in addition to this.

Read the owners manual if you have any doubts.

There are warnings about using 4wd modes on dry pavement. There are no such warnings about using Auto on dry pavement.

I rest my case. Any further discussion from me on this subject will be redundant and therefore pointless. Do what you want.

Jettech1 · January 5, 2023

4 minutes ago, Davew277 said:

Auto is NOT 4wd, not by a longshot. If you want to know for sure, try going off-road using only Auto. Then switch to 4H or 4L. It's a night and day difference. I have went off-road extensively and have tried Auto in that scenario. I only use 4L on my acreage.

Auto transfers power to other wheels when the primary drive wheels (in the rear) lose traction. It is a high tech traction control system, not full fledged 4wd.

Some Chrysler models use Auto full time and have options to engage 4wd in addition to this.

Read the owners manual if you have any doubts.

There are warnings about using 4wd modes on dry pavement. There are no such warnings about using Auto on dry pavement.

I rest my case. Any further discussion from me on this subject will be redundant and therefore pointless. Do what you want.

Thank you very much sir!! I really appreciate it!

Dr1ft3r · January 5, 2023

3 hours ago, Davew277 said:

Auto is NOT 4wd, not by a longshot. If you want to know for sure, try going off-road using only Auto. Then switch to 4H or 4L. It's a night and day difference. I have went off-road extensively and have tried Auto in that scenario. I only use 4L on my acreage.

Auto transfers power to other wheels when the primary drive wheels (in the rear) lose traction. It is a high tech traction control system, not full fledged 4wd.

Some Chrysler models use Auto full time and have options to engage 4wd in addition to this.

Read the owners manual if you have any doubts.

There are warnings about using 4wd modes on dry pavement. There are no such warnings about using Auto on dry pavement.

I rest my case. Any further discussion from me on this subject will be redundant and therefore pointless. Do what you want.

Thanks this is good enough for me!

KARNUT · January 5, 2023

In my experience working off road on pipelines and transmission lines I drove many different 4WDs. I experienced very little if any difference between the two, auto and regular 4wd. I didn’t go looking for the deepest or nastiest mud pits or the biggest mountains either. I ran regular BFG tires and no lifts. On road when the weather turned nasty auto 4wd was a great option I used it often. I used to use regular 4wd on bad roads too. You could tell the difference when the pavement got dry. Being Im a little aggressive at lights I would use both leaving lights depending on how modified my truck was. My average trade in was between 150-180K miles there was never a problem with wearing out. No matter the brand. I never usually left auto 4wd on unless the weather was iffy didn’t see the point. I would rather have it than not, it was more convenient. The trucks that had it. Would rarely if ever see regular 4wd.

dal1980 · January 5, 2023

On 1/3/2023 at 6:20 PM, Davew277 said:

Edit: It will not engage on turns unless it loses traction. People clearly have no idea how this system works. Auto is 2wd until a wheel slips. If the wheel slips then obviously 4wd was needed...

I sure hope you lumped yourself into the "people" that clearly have no idea how this system works. You're trying to make comparisons between Chrysler AWD and the four wheel drive on a 7k# HD pickup. Nonsensical forum arguments are the best, arent they! Solving the truck worlds problems one opinion at a time.