[Seanernet]

Hello all, I've had a Jeep now for about a week and a half. I bought a 2008 JK Unlimited X with 6500 miles on it the weekend before last. Sunday I took it to the Green Swamp here in Lakeland, FL. I was having fun driving the trails and enjoying my surroundings. After about 40 minutes I finally found some mud and went through one direction no problem. I wanted to continue to find the limits of my new toy and went through backwards (reverse) and then on another side. It's at this point I get stuck, no biggie, 3 trucks pull up and one pulls me out after 6 attempts. I wasn't worried as I just put on an XRC8 the Friday evening before. Everything seems fine at this point and I'm cruising the trails in 4wd High and tackling the mudholes in 4wd Low. I found another mudhole and immediately attempt it. I enter all the mudholes slowly and with caution, I have owned 4wd vehicles in the past and ultimately chose to get the best (jeep) at this point. I get about 3/4 through the hole and realize I'm stuck like chuck. My friend and I get the winch situated and I begin to pull out of the hole. As I am winching out of the hole, I attempt to assist the winch by driving forward, it's at this moment that my buddy says your front tires aren't spinning. I checked and I was still in 4wd Low but to no avail. I got out of the hole and got home before any further problems arose.

Fastforward to Tuesday, drop off the Jeep at Regal Jeep in Lakeland. (Still covered by 3yr/36000 Warranty) Call Wednesday and they tell me that the gears in my front axle are completely destroyed and asked if I was pulling anything. I expressed my concern and told them I had just been mudding. They said they would cover it under warranty but acted a little like it was abuse.

Can anyone explain to me what I did wrong if anything and how can I prevent this in the future. This is not my daily driver and I only intend on using it for recreation. I'm a little disappointed as I sort of expected my Jeep to at least stay working for more than 2 outings. I also inquired if while they have it tore down I could get any upgraded parts and or lockers and they said they would check into it for me.

Thanks in advance,
Sean

P.S. Forgot to mention that the previous owner had put a 4" lift and 315 17 R70 Tires on it. Wasn't sure how much this could impact it but it drives great and the dealership claimed it wouldn't affect the warranty.

 

[Seanernet]

I really appreciate all the input on this! Does anyone have any possible solutions? Should I use less pedal in the mud? Get lockers? Replace one or both drive axles with Rubicon replacements from Quadratec? Get a Solid Axle Spyntec Hub Conversion? Use 4wd High in the mud instead?

I'm pretty new to the Jeep scene and was hoping that this thing was good to go.

What are the rest of you doing with your rigs? Are you having these problems?

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Seanernet]

I really appreciate all these answers. I'm starting to wonder if the 4wd was working at all. It seemed like I was getting stuck a bit too easy. Hopefully the vehicle was already damaged and this will take care of it and adding some lessons learned from this thread should help too. I'm going to attempt to tackle the mudholes solely in 4wd high and see how that works out. My only concern is this happening again and the dealership not warranting it.

I'll update the part list after I get it back and put any dealer input here too.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Seanernet]

Also, here are pictures of the crime scene. Nothing special really.

http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e144/seanernet/