Teraflex 2 Low

[Wildman]

How does terrain change the fact that a locked rear will try to push it's vehicle in a straight line, regardless of what the front is wanting to do? Wet, low traction conditions will only exacerbate this behavior. While a locked front, open rear will be pulled in whatever direction the front (locked) wheels are pointing?

If this is not accurate for a locked front, open rear, then explain the mechanism that will pull the vehicle in a straight line, despite where the turned front wheels want to do.

I can't really saw 100% either way on this becasue I never had a chance to test any of these theories out. When my Jeep still had stock axles under it I was running a Detroit in the rear and a LockRite in the front. So I couldn't unlock either axle. This was one of the reason I installed the 2Lo into my T-case when I swapped to a TeraLow kit.
Climbing long muddy hills here in the PNW and having it push you straight even when you had the wheel cranked left or right was not a great feeling. So when it came time for me to choose lockers for my new axles I went with ARB's. While I like auto lockers like a Detroit I can say I really preferer selectable lockers.

I never had any issues with my 2Lo popping out of which ever range I had selected. It was a little hard to get into 2Lo some of the time but other than that I never had any issues.

 

[Vivalamigra]

So i was using 4HI in our snowstorm here and getting onto highway i popped out of 4HI... has anyone else had issues staying in detent? I haven't used it much after the 2-LOW and i did NOT like the feeling of going into neutral on the highway. The 2-to-4 shift has always been weird with the 2-LOW.

Reviving an old thread..


I had the same problem with this kit. 4 hi popping into neutral.

Plus it was hard to find and keep it in 4-low. Seemed to accidentally drop into 2-low when you needed 4low. Not good.

Additionally, it was hard to find neutral. I flat tow the jeep, so that was a pain as well.

I installed a shift cable. Didn't help the 2-low kit issue at all, but seems very nice now, because......

I finally pulled the 2-low this week, after suffering a year+ of this crap, and reinstalled a stock shift sector and fork. Feels great now. Haven't wheeled it yet but I'll report back.

I'm not an engineer, but I believe the teeth in the Teraflex 2-low shift sector are too small and pointy. Cool idea, but in practice not reliable. I don't think the detent sits in them correctly.

I got suckered in by the extreme short installation video.

The Extreme short SYE is a very nice kit, and necessary, and the install video is great except:

1. they pitched the 2-low kit, which sucks, and is unnecessary

2. Also, in that video, they installed the rear yoke without feeding in the u-joint bolts. Paper instructions remind you to feed the bolts in first. They must've redesigned the rear yoke after that video was made. I found out the hard way, because I relied on that video. Unfortunately I skimmed through the paper instructions and didn't catch that little tidbit. I had to remove the yoke and reinstall with the bolts inserted.

My opinion, based on my experience, is stay away from the 2-low kit. If you decide you must try it, keep your old parts. I didn't, unfortunately, so I had to source those.

The extreme short SYE is great, just make sure you feed those rear u joint bolts through first, unlike the end of this video.

 

[B00mb00m]

Reviving an old thread..


I had the same problem with this kit. 4 hi popping into neutral.

Plus it was hard to find and keep it in 4-low. Seemed to accidentally drop into 2-low when you needed 4low. Not good.

Additionally, it was hard to find neutral. I flat tow the jeep, so that was a pain as well.

I installed a shift cable. Didn't help the 2-low kit issue at all, but seems very nice now, because......

I finally pulled the 2-low this week, after suffering a year+ of this crap, and reinstalled a stock shift sector and fork. Feels great now. Haven't wheeled it yet but I'll report back.

I'm not an engineer, but I believe the teeth in the Teraflex 2-low shift sector are too small and pointy. Cool idea, but in practice not reliable. I don't think the detent sits in them correctly.

I got suckered in by the extreme short installation video.

The Extreme short SYE is a very nice kit, and necessary, and the install video is great except:

1. they pitched the 2-low kit, which sucks, and is unnecessary

2. Also, in that video, they installed the rear yoke without feeding in the u-joint bolts. Paper instructions remind you to feed the bolts in first. They must've redesigned the rear yoke after that video was made. I found out the hard way, because I relied on that video. Unfortunately I skimmed through the paper instructions and didn't catch that little tidbit. I had to remove the yoke and reinstall with the bolts inserted.

My opinion, based on my experience, is stay away from the 2-low kit. If you decide you must try it, keep your old parts. I didn't, unfortunately, so I had to source those.

The extreme short SYE is great, just make sure you feed those rear u joint bolts through first, unlike the end of this video.

You're the only one I ever heard that had similar situation. I kind of figured out how to shift it and it stopped popping out. I would shift into 4 hi then to N then back to 4hi and it was solid in detent after that. I never had any issues with popping out of lo though. Did you check that your yoke nut was tight and didn't loosen? I always said the next time I pull the np231 am atlas is going in.... And that happened.

 

[LJ Jesse]

I have not had any problems with it popping out of gear. I really like the Tera 2-Low kit and will continue to use it. I use a Novak cable shifter for the Tcase.

 

[Ephry73]

Subscribed. The idea of the 2 low for ramp work or climbs where 4low may affect steering makes sense. Once the weather gets better I will get the sye installed and was looking at something like this for hills and such. Will upgrading to the heavy duty planetary gears make sense then to make sure the load is spread (6 gears instead of 3) better?

 

[Hokahay]

I have not had any problems with it popping out of gear. I really like the Tera 2-Low kit and will continue to use it. I use a Novak cable shifter for the Tcase.

Here i have a 42rle. And detroit lockers front and back. I too also have a Novak. THe synco 4low 2 low works great. You ccan make a tight turn in 2wd and not stress the front. Or leave it engaged and go easy on the skinny pedal.

For what it cost and detroits front and back i think its a good upgrade. The Novak was a big improvement. Wish I had the savvy lol but they didn't offer one when i did this.



tl;dr Mine works great.

 

[Ol Blue]

Bringing a thread back to life !

I ended up screwing up my ssye install and decided to purchase the 2 low after all and installing since I had everything open again. If you have selectable lock I think it would be a waste of money. I have an auto locker up front and I’m loving it, it’s been a year or so and haven’t experienced any issues.

 

[marcus2137]

I installed a Rubicrawler a couple of years ago. I love the ability to use in 2WD as well as the extreme low going down steep hills and crawling slow over rocks that I had to use a bit of speed on before.

Hey I signed up in order to ask a question about this, so I can't send a PM yet.

I know it's an older thread but I was wondering if you could detail how you modified the 2 low to work better?

Thanks
Marcus

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Hey I signed up in order to ask a question about this, so I can't send a PM yet.

I know it's an older thread but I was wondering if you could detail how you modified the 2 low to work better?

Thanks
Marcus

Welcome to the forum!

The Rubicrawler Jim mentioned is a gear box which replaces the tail section of the 42RLE auto tranny, and adds a selectable 2.72:1 gear reduction prior to the tcase. The purpose is that whatever range to tcase is set to - 2high, 4high, 4low, you increase the resulting ratio by 2.72:1.

The cool thing is that the rubicrawler is the same length as the tail section it replaces, so your driveline length does not increase.

The overall setup is similar in function to running a 4 speed Atlas tcase.

 

[marcus2137]

I had to modify the tera 2 low to shift smoother but it worked well. I now have an atlas. I love the 2 low option and run in more than 4low honestly on a lot of trails. I only need 4wd on an obstacle and I run 2 low for the rest. It frees up the steering etc. and I have selectable lockers and still choose to run it.

Haha my bad I totally fat fingered the reply button. I was at work and trying to hurry and finish the message before going off of my break.

I meant to reply to this message about the modification to the 2 low that Rescue6 mentioned to get it to shift better.

I appreciate your reply though. We had a JK with the 42rle and the rubicrawler had just come out when we had to sell it but it sounded like a great option.

My main Jeep is a 2000 TJ with a manual so not an option for me unfortunately. It's a 2.5 and I'm currently swapping in a nv3550 and 241OR into it (been running a ax5 and 231 with teralow kit for about 8 years), so I was thinking about doing the 2wd low kit at the same time to make me yearn less for an Atlas haha.

Thanks again.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Haha my bad I totally fat fingered the reply button. I was at work and trying to hurry and finish the message before going off of my break.

I meant to reply to this message about the modification to the 2 low that Rescue6 mentioned to get it to shift better.

I appreciate your reply though. We had a JK with the 42rle and the rubicrawler had just come out when we had to sell it but it sounded like a great option.

My main Jeep is a 2000 TJ with a manual so not an option for me unfortunately. It's a 2.5 and I'm currently swapping in a nv3550 and 241OR into it (been running a ax5 and 231 with teralow kit for about 8 years), so I was thinking about doing the 2wd low kit at the same time to make me yearn less for an Atlas haha.

Thanks again.

The 2 low kit is pretty simple. I just adds an extra indent between 4 high and 4 low that allows you to run in rear wheel drive but in low range. Pain in the ass to install it though. Most only do it when they have the case open for another reason, like you.

I ran it with the tera low, and liked it.

 

[Hokahay]

I have had a Tera2Low kit installed for a long time. Works great with Detroits front and back.

 

[marcus2137]

The 2 low kit is pretty simple. I just adds an extra indent between 4 high and 4 low that allows you to run in rear wheel drive but in low range. Pain in the ass to install it though. Most only do it when they have the case open for another reason, like you.

I ran it with the tera low, and liked it.

Good to know. I've mostly heard good stuff but have seen a few negative reviews (popping out of gear, hard to shift) also so was hoping I didn't just waste money for something I'll regret.

But ya, with the TC sitting on the bench I figured "might as well".

Did you every have issues with your teralow?

 

[marcus2137]

I have had a Tera2Low kit installed for a long time. Works great with Detroits front and back.

Awesome, good to know. I wonder why come people have bad experiences. Maybe some other issue with their TC that is exposed when the 2low is installed? Mines going into a 241 so hopefully it's not a 231 vs 241 issue.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Good to know. I've mostly heard good stuff but have seen a few negative reviews (popping out of gear, hard to shift) also so was hoping I didn't just waste money for something I'll regret.

But ya, with the TC sitting on the bench I figured "might as well".

Did you every have issues with your teralow?

No operational issues - but mine screamed like a banshee. So much so that it was embarrassing to me to drive it in low (gotta know me just a bit to understand that one ). It‘s a common issue with that teralow planetary.