I'm sorry.....but what is that supposed to mean? Do you want to learn? I said nothing derrogatory to you....and certainly neversaid thatyou specifically onlygo "mall crawling" inyour vehicle. I am, however, setting the commontrend straight in thisthread, in that 4HI & 4LO should certainly be used when negotiating through various types of terrain off-road. My commentspertain to general four wheeling.....not just extreme rock crawling in a tube buggy. But if all that a person is doing in their 4WDvehicle, is hopping a curb, or driving down a dirt path....then obviously 4WD is not necessary for that.

Bottom line....more people will replace more broken axles, & other various parts, by overloading the rear axle,in anattempt to "prove" what they can do in 2WD. Excessive momentum & wheel spin break parts on a normal everyday 4WD. Be smart and take it easy on your rig. It will love you for it.

 

well, noone said anything about negotiating trails in 2wd..... just simply... there is no point in locking it into 4wd until you need it..... if you are on a reasonably flat surface with little strain... 4wd is pointless.... and btw... 4lo will only screw you over in extremely muddy terrain.... you cannot get the tires to turn fast enough to self-clean in 4lo.... I think alot of people technically go do what we KY folk call "mudding" not wheeling or crawling on this forum... theres a difference between the mud and negotiating trails... but if anyone wants to do the mud in 4-lo... let me know and ill come to the rescue and pull your truck out
I know for one.. I dont wheel or crawl because I cant even risk tearing up something or doing body damage, but i'll be the first to sling a bit of thick mud.....in 2wdhaha....

 

Your saying that you should not use 4LO in extremely muddy terrain? You'll end up burning upyour tranny or clutch up, trying to wheel in 4HI in deep mud, man! Once again, that's what the gearing in 4LOis for. Can't turn the tires fast enough in 4LO in deep mud?Maybe if you left it in 1st frickin gear! LOL! If you were to leave it in 4HI in deep sticky mud, the tires will be under a tremendous amount of suction created by the mud. That suction equates into a severe load placed on the rest of the drivetrain. Shift into 4LO, and you will now have the gearing to move on through, without overloadingyour autotransmission or clutch. Need more wheel speed? Simply shift to a higher gear.

The only thing I find 4HI useful for, is driving on wet or icy roads on the highway.Most other type of four wheeling (i.e. technical trails, mudding, rock crawling, etc.), should be done in 4LO to ease the strain placed on therest of the drivetrain. Four wheeling in sand being the obvious exception.

 

ahhh, what the hell do you know?


[IMG]local://upfiles/4524/5FAEB572219C43B09DCB5355A7F95297.jpg[/IMG]

 

4lo is more of a strain on the drivetrain and motor... as soon as I upload it I will show you a video I put together of my buddies trucks getting stuck in the mud in 4lo.... 4lo is not good for mud..... and 4hi wont help on ice unless you have studs... if you are on solid ice nothing helps...
you use 4hi on wet roads???? wow... have fun with that

 

Mudding should NOT be done in 4-Lo, what are you on crack man? I've only used 4-Lo twice over a period of 2 1/2 years with 3 Blazers. Both of those times I was pulling out huge boulders and I needed all the torque I could get. 4-Lo is pretty much an emergency only thing as it puts a huge strain on the drivetrain, if you aren't an idiot 4-Hi should suit you just fine.

You keep wheeling in 4-Lo and I'll be waiting for your Wanted post asking for a Transfer Case that suddenly grenaded itself.

 

haha... true true... ive used 4 lo three times in three different vehicles... all while pulling out other vehicles.. did it in the silverado, the blazer, and the J10.....well technically 4 times in 4 vehicles... but the 77 cherokee was used to pull up stumps.. hahaha

 

Ok, can we agree to disagree here? There are driving styles and circumstances that warrant the use of 4hi over 4lo and vise versa. It's all up to personal preference and the traction that is available. I don't think there will ever be a clear cut answer as to when 4lo is warranted or even if you need to hit 4hi when you enter a trail. It is all up to the person behind the wheel. As such, I don't think it is for someone else to say whether your way of wheeling is right or wrong. Everyone has their own style when behind the wheel. Just do what ever makes it fun!

 

a_tack and KFC_or_Bust: I'd very much like to see some pictures of the type of wheeling you guys do.

What some people consider "wheeling", others consider "driving down a dirt road". I can only assume that you just haven't had the opportunity to take your trucks on a trail that challenges them. It's very simple, if you haven't used 4lo on the trail, the trail you're on isn't much of a challenge.

Kyle, I know what you're saying, and i agree that, either way, it's good for people to get out and use their trucks offroad, but for these guys to be telling people that 4lo is going to damage their transfer case or blow up their drivetrain, is absurd. Without 4lo, the only way to tackle most harder obstacles is with speed. I'd rather the members here actually understand what their vehicles do and the proper operation of them, than trying to take on obstacles at a higher speed and risk damage to themselves or their vehicle.

Here's some food for thought... there's an entire magazine named after the function in your trucks that KFC implied only an idiot would use offroad:

http://www.low-range.com/

 

Once again, things have gotten out of hand. I did not want to put my opinion down into an already highly opinionated thread, but I feel like attempting to clear some things up. One thing that I would like to strongly convey to everyone involved, please be more considerate to your fellow members.

On the issue of 4LO use. 4LO will not cause added strain on the engine or transmission. It actually gives the engine/transmission more mechanical advantage, making the load easier on both of them. Now, given adaquate traction, it will cause added stress on the axles, but typically, traction is the issue and by using finesse to get through areas, the difference in stress is negligible. We don't have the luxury of locking our transmissions in a higher gear to get the proper torque application for the traction conditions (unless you are manual) so there are some cases where 4HI may be better than 4LO just because it gives you a different torque range delivered to the wheels.

Now this is highly subjective and results may very based on terrain, driving style, and equipment used. I will say that I am not an avid off-roader/rock-crawler/mud-bogger like many others. What I have stated above is what I know by applying logic and learned experiences from other avenues.

We have a very wide range of members with varying experiences. I am by no means the most knowledgable guy here and I know that to be true. We all have to remember that when someone makes a suggestion or voices their opinion on something, it should be done to benefit all, not belittle one. Every member has unique experiences and the diversity is what makes us stronger. We need to work off of the strengths of those experiences. Just because another member may have had a contradictory experience does not make either unequivocally correct. This is simply because no two experiences are ever the same. Heck, if that were true, I should aways run 14.56s quarters with my Bonneville (my personal best).

We are all here to help each other!