in what kind of terrain should i switch from 4high to 4low in 4x4?

 

A good rule of thumb I use is if you feel that you are going too fast through a given trail, I.E...you're beating the Jeep too hard, beating yourself too hard, risking doing excessive trail damage to your Jeep, maybe it's time to switch to 4LO. I always use 4LO on the rocks and when conquering a very technical type of trail obsticle.

 

i run an Auto. i use 4-low 1st gear on rocks, rock faces, and some hills. after that, i just see what the terrain is and base what i need to run off that. for mud you want wheel speed so i usually run 4-low 3rd gear or 4 high.

 

the way i've always done it was that if im going to be going faster then 5mph i stay in high slower then that i go in low.

 

ok thanks guys. whats best for going through mud/big puddles bc im from western ma and most of the tails are more muddy and water then rocks. also your saying if your going a little faster use 4high and 4low is for slower driving/if your stuck kinda deal?

 

For blasting through mud and puddles you need wheel speed. I would go with at least 4HI-1st gear. Another thing I didn't mention is that when driving in deep snow 4Hi tends to work a little better. Common sense tells you 4LO but, you create too much torque too fast and your Jeep wants to dig to China. bad news. Maybe this only works in wet slushy Washington snow but, it does work for me!! Thanks Brandon. This old dog learned a very cool new trick.

 

All I really wheel in is mud and water. Around me that's all there is.... but I really never used 4low. Like said before you need wheel speed and 4low just doesn't have it

 

4low+3rd gear=4hi+1st gear more or less.

Given the same rear end ratio of 3.08 your overall drive ratio would be..

4low (NP231-2.72)x3rd gear (AW4-1.00)x rear end (3.08)= 8.38
4hi (NP231-1.00)x 1st gear (AW4- 2.80)x rear end (3.08)= 8.62

Not saying you are wrong as it gives the same effect and I have seen other people use the same gear selection...

 

my jeep is an automatic so all this gear stuff you guys are talking about makes no sense to me sorry lol. but i checked today and my 4low doesnt work anyways. i can go in reversve in 4low but if i try to put it in drive all you hear is gears grinding and the jeep doesnt move

 

the only time you need 4L is if what you are running in is bogging down the motor or if you just want to go slow over ruff terrain very steep hills its a god idea to be in 4L you don't want to get half way up and find out you don't have the power you need

 

we are talking about auto's here. I never use drive when wheeling.

 

fair enough. however, 4low 3rd gives you 3 gears to shift through to gain momentum.

 

Clayton, I know what is wrong with your 4LO not working. If you climb under your Jeep and look at your TC shift linkage. Midway between where it goes through the floor and where it hooks to the shift lever on the TC, there is what looks like a pivot linkage with a pin that should be in a hole in the side of your Auto tranny and then goes across to a mount near the framerail. For some reason unknown to me, if this pin comes out of the tranny, you lose all forward gears when the TC is shifted in 4WD. With the TC in 2WD all forward gears still work fine. We found this out the hard way on my son's XJ the last time we went 4wheeling. I gotta give his Jeep props. He made it most of the way through that last trail in 2HI.

 

^^^ yeah there are some issues with the shifter set up you most likely are not in gear in 4-low. and yeah it depends on the terrain as to when i use low or high with steep hills and rocks i use 1st gear and 4-low on flatter ground or mud use a higher gear and 4-high to keep the wheel speeds up

 

yeah if you do not get through\over it then stop- put in 4-low and slowly craw out\over it- that always seems to work for me