Which gears to use

[james02]

I've searched, fairly well I think... When trailing, what are the general guidelines when it comes to choosin 2 low or 3rd and such.... Is there a write up and I missed it?

[bartonmd]

Never use 2, unless you're going down a hill or something. 2 on these is 2nd gear start, which is OK once a while in the snow, but slips the clutches into gear on start.

1st is for slow stuff, 3 is for letting it pick what gear it wants to be in. Don't use 4th under any kind of heavy load, or going down hills or anything, because the overrun sprag is still working, and not only is it the weak point of any transmission that has one, but it doesn't let you engine brake. When REALLY rocking on the throttle on something, put the selector in 1st, because there's an overrun roller for 1st gear (allows it to shift down to 1st when slowing down, and not make your face hit the windshield), that the LO/REV clutch locks up for reverse to work (reverse is 1st working backwards), but it also takes the load off of the 1st roller. When the selector is in 1, 2, or 3, the input sprag clutch is also working, taking the load off of the input sprag. So, the transmission is as strong as it can be with the selector in 1st.

Mike

[HARDTRAILZ]

I generally always wheel in 4 lo. I am not racing anyone.

[dvanbramer88]

I like to use for 4LO also. And I use 1st and 2nd gear to dictate my speed. Always use first when climbing an obstacle or slow going up a steeper hill. But if we're just rolling along down a trail, up and down hills and such, I'll use second to go a little faster.


Which brings me to this: Don't forget what gear you're in. On Tecore, I forgot I was in second, and I needed momentum to get over this dirt mound that would turn my truck into a teeter totter. I had no power to get over it. After I struggled to get over it, MDB walks by my window and asks, where you in second? I look down.. Uh, yea...

(IIRC, I was in 4HI still. In 4LO, trying to use second doesn't hurt you as bad, but you should still use first on obstacles.)

[HARDTRAILZ]

Unless you need wheel speed for an obstacle... then 1st sucks.

[dvanbramer88]

True...

[The Roadie]

I generally always wheel in 4 lo. I am not racing anyone.

Very true. Unless you have Nick N. on your ass tailgating on a wide but washboardy desert wash at 25 MPH. With my shocks and aired down tires, I could do 45 and pull away. On rocks and lumpy dried mud, LO range is perfect. It also keeps the engine RPMs up a bit in case I'm caught out in the desert heat and it climbs to 90-95 degrees. Better AC and radiator airflow when your groundspeed is low but your engine RPMs are 1.7X what you get in HI range. .