So I'm crawling but not in a good way, down 95s in a ton of traffic. I am practicing shifting into 4 lo cuz it's not easy for me. I hear some grinding and at one point it scared me and I heard what sounded like a loose hunk of metal floating around. It's easier to go into park and then shift from 4 hi to neutral, pause then into 4 lo. It slipped out of 4 lo a couple of times and I panicked a bit. I'm nervous and feel like I'm going to break something.

What's the best way to practice and how likey am I to break anything?

 

You should only be shifting into 4 lo from a stop or a very slow roll.

 

Def wouldn't be practicing on asphalt. Anyway I find it easiest to stop,put in neutral then shift to 4lo. From there I put it in drive

 

Shifting into 4hi can be done on the fly. But from 4hi to 4lo is easiest when rolling, in neutral, under 3mph. I takes some practice. I usually double check to make sure it is all the way in gear. Don't get frustrated and force it in.

 

Yea from a stop it's easy. Going 2 mph it's hard. What about shifting out of 4 lo?

 

Practice makes me think I'm goin to break something if I don't do it right.

 

4-low only offroad on loose surfaces and stopped or near stopped as mentioned! Got to get all the different internal gearing in sync by going to neutral with your tranny then slowly move transfer case into 4-lo. If any grinding STOP, and shift tranny into d or r and back into n then try again. Same coming out of lo. NEVER should you force it or hear grinding. Got to take the time to play and get all the internals sync up right. ALWAYS Tranny in neutral when moving transfer case to 4-lo. Just went over all this with a newby yesterday while playing with his new rubi on my property. It took time for him to get used to it, so get on some dirt and practice, practice, practice.

 

Thanks this is all helpful and I'm glad I asked.

 

x2... easiest way I found as well... shift to neutral and then pop into 4-low with no grinding, then shift into 1st, 2nd, or D. (For auto anyway).

 

Same thing but in reverse. As others have said don't try it on pavement. Also if the Jeep is new it will take a little bit of normal wear to smooth out the shifting from a very slow roll. At first it was really tough to get it into 4 lo but after a while it is a lot easier.