Went out last night after a day full of rain. Gotta drive through tons and tons of sugar sand just to get to the mud (some little holes, some huge holes). I was really impressed with how well the Jeep handled it. Had to use 4 low to get through some of the deep sand, but the mud was no problem. Pulled some kid out on his 4 wheeler which was buried in mud, and tried to yank out an Isuzu Trooper full of drunk bastards who didn't realize that the more you spin the tires, the deeper you dig yourself. They were too deep for me to pull out, so I casually drove off (in my stock Jeep )to find a big diesel. I think next time I'm out there I'll air down the tires a bit.

A question... what's the best way to get into 4 wheel-lo? It seemed to grind a bit on me when switching, or is that normal? I was only doing about 3 mph.

 

I think it's better to put it in 4-LOW while it's in neutral. Again, I think so. I could be wrong.

 

The manual really does have a good blurb on this - I put it in N and just move enough to be gently rolling (under 5 MPH) and then bump it down to 4L. Some times I put in D for a second to get moving and then back to N and then to 4L.

 

That's it exactly. You need to moving at about 2 to 3 mph in neutral when you shift to 4 low. This will prevent grinding. As deadpost says, there's a section on it in the manual about how to get into 4 low without grinding. Grinding is good if you're talking about strippers, but bad for Jeeps. lol

 

I have a question on 4 LO. How high do you allow the RPMs to get before shifting gears. I've stayed out of 4 LO for the most part because I am unfamiliar with how to use it.

 

4 low is a low speed application (20mph or less). I have an auto, but I usually keep it in 1st for the most part, might see 2nd here and there.

 

I have to say I can't decide if I come to the forum to learn something or for some sarcasm and humur...most of the time it's a bit of both and when its sewn right into the responses like this it's even better! Just makes me laugh...

 

So if you are stuck in mud/sand, it is too late to get in 4LO?

 

Not necessarily.

An old wise man once said, "Use 4wd to get unstuck"

Meaning drive in 2wd til you are pretty certain there's no way out.. then shift into 4wd and you'll make it.

Cause getting stuck in 4wd means no alternatives.

4-lo is typical for crawling up rocks/steep inclines, etc.

And rule of thumb (for me anyways) for things like mud and sand is..

Speed in = speed out.

If you go in slow, you lose forward momentum and can get stuck..

 

Agree with the above comment. I was movin fine until I had to slow down to make sure I fit between the opening in the fence. When I lost the majority of my forward momentum, thats when the sand started getting the best of me.