What conditions should I use 4 low or 4 high? Such as mud, trails, hill climbing, etc. What are the situations where one is preferred over the other? Thanks for any and all comments.

 

Personally, and this is just for me, I only use 4 hi on icy roads and level sand. The gearing just isn't there for me. i tend to run in 4 lo when dealing with mud and trails.

 

2nd works for me off-pavement in 4 low. i have an automatic. i only use 4 hi on the road when it is snow covered.

 

Not to overgeneralize, but I typically follow these two rules of thumb:

1)
--4-Hi for high-speed situations.
--4-Lo for low-speed situations.

2)
--4-Hi when you need more traction (snow, mud, sand, etc.).
--4-Lo when you need more traction and torque (moderate off-roading, rock crawling, steep hills, boat ramps, any time you're stuck, etc.).

If you get a good set of off-road tires, you'll be surprised at what you can do even in 2WD. I tend to use 2WD until I get stuck, start sliding around, or otherwise pose a safety risk to others.

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As for HOW to shift into 4WD:
--You can shift into 4-Hi on the fly at speeds up to 55 mph.
--The best way to engage 4-Lo is to put the transmission in Neutral, let the Jeep roll forward at about 2 mph, and then firmly pull the 4WD shifter all the way towards you.

 

In 4lo and 6th gear how fast can i go without hurting my engine and transmissson?

 

as mentioned, where you'll want your t-case shifted in depends a lot on how fast you are going. in conditions such as driving on an icy/snowy road or fast through a sandy desert wash, 4HI is something that will help give you more traction and keep you going straight. however, if you're crawling on the rocks or negotiating your way through difficult terrain, 4LO will give you the crawl ratio you need to maintain control and get you over things methodically and without breaking things. as far as mud goes, i'm from socal and don't have that much experience in it. however, the few situations i have been in the goo, i can tell you that 4LO still seemed to be the way to go. on a final note, i try to be in 4LO before i 'need' to be. waiting for the need can often times be too late and put you in a situation that's a lot harder to get out of that it would have been if you were ready for it.

 

In my 07 X with 4.10 gearing, sandy hill climbs and mud was best handled in 4lo third gear.

Now, in my 08 Rubi with 4.10 gearing + the crawl ratio on the T-case, 4lo is too much gearing. I now leave it in 4hi in sand & mud.

 

Pretty much as soon as I hit a trail where you'll be at a max of 15mph, I pop her into 4LO. The main advantage here is that you'll be able to flip your lockers on or off depending on the situation. I won't hesitate to stay in 4th or 5th gear for 10-15mph travel. Target would be to select the right gear\mph combination in order to not exceed 2,500-2,700 rpm in general.

If there are extended portions of the trail where you'll be at 15mph or higher, it's usually back to 2WD or maybe 4HI depending on the situation. Most of the time it will be in 2WD since if you're on a trail an exceed 15mph, then you usually don't need 4WD.

Since I didn't see many comments on mud, I'll make a couple of observations. I default to 3rd gear and 4LO and automatically have the rear locked. If you don't know about structure under the mud (rocks\stumps\etc), then 3rd seems to have the most flexibility to go slow while still having good capability to pump up the rpms\tire spin. This is pretty much 90% of my own strategy. However,
if it's all muck and you're pretty dang sure there's no structure down there, then I may pop her into 4th (prior to entering) for higher tire spin if needed. I avoid shifting after entry like the plague.

However, if anyone else has tips or suggestions to modify my routine, would appreciate it!

 

I generally use 4hi when it quits pullin in 2wd. When it's steep terrain, I go for 4lo.

 

4 lo at the start here too. I run the whole trail in lo and hit 2wd when I'm done.