Off-road For Beginners…

[cjellan]

So I assume this will be a trivial topic to most and I’m prepared for the newbie roasting, but I got into a precarious situation this weekend and curious as to what happened and why so I know how to maneuver more effectively going forward.

As I was chugging along my first BOH trail (Peters Mill Run), I came upon the only relatively technical portion. Nothing too bad, but it required a good line to avoid some pretty back diff scrapes. Since the trail was pretty easy I was in 4H the entire time and didn’t “think” I needed it to get over this obstacle. So my brother guides me perfectly and just as I was trying to pull my back end over the rocks, I started spinning my front tires. I stopped, reassessed and tried to give it some more gas. My brother said that all 4 tires were planted, but my backs weren’t spinning, leaving my front tires trying to haul my entire truck out of these rocks. So I stopped, tried to put it in 4L so I could lock my diffs and this is when things got weird. Here is the sequence of events
1) I put it in park
2) I shifted it into 4L (I know you’re supposed to be going 1-3 MPH and drop it in neutral, etc., but I couldn’t)
3) locked my rears
4) gave it some gas
5) my truck dropped out of 4L into neutral
6) I put it back into 4H
7) paused for a few seconds
8) gave it gas and my rear tires engaged and crawled me right outta there with ease.

So one questions are: do you absolutely have to put it in 4L while you’re in motion? Is there any way to lock your diffs while in 4H? why wouldn’t my rear wheels have tried to spin when I was stuck? Did my rear stay locked even though I dropped out of 4L or did my truck finally realize it needed to help me get out?

Worst part of this is that I waited until I got home to proudly request my first BOH - only to find out that you have to check-in while you’re there to get it…lot of stuff to learn, but loving my newfound Jeep life!

Thanks everyone!

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[trailless]

• It's best to switch to 4L while in motion or while none of the drivetrain is binded up, like you were when you were stuck.
• I believe you can lock the rear diff in 4H with a Tazer Mini. Also this guy on youtube explains another way to lock the rear diff without a programmer. (I don't know if this actually works)
• The rears could have had too much traction to spin. In 4H its a 50/50 power split between the front and rear. However, I'm sure they would have spun had you given it more gas.
• The rear locker will usually try to disengage when you shift out of 4L. However if there is a bind in the drivetrain, it will not be able to disengage until there is no bind. Same goes for trying to turn on the lockers, it could take a bit for the lockers to engage in 4L if there is significant bind in the drivetrain.

Best tip I can give you is while you're in 4L with the lockers on is to let the Jeep crawl. Slowly give it gas without letting up to see if it'll crawl its way out. You don't want to stab at the gas pedal. Either that or just floor it and send it. (I'm only joking about the last part, well only half joking)

 

[NachoRuby]

If the truck is a 2021, you can lock the rear in 4hi with no tazer. Traction control needs to be off, and I think you need to turn offroad plus on.

 

[PsyRN]

are you sure you were all the way in 4L? as in did you feel and hear it engage? if not, it might not have been fully engaged and popped out when giving it gas. I've had a similar experience.

 

[Troybilt]

I always thought 4lo was for sticky situations until just recently when I had a guide with Off Road Consulting. I ran Petters Mill run, Flag Pole Knob, Snake, and some other trails in 4Hi. It sucked.

4lo gets you down into a lower gear and it is a much more comfortable ride. Way less jerky and you have much more throttle control. For me it was a night and day kind of thing. I'm new to the off road thing but so far this is my best tip I have learned.

 

[Gvsukids]

I always thought 4lo was for sticky situations until just recently when I had a guide with Off Road Consulting. I ran Petters Mill run, Flag Pole Knob, Snake, and some other trails in 4Hi. It sucked.

4lo gets you down into a lower gear and it is a much more comfortable ride. Way less jerky and you have much more throttle control. For me it was a night and day kind of thing. I'm new to the off road thing but so far this is my best tip I have learned.

4 low also helps keep the temps down as there is less strain on the engine at low speeds than with 4 hi.

Additional reading...
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/off-road-discussion-for-newbs.35970/

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-beginners-intermediate-resource-guide.33739/

 

[cjellan]

are you sure you were all the way in 4L? as in did you feel and hear it engage? if not, it might not have been fully engaged and popped out when giving it gas. I've had a similar experience.

I don’t think it was fully engaged - I think you’re right that it popped out when I pressed the gas.

 

[cjellan]

• It's best to switch to 4L while in motion or while none of the drivetrain is binded up, like you were when you were stuck.
• I believe you can lock the rear diff in 4H with a Tazer Mini. Also this guy on youtube explains another way to lock the rear diff without a programmer. (I don't know if this actually works)
• The rears could have had too much traction to spin. In 4H its a 50/50 power split between the front and rear. However, I'm sure they would have spun had you given it more gas.
• The rear locker will usually try to disengage when you shift out of 4L. However if there is a bind in the drivetrain, it will not be able to disengage until there is no bind. Same goes for trying to turn on the lockers, it could take a bit for the lockers to engage in 4L if there is significant bind in the drivetrain.

Best tip I can give you is while you're in 4L with the lockers on is to let the Jeep crawl. Slowly give it gas without letting up to see if it'll crawl its way out. You don't want to stab at the gas pedal. Either that or just floor it and send it. (I'm only joking about the last part, well only half joking)

Thanks man! Appreciate the insights - before I got this Jeep, I always thought you had 100% control over every feature at any time. Looking forward to get over the learning curve…

 

[NachoRuby]

OP, how'd you like Peter's mill run? My wife is from NC, and we were thinking of trying it on the way down next time

 

[AZCooWhip]

Try this trick next time you need your locker(s) and can’t engage for whatever reason.

Left foot on the brake and right foot on the gas. Apply just a “smidge” of brakes as you work the go pedal .....this will keep wheels from spinning.

 

[DocMike]

I concur. I'm a big fan of 4lo and using the tiptronic. I find I have lots of control and rarely have to use my brakes. When I do need them, I know they will work as they should.

I drop my tires to 18psi ish....
Disconnect my sway bar.
Switch to 4lo.

Gives a good ride with lots of control.

I always thought 4lo was for sticky situations until just recently when I had a guide with Off Road Consulting. I ran Petters Mill run, Flag Pole Knob, Snake, and some other trails in 4Hi. It sucked.

4lo gets you down into a lower gear and it is a much more comfortable ride. Way less jerky and you have much more throttle control. For me it was a night and day kind of thing. I'm new to the off road thing but so far this is my best tip I have learned.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

Another really good tip is to find an off-road club/group that accommodates all skill levels. Here, our Jeep club has group rides for all levels from stock newbie, to semi-pros with rock buggies. Many of the more experienced members will stay and help/guide the lower skill levels.

 

[rharr]

Just keep going out and trying different things, you will get the hang of it. Find a local 4x4 group and start going to their monthly meetings first before blindly show up to a event come to find out it's a rock crawl and 40's are needed This way you can make friends, talk jeeps and learn from others and then go to events you feel comfortable with.

4lo kinda sucks getting into it. They made it harder then it needs to be with to many nanny options now. At the end of the day it's just a shift dog that slides up and down to change gear ratios. Sometimes you need to be forceful with your shift into 4l and feel for the clunk/chunk of gear falling into position. You also should beable to shift into 4l from N on the main gear shifter, not just park.

 

[Forum Crawler]

Always engage the correct range (hi or lo) BEFORE proceeding into an area of questionable mobility. Engage locker/s EARLY before any loss of traction.

If in doubt, 4LO out. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. You’ll have more control and less carnage.

Lastly, always air down. Lower PSI is always to your advantage as it increases your co tact patch with terra firma.

 

[cjellan]

OP, how'd you like Peter's mill run? My wife is from NC, and we were thinking of trying it on the way down next time

We liked it a lot - it’s not technical at all except for this one spot and there are lots of minor obstacles to keep you entertained. The end is super rocky, which was pretty fun. My only problem with it is that it’s very long - it took us a couple hours to get through there. Not a huge issue, but I’m a bigger fan of the shorter routes so you can get a bunch of different trails in the same amount of time. I also had a dog with me that started to get tired of bouncing all over. Ha!

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