Rolling back on a hill you can't climb, put it in neutral, or?

[Dickies Outdoor's]

Whats drive? Lol, have always had manuals

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[Zachanadandy]

Nah, I just depress the clutch.

Which is just as improper as shifting into neutral. Gotta love the manual guys trying to imply some superiority while demonstrating that the auto does it better than they do...

 

[Janster]

The JTR features hill holding,
first employed
in the 1936 Studebaker President
as we all remember,
before becoming available to the masses
in the 1980's Subarus.
One difference is
the Subaru would hold indefinitely
as long as the clutch pedal is held down
while the JTR and most modern vehicles
only hold for a few seconds at best
when letting off the ABS brakes.
And that's not all.

That’s because we still have the manual parking brakes.
Most vehicles with electronic parking brakes can hold the vehicle at a complete stop forever (like in Adaptive Cruise control sitting in traffic).

 

[JTdiRtyD]

I'm just going to say this though it's not hill specific, but that question has been answered so I'll toss it out there as a bonus since I see folks not do it all the time and find themselves in a pickle.

Anytime you leave a maintained or improved surface be in 4x4, even if you don't feel like it's needed. For some stupid reason theres this stigma that 4x4 is for the inexperienced or weak.

Why?
- It's easier on the trail surface. You're less likely to lose traction and cause trail damage.
- 4 tires distributing traction and pushing/pulling is better one or two trying to do it all.
- It's better to already be in 4x4 and not need it, than need it but not be in it, especially when talking loose surface hills. It could be the difference between making it or breaking it.
- Keeps fluids flowing and mechanisms working. You're not hurting anything by using 4x4.

If you don't know the trail, use 4-hi.
If it's steep, use 4-low, especially if it's loose rock or sandy surface.

You can use 4-low in any gear, you don't have to stay in 1st and crawl along at 1/2 mph, however you don't want to use 4-low for sustained higher speeds. Your transfer case will generate a lot of heat.

The only time I'm not in 4x4 is if I need to make a sharp turn. I disengage, make the turn, and then re-engage. Or if I know for a fact theres nothing on this section between two hardball surfaces thats going to warrant it.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

@JTdiRtyD Im also a HUGE proponent for this. If the equipment is on your vehicle, use it. Theres no reason not to and it can save you some trail damage. I see these guys running in rocks and hit an obstacle struggling to make it and if you ask them if they use the $1ks of lockers they installed they say no I didn’t need it. It blows my mind how they don’t understand that using the equipment is SMART. I don’t find it machismo to struggle on an obstacle, cause damage, and possibly get someone hurt just because they think that doing it without lockers or whatever makes them a bayudayuss. If I have a certain piece of equipment available to me and it’s needed to more easily do what I’m doing I’m gonna use it.

 

[RudeJeepin]

But then you can't do the one wheel peel. Where's the fun in that?!?!?!

 

[Zachanadandy]

Running lockers when there's no need is more damaging to the trail if you aren't driving in a straight line as they cause slip in turns. It's the same reason I hate Fords trail turn assist. You're tearing up the trail when you don't need to. If the trail causes wheel slip, I'll put it in 4wd, but otherwise 2wd is easier on the surfaces as there's no scrub in the turns. Obviously if you're on the rubicon you'll be in 4LO most of the time and a little 4HI. If you're on a forest road with the Subarus? Air down for comfort and traction and go. Come to an obstacle or gnarly hill climb? Shift into 4wd. It's worked for me for 30 years. The other problem with throwing the kitchen sink at every trail is that you'll find yourself REALLY stuck. Then you're in over your head. Obviously that's situational. You don't want to wait to engage lockers in the middle of a hill climb or deep mud hole, but experience will get you to the point you know when they are needed.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

Idk what kind of hills/how long you're talking about but I've never burned up the brakes coasting backwards in neutral. If you're going slow then there isn't an opportunity for excessive heat build-up.

Granted, haven't done it in the gladiator yet. But in other Jeeps that had much flimsier brakes than what these trucks have

Important part is to go straight, avoid any turns.

 

[Mad Mac]

In general
coasting in neutral rolling backward
or forward downhill is ill-advised
in any vehicle.

If a driver has a Rubicon
with off-road cruise control,
Select-Speed-Control,
it can crawl in reverse
as well as in drive
as slow as .6 mph.

 

[Gvsukids]

If a driver has a Rubicon

All models, not just the Rubicon.

 

[Janster]

I'm just going to say this though it's not hill specific, but that question has been answered so I'll toss it out there as a bonus since I see folks not do it all the time and find themselves in a pickle.

Anytime you leave a maintained or improved surface be in 4x4, even if you don't feel like it's needed. For some stupid reason theres this stigma that 4x4 is for the inexperienced or weak.

Why?
- It's easier on the trail surface. You're less likely to lose traction and cause trail damage.
- 4 tires distributing traction and pushing/pulling is better one or two trying to do it all.
- It's better to already be in 4x4 and not need it, than need it but not be in it, especially when talking loose surface hills. It could be the difference between making it or breaking it.
- Keeps fluids flowing and mechanisms working. You're not hurting anything by using 4x4.

If you don't know the trail, use 4-hi.
If it's steep, use 4-low, especially if it's loose rock or sandy surface.

You can use 4-low in any gear, you don't have to stay in 1st and crawl along at 1/2 mph, however you don't want to use 4-low for sustained higher speeds. Your transfer case will generate a lot of heat.

The only time I'm not in 4x4 is if I need to make a sharp turn. I disengage, make the turn, and then re-engage. Or if I know for a fact theres nothing on this section between two hardball surfaces thats going to warrant it.

Agreed 100%……. When we were into offroading, it was 4lo all day. The trails were rocky and certainly not flat at all. If you used 4hi, you’d be ratting the shit out of your kidneys!! Even now, I don’t offroad…. So I use 4WD anytime I can. Anytime it rains, I’m in Auto4WD. On the boat ramp, I’m in 4Hi. Sometimes, I might put it in 4hi on the highway in ‘driving rains’. And just for the hell of it…I might find a dirt road and put it in 4lo just to ‘use it’ and keep things lubed up. Always being aware of your ‘turns’ in 4wd and knowing how to recognize when to stop turning and stop pushing……

 

[Gvsukids]

When we were into offroading, it was 4lo all day

4lo is also good for speed control and limiting brake use.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

I’ll run 4Hi until we hit a climb, descent, or obstacle. The first 2 have to be fairly steep before the change happens. I look at 4Lo as being for more technical stuff. When things get surius. The rest of the time is 4Hi and cruise.

 

[WILDHOBO]

So I'm still a newbie off-roader, all my experiences so far have been a local ORV park or some flat, sandy trails up north. The ORV park has some hill climb sections (some are more "rock climb" with cement blocks / chunks) and I've watched people trying to climb the hills and not making it.

Now my question is, if I try to tackle one of these climbs (NOT the rock climb!) and the wheels start spinning partway up, what's the best, safest, least likely to damage the transmission system, way to back down? Leave it in drive and let it roll back, using the brakes and the transmission trying to push it up the hill (might be hard on the clutch?) Put it in neutral and just use the brakes (and do I need to put both the 4-wheel and 2-wheel shifters into neutral? Plus, I would expect this is harder on the brakes.)

Some notes, my Glad is an automatic, no lift, Sport S. I'm also presuming I'm at least NOT getting hung up in a rut with the axle resting on the ground, keeping me from moving as that's a whole different ball of wax to get out of (winches, tow straps and someone else, traction boards...)

Leave it in gear in that situation. 4 low gives you great control. Neutral gives you nothing but brakes.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I’ll run 4Hi until we hit a climb, descent, or obstacle. The first 2 have to be fairly steep before the change happens. I look at 4Lo as being for more technical stuff. When things get surius. The rest of the time is 4Hi and cruise.

I use 4lo full time, unless it’s a fast dirt road section. 4hi is way harder on your transmission.

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