Shifting Issue into 4WD

[murktJT]

Here in Florida 4x4 is used 99% of the time to get out of mud or other slick situations(slimy boat ramp etc). Unless I was really intentionally going offroading or knew I obviously needed 4x4, I would always stay in 2wd until I spun enough to need 4x4, then I would stop and shift into 4x4 to pull out. Seems like a pretty big inconvenience to have to be moving with full traction in order to shift into 4x4 (have all tires spinning the same speed). Maybe I am just spoiled because im used to the electronic systems...

Sponsored

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Here in Florida 4x4 is used 99% of the time to get out of mud or other slick situations(slimy boat ramp etc). Unless I was really intentionally going offroading or knew I obviously needed 4x4, I would always stay in 2wd until I spun enough to need 4x4, then I would stop and shift into 4x4 to pull out. Seems like a pretty big inconvenience to have to be moving with full traction in order to shift into 4x4 (have all tires spinning the same speed). Maybe I am just spoiled because im used to the electronic systems...

You don't have to be moving with full traction. You can shift while stopped - it's just that you need to EASE INTO moving again because like a stick transmission, the gears may not be meshed or fully meshed. Moving they are synchronized, like a transmission, and will slip in fairly easily. Stopped you don't KNOW that the gears are meshed until the light comes on. So you can shift, but turn the steering wheel to make the front axles move and engage, and ease into moving again.
I've hooked onto my trailer - which sits down a hill next to my lean-to, and sometimes gets stuck, and my truck is on a loose gravel hill that has washouts from the gully-washing rain like we are getting now. I've tried to pull the trailer out and up and found I was just spinning, so I stop, put it in park, slip into 4x4, turn the front wheels back and forth a bit to help engage the front axle together, then slowly take off until I know it's engages.
This isn't much different than what I used in the 1980s in the Eagle except the front axle on these is synchronized where the Eagle you had to be stopped or you'd mash the front axle disconnect gears.

 

[TrailHiker]

You can also get in 4x4H just slightly rolling, you do not want to have power to the wheels,when shifting, foot off the gas pedal. To get to 4x4L you need main transmission in N, again slightly rolling helps, but not required, then sift into 4L, then shift main trans back into gear. No issue doing this stopped on a boat ramp, just ease the transfer case into N then 4L.
Cheers

 

[Trippin01]

Hmm, not sure what to say, other than maybe you should sell it and get something with all wheel drive and an electronic shifter.

 

[murktJT]

Hmm, not sure what to say, other than maybe you should sell it and get something with all wheel drive and an electronic shifter.

nah, im good if i can go into 4 lo from a stand still. I just tried it for the first time and it didnt want to go but people have mentioned it loosens up after a while

 

[Trippin01]

nah, im good if i can go into 4 lo from a stand still. I just tried it for the first time and it didnt want to go but people have mentioned it loosens up after a while

GOOD! Once you get it figured out, it really is good. And its a ton of fun to drive around in. Its a true 4x4 (even though it doesn't have the "Cheezy 4x4" stickers to remind you it really has 4 wheel drive). Mechanical shifting is awesome!

 

[hjdca]

The more you use 4WD, the easier the shifter gets. Mine was tough at first, standing still or rolling... but, now after 8K miles and numerous 4 wheel trips, it goes into 4WH and 4WL much easier..

 

[murktJT]

GOOD! Once you get it figured out, it really is good. And its a ton of fun to drive around in. Its a true 4x4 (even though it doesn't have the "Cheezy 4x4" stickers to remind you it really has 4 wheel drive). Mechanical shifting is awesome!

I just went out and cycled through 4h and 4l a few times throughout different stopping points on my cruise and it already cycles through them WAY easier. Its a non-issue now. I honestly felt like i was doing something wrong the first few times because of how difficult it was but its all good now. I was excited about the mechanical shifting because of how unreliable the electronic is. no matter what brand truck, it always fails at some point, usually at the worst time possible

 

[uplandgunner]

Shifting into 4 Hi is almost idiot proof . Just roll a bit and it goes, Shift easily up to about 55 mpg even higher but that gets abusive . Even stuck at a standstill getting into 4 Hi should be pretty easy. Getting into 4 Lo is a bit more tricky, rolling in neutral is easiest as gears have to mesh. It can be done if your really stuck and at a stand still but it takes a bit a fudging.. Your transfer case has no synchronous gears so it its mix and match at times. Be deliberate and a ply good pressure without really forcing it, you may need to try to do it while in forward or reverse if neutral is a no go.
it's a learning curve because of no synchros

 

[murktJT]

odddl

Shifting into 4 Hi is almost idiot proof . Just roll a bit and it goes, Shift easily up to about 55 mpg even higher but that gets abusive . Even stuck at a standstill getting into 4 Hi should be pretty easy. Getting into 4 Lo is a bit more tricky, rolling in neutral is easiest as gears have to mesh. It can be done if your really stuck and at a stand still but it takes a bit a fudging.. Your transfer case has no synchronous gears so it its mix and match at times. Be deliberate and a ply good pressure without really forcing it, you may need to try to do it while in forward or reverse if neutral is a no go.
it's a learning curve because of no synchros

oddly enough i had the opposite experience the first few shifts. I had to pull it so hard the first time i thought i was going to snap the lever off going into 4hi. 4lo went smooth as butter sitting at a dead stop in neutral

 

[NJbevo]

I actually has a situation with my JT when it had about 1K miles where I was standing still trying to get into neutral on the trans case so I could use my winch to pull a large tree out of the way. I had the transmission also in neutral and moving the 4WD shifter from 2 to neutral wasn’t happening. I have had a lot of 4X4s in my day that were stubborn in similar situations so I was “determined” with it but not abusive. The whole shift linkage just gave way and the shifter went kind of loose.
I was luckily still in 2X mode so I drove it to the dealer. They had it a day and said that the linkage has just “popped out of place”. No parts use to put it back.
SInce then I have noticed it has gotten easier and I have not had a problem. I just hope it doesn’t happen at a bad time some place where I either need 4X4 LO or I get stuck in 4X4 Lo.

 

[Gvsukids]

Under load, the transfer case doesn't always engage when shifting into 4 hi. I'll get a sound like a metal wheel spinning and I'll have to slow the rpms before I can engage 4wd.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

After over a year, 2 winters, and going in and out of 4H many times now, mine is still "stiff", actually it's comparable to a rusty rough feel. There's nothing smooth or easy about going into 4H on mine ever after all this time and all that shifting. Time to mention it to the dealer - along with the fact that I had 2wd vehicles buzzing around me while mine was spinning and slipping in 2wd and fishtailed so badly yesterday on the ice and snow pack that my tail end actually ended up in the other lane once. I was only going 33 in a 45. I can take off and spin the rear wheels and when I hit the brakes in one spot the right front tire slid on the ice one and the ABS never chattered (the other three were on pavement, right front hit ice so I figured I'd test it - nope, slid the RF tire)
Later I got into a parking lot with some open space and I smacked the brakes and although it slid I could feel the ABS finally do a little bit of chattering and I stopped. I hit the gas and spun for a bit, the engine power may have been cut slightly.

 

[Gobi-Wan Kenobi]

Do you have to me moving to shift into 4WD? I cannot do it standing still. Thanks for the update

The first time I used mine I had to be going about 7 or 8 mph to get the shifter to move to 4hi. After 2 or 3 uses it got much easier to move and I could do it while moving at like 1 or 2 mph. Once I had used it about a done time I could put it into 4hi while sitting still and the 4x4 would engage as soon as I started moving.

 

[Rocksalt]

my experience in last 2 winters: on unplowed forest roads... shifting into 4H easy .. shifting into 4L works best in neutral.

Sponsored