Driving in 2nd low versus 1st high - differences?

Bosanek wrote: So, is using 4h low 5th low a bad practice? I find myself lazy at times to swith from 4WD-L to 4WD-H for short sections of flatter (but still slippery) road where low range is not needed. So I drive in 4th or 5th low over those sections.

I don't see why it would be? Forces on the drive-train are lower as you get into the higher gears, so if 1st low if ok, 5th low is too.

Given that the reduction happens in a separate gear box the choice of main gear has no effect on the operation of the reduction box other than to increase the rotation speed of the gear sets so the analogy of bicycle gearing is incorrect.

I more than anything use low range for towing trailers out of the farm, given we are in the very bottom of a significant valley I use low range even after I have got up our drive and onto the tarmac because of the lack of momentum. Because the transfer back to high range has to be done stationary, because of the buttons, I have to climb up onto the tops of the hills either side before I can disengage low otherwise setting off again would torture the clutch unnecessarily. As a consequence I will use all 5 gears as the road is horrendously busy and crawling up in first would be being obtuse towards other road users, this has yet to manifest as a problem though as ever I do reflect my use in my maintenance schedule.

Just wondering... Why would you need more variety of gears than offered. If you're going fast enough to need 3rd in low range why would you need to be in low range?

Under normal circumstances you wouldn't but like I said for me setting off on a steep hill in high with a trailer on seems unnecessarily abusive on the clutch.

I was just theoretically thinking that a combination of a high main gear and reduction might present some excessive stress on the reduction gearing or on some other transmission and drivetrain component.

But like I said, that was just a general thinking, that is why I asked about it here.


Regarding driving in 3rd low, I have two reasons for driving in that gear:

1.
On some stretches of the road or off road I find it just the perfect speed between 1st high and 2nd high, as 3rd low "translates" effectively into "1.5 high". In such situations, 1st high would be too slow, so too high revs would be needed to achieve the same speed as 3rd low. On the other hand, 2nd high would be too fast even on idle throttle, so clutch and/or brake riding would be needed to reduce the speed to be the same as in 3rd low.

2.
On some roads with rather varying degrees of grade (usually when going downhill) I have much greater "grade adaptability" in low range gears, as the gearing selection is much "tighter" in low range. Therefore, I can choose a perfect dowhnill gear on every portion of the road, so I don't have to break at all, while not going too fast for that portion of the road.

In last December, I drove down a 3km long frozen strech of road with varying downhill grade between 5% and 12%. It was almost like a bobsleigh track. I don't recall that anyone in the car breathed during that descent. By driving on throttle in low range and changing into the right gear before every grade alteration, I managed to get to the bottom without a single skid. The same could not be said for a BMW x5 behind me which slid off the road. He probably went ahead after he had seen me going down, as that road was officially closed at the entrance.

Your situation sounds similar to mine 11/60, except I don't have big hills. Just trailers and mud! With the manual transfer case you can shift from low to high range quite smoothly on the move with just a little bit of mechanical sympathy.