4W HI or 4W LO Poll

PSDF350 · Mar 6, 2005

NoStockBikes!! said:
For some reason, I was under the impression that 4 lo locked everything up, kinda like having posi front and rear. I know that I've been sitting in muddy greasy clay with one wheel in an auger hole with 4-hi doing nothing. Put it in 4-Lo and good things happened. Could have been explained by the lower speed of the Lo helping to limit wheelspin which improved my traction, but I thought it seemed like a more significant difference.

the only thing the transfer case does is transfer power to front diff. an open differential is always open no matter 4 hi or 4 low.

Mowerpan · Feb 26, 2006

I plow in 4wd Hi. If the snows a little heavier just need more momentum. Usually the problem is traction over power, and even with 4wd Lo it doesn't help.

JGresko · Feb 26, 2006

Always 4 Hi, I have yet to even put the X-Case in 4lo.If i need for 4wd it is always easier to pull the leaver back into 4hi then haveing to stop completly and slip it into 4lo.

Jeff

RibbleConstruction · Feb 26, 2006

I use 2wd most of the time. 4 wheel when I need it. And in an occasion or two I have used 4 lo. But most of the time its in 2wd. I figure its less strain on everything. But when I need it I use it. Thats why I have it.

itsgottobegreen · Feb 26, 2006

Hmm 4x4??? Whats that. I still haven't figure out what this big shifter looking thinging on the floor is for?

Its call 2wd and 2 tons of weight. AKA 2x2. Works great. I lock my hubs and only use 4x4 to get out of my uphill driveway when we go plowing cause I am towing a trailer. Other wise I never use it again unless really needed.

In the last big storm I only had the truck in 4x4HI for 3 hours of 21 hour I was out plowing. The only reason I was in 4x4 is because we had 3" an hour and I had trouble getting from lot to lot on the roads. Going down the road sideways with a truck weighting in at 15,000lbs in 4x4 just shows how bad the roads really where. Everyone else was plowing in 4x4 the entire time cause their trucks didn't have enought counter weight. :haha :grinz

chewky · Feb 27, 2006

I use 4 low so I can keep up the rpm on my alternator. I run dual batteries and it helps charge them quicker. I'm still running the stock size alternator though. The output is more at higher revs. The Blizzard Speedwing draws 145 amps, and it pulls the batteries down.

backlash63 · Feb 27, 2006

I use 4 low most of the time. i have like two accounts out of 50 that are flat. when i travel from site to site it 4wd unless its a sand only run in the boonies and the roads are fine except that account. two out of four of our trucks are autos and are out of warranty. and if the tranny shop says its a good idea to run it in 4 low while pushing then thats all i needed to hear.

SIPLOWGUY · Mar 4, 2006

Last storm 4Wlow was needed.

Joey D · Mar 5, 2006

BrahmaBull said:
Joey D
In an open differential........

Both wheels turning:
The power transfers from the pinion to the ring gear, the ringear to the carrier, the carrier to the spider gear pin. pin to the spider gears (pin and gears as one unit, gears not turning), spider gears to the side gears, side gears to the axle, so it is geared what the ring and pinion is rated... another words the axle is turning the same speed as the carrier..

One wheel stoped:
The power goes from the pinion to the ring gear, ringear to the carrier, carrier to the spider gear pin, pin to the spider gear ( spider gear turning), spider gear to the side gear. Here is where the speed is multiplied**** we will say left tire is stoped and right is turning. Side gear on left is stoped causing the spider gear to turn, spider gear drives the right side gear twice as fast because of the planetary type effect through the spider gears.
So the carrier is spinning the pin, plus the (stoped left side gear) is causing the spider gear to turn on the pin which is multiplying your gear ratio and making the right side gear go twice as fast...

EZSnow you really are ok!!! Great minds think alike the rest of the world is just screwed up...

I honestly do not think the wheel spins twice as fast. I have had my old car, open diff doing a smoker with the speedo pinned aover 120mph while sitting still, making the wheel moving doing 240mph? It would have exploded into a million pieces. I am not sure how but i will come up with a way to check this.
Any hints here? If I had the hydo pimp setup on the car I would just three wheel it and adjust the brakes all the way out to keep the raised wheel still and check it out by going the same speed as another vehicle.
More to follow...

TLS · Mar 6, 2006

I was always undere the assumption that the tire DOES go twice the speed.

Thats why in a full-time 4x4 situation with 3 tires on pavement and 1 on ice, it WILL desinigrate the tire.

Honest Mike · Mar 7, 2006

Im replying again because I have a different truck now. The new truck, I havent used the 4LO yet, not even in that blizzard. 4HI is all I have used. 4HI pushed all that snow so easily, that it didnt even enter my mind to even try the LO.

My old truck I would put it in LO because it felt like it needed that extra oomph in those kinds of conditions, so I got that extra oomph with 4LO. I bet this truck would feel quite torquey though in 4LO, considering the 430 gears in it. :nodd Mike

jcesar · Nov 9, 2006

I usually leave it in 4 hi. Never had to use 4 low. Not yet anyways.

MURPH · Nov 20, 2006

You should always push in Hi unless you over working the motor, such as having the pedal 1/2 way to the floor to move a full bite of wet snow.
Then Lo is a must. But remember heat kills transmissions, and shifting creates heat. meaning in Lo your tranny shifts thru the gears quickly creating heat, so use it wisely
Murph

azumakitlawncare · Dec 14, 2006

I use 4 hi for the f 250 sd or 2 hi for the chevy3500dump never had a problem yet!:smoking

scaper27 · Jan 14, 2007

I have actually used 2wd sometimes, but otherwise always 4hi. Never had a use for 4 lo

GuzmanProperties · Mar 22, 2007

I use 4wd HI

JGresko · Nov 3, 2007

I replied up a little farther but I guess I can again after last winter. With the 88 Yard truck it needs to be in 4wd all the time when the plow is on(no ballest) well towards the end of the seasons when we had late storms(read: heavy and wet), I still plowed in 4hi. I plowed me g/fs drive(before she was my g/f, had to get on her parents good side:wink

),is about 200ft long and you need to back in push everything out to the road and then into the ditch. I would plow that when it was done snowing the one day I went up and their was 15" of wet heavey snow, I drove in and cleaned up the parking area and then turned around, dropped the trans in 2nd and started pushing, that V6 pushed that with no problem in 4hi, I did try 4lo but the tires just spun.

I never really seen a need for 4lo, the only time I put the truck in 4lo is when teh guy was coming to pick up the skidloader and trailer that my dad sold and we hook to to the back(minus skidloader) to pull it out from under the 4 ft of snow straight up the hill out the drive. That was the first time I put it in 4low for anything.

One thing I like about my Diesel is the front axle is on a switch, so I have 2Hi,2Lo,4Hi,4Lo.

4W HI or 4W LO Poll

How do you plow?

4W HI always

4W LO always

4W LO sometimes

2W only

PSDF350

Mowerpan

JGresko

RibbleConstruction

itsgottobegreen

chewky

backlash63

SIPLOWGUY

Joey D

TLS

Honest Mike

jcesar

MURPH

azumakitlawncare

scaper27

GuzmanProperties

JGresko

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