ok so I got it. use the clutch to only shift gears and not as a throttle. my question is what range do you shift in while in 4lo? Do I do it at a higher rpm or at around 3000 like I do in 2hi and 4hi? I've wheeled in both 4hi and 4lo and thought that 4lo was only to get out of sticky situations but I guess not

 

Here is the deal, everyone has their own technique on driving/shifting in 4low. Here is mine, so far it worked great for me.

If the mud hole looks serious (like its filled with peanut butter), i just stop in front of it, and go in 1st gear all the way through. Keeping the RPMs under 4000.

If it moderate, then just start rolling in 2nd gear, and go through it. If at any time in 2nd gear you feel like your RPMs are dropping fast and you are about to stall (you are pretty much screwed), hit the clutch pop it into neutral and let the clutch out fast, before you start sucking mud into your throw out bearing through the bellhousing ventilation openings. I said it before, i'll say it again, you do not want to get stalled while in water up to your rocker panels, if you stall and start under water, your starter will go bye bye on you. Now you have to work fast, and put it in either 1st gear or reverse, and try it again, This time in 1st all the way through.

If you are driving in 4low (i hate switching from 4low to 4hi and then to 4low every 30 seconds). Just start driving in 2nd gear, when you get to 2500-3000RPM, switch to 4th, then to 6th gear. In 4low, and again this is how i drive, i usually dont go over 15-20MPH. You want to go faster, stop and switch your TC into 4hi.

 

I personally, would never enter a mud hole in 1st or 2nd in low range. I have a ruby, so maybe your talking about the other transfer case, but with the 4:1 its simply to low of a gear. 3rd or 4th is just about right. Still sorta hard to stall, yet enough wheel spin to clear the wheels

 

3rd or 4th in thick mud? I'd love to see it.

Here is a video of my friend going through some thick shit, all in 4low 1st gear.

IMHO, you dont need to spin the wheels fast in order to get through mud. I saw one guy trying to go through mud in 4hi, his wheels were spinning fast (his speedo showed 90mph), yet it didnt get him through it. And i cleared the same mud pit going 4low 1st gear @ 3000RPM.

It also depends on tires, if tires have big treads, they will just throw the mud out from under your tires and get you bottomed out pretty fast.

 

it's 2.72:1.... so you were very close haha. and personally if i dropped in a mudhole and wasnt going anywhere i'd cut the engine and take a strap. no point ruining your clutch (very expensive and labor intensive to replace) or your starter (still expensive but a little easier to replace) just because you wanted to be a big man and spin the tires as though you're going anywhere. admit defeat and save your jeep. mud blows... i avoid it like the plague.

 

so if in a situation like this guy:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7_PUKQjnJQ

he does the right thing by just keeping the wheels spinning? If you do stall while in mud/water what the hell are you supposed to to with a 6spd? just let it stall and get pulled out? instead of messing with the clutch?

 

ok well now im pissed because i think i may have used my clutch once on accident because i got to this thread too late, what would happen if you did shift?

 

This happened yesterday:

I was climbing up a steep hill, and I mean steep, and as I was climbing the Jeep started to slow and eventually stall (I was in 4lo in 1st gear).

What should you do to keep from rolling backwards down the hill? How should you try to get yourself out of the situation?

I eventually made it up after 3 or 4 times. I figured out I needed more speed to get over the loose rock section in the middle of the incline. But what do you recommend if you stall on an incline?

 

So when you kill the engine with the brakes and then switch to 4LO 1st...do you do this all without touching the clutch?

Also, when you start your jeep while in deep water...wont the engine suck up water thru the tailpipe etc? ...or is this a myth?

...and what is considered "deep" water? ...when it is up to the bottom of your door?

 

Its deep water if its over your roof