Grubbicon

Every time i get off in something i put it straight in low. Living in the North Georgia and all the hills i cant move around if im not in 4lo. I have one place near me called Beasleys Knob and there is some big hill climbs there since it is in the mountains. Some are steep enough i can get up there and the jeep will stall from loss of fuel. So when im on those hills i keep my hand on the Emergency brake cause you loose all brakes when it stall on a hill
Edit: mines a Auto btw

Ncb

Like the other guys said, 4lo is the best for off road. Choose the correct gear before hitting an obstacle. Use the feature of being able to start the engine while in gear too. I wheel in Colorado and have never burned the clutch or stalled. In first gear 4lo I can't apply enough brake pressure to stall the engine. It crawls nice in slow on rocky obstacles. Feathering the clutch due to improper gear selection will wear out a clutch quickly.

Stubicon

^^^ I wouldn't say 4lo is the "best" for offroad haha. But would agree when crawling best to be in 4lo before hitting the obstacle. 4hi does much better mud pits and mild trail applications where you don't want your RPMS redlining the whole time. That's why you see so many people doing the bypass so they can utilize their rear rubicon locker in 4hi. I've been stuck in some deep mud in 4hi ultimately getting out in 4lo fully locked but would have been a non issue with 4hi and at least rear locked.

Ncb

I agree. My thoughts don't always translate well. 4lo is best for the steep technical stuff. 4hi for wheel speed when playing in mud or trails when you need speed.

JK UNLIMITED

I only wheel in 4-Hi unless I am climbing a steep hill or rock crawling otherwise the RPM's are way too high and it is very jerky on/off throttle...just went on a night ride last night and the only person able to do more than me was a purpose built rig on 42's with an LS1 and I only used Lo 3 times on extremely steep hills that only myself and that rig could do...gotta love that 4-1 in the Rubi and 35" MTR's

lkjk

lol, to the op - driver error, use 4 low.

as to the above quote....4-1 has jack sht to do with anything unless you are in 4-low...4 high is still the same final drive as 2wd. if you've only used 4low 3 times i'm assuming you think 4-1 means something in 4 high lol. wow. you guys have some pretty built rigs...maybe you should read the manual or something before you "use" them haha!

sea bass

It's all subjective. If you're able to run your trails easier in 4hi than 4lo - than I assume they're not too technical. Your sig says you have a Sahara - isn't that 2.7:1?

duluthjk

If you blow a bead on the trail here's an easy fix. Take a ratchet strap and put it around the outside of the tire and tighten it up a little bit. Then inflate the tire and the bead should reset itself. DO NOT spray starter fluid or any other flammable substance into the tire and then light it to reset a bead.

As for the hi/low debate it depends on the hill, trail conditions, and a lot of other factors. Sometimes you want a little more speed to make a hill climb so Hi range is better, some time you want the torque and low end grunt so Low range is better. Even on the same hill on different days a different range will work best. There is no one answer, seat time and experience behind the wheel is what will tell you what range to be in.

Freewill

The computer-controlled traction nanny always runs in 4-hi. In 4-lo it is at least partly disabled.

Traction control applies the brakes until nothing turns. Its really dumb, but there it is.

As far as whether you should wheel in 4-hi or 4-lo, it depends on transmission type, xfr case ratio, finial drive ratio, tire size, and personal preference.

I run a 2.72 xfr case, 4.56 gears, and an automatic with 32" tires. 4-lo works for me up to about 25 mph. The auto-box can run in 3rd and 4th most of the time so the torque converter is locked up and I never need to worry about the "Hot Oil" warning. The engine runs in the 1500 - 3000 rpm range. If I need to run faster than 25 for an extended period, then its back to 4-hi for a while.

I'm not sure why there is so much resistance to running in 4-lo off road, but then its not my problem. I run the way I think the JK works best.

BTW, if the clutch is slipping or burning, the rig should probably be in a lower gear.