High Range to Low Range Scarry Feeling

[pabs406]

Hi everyone. So I was coasting at about 20mph when I decided to switch from Hi to low Range. I put the rig into N, then switched to Lo Range, and after it engaged I put it in D. I felt the transmission suddenly drop a downshift hard. It jolted us pretty hard. Am I only supposed to switch gears when in a complete stop?

 

[roverman]

Yes you are, or no more than 1 or 2 mph. But it should have told you that you were going too fast to switch to low and prevented it from happening.

 

[ryanjl]

What you did was the procedure commonly used in many vehicles to switch from 2wd to 4wd.

To switch into low range, you always do it at a complete stop.

Floored, flat out, an LR4 might be able to do 15mph in low range.

 

[Surfrider77]

Floored, flat out, an LR4 might be able to do 15mph in low range.

This is not true. You get all the available gears 1-6, they are just far shorter giving more torque and far less top speed. You cut your speed down massively, but nowhere near that bad. (I drive dunes in low gear quite often)

And to the Original Poster: Never swap High / Low range on the move! Come to a complete stop, put it in neutral, then back in gear and continue on your way.

 

[umbertob]

You can change from Hi to Lo when slowing down to speeds below 25 mph, IIRC. However, you do need to wait several seconds - foot off the gas and coasting in Neutral - before the gearbox completes the switch and the Lo light stops flashing and stays on steady. Only then you should put it in Drive and, by that time, you will be going several mph slower (especially if you started the switch at the 20/24 mph limit): low range will engage way smoother than the way you did it. I prefer to do this while stationary myself to minimize that "bump", but I've done it while on the move on a trail as well, so as not to **** off the rest of the convoy behind me.

You can also switch back to High range at speeds up to about 35/40 mph. Select Neutral, then press and hold the switch (just briefly touching it doesn't always register, I've found) on the Hi position until the Lo indicator extinguishes in the instrument cluster, then you can flip the shifter to Drive.

 

[AxelR]

That cracked me up. Yes just be careful and always remember Land Rover's wise words "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary".

 

[mbw]

I have switched from Lo to High at a pretty high speed before. Was towing my boat and got onto the highway and realized I was in Lo. Did the switch without issue, but I do coast in N for awhile and give it time to shift.

 

[ryanjl]

This is not true. You get all the available gears 1-6, they are just far shorter giving more torque and far less top speed. You cut your speed down massively, but nowhere near that bad. (I drive dunes in low gear quite often)

And to the Original Poster: Never swap High / Low range on the move! Come to a complete stop, put it in neutral, then back in gear and continue on your way.

Let me rephrase.

I wouldn't do much more than 15mph in low range. I understand the LR4 can do it, but I wouldn't.

 

[roverman]

Because it's pointless or you think somehow it's bad? Due to your post I tried today, 4000rpm is a little over 50.
Also tried to switch to switch to lo when going 2 or 3 mph. It dinged and told me no ah ah.

 

[pabs406]

Adjustment from Lo to High while the rig is moving results in a smooth transition. However, Hi to Low while the rig is moving resulted in a terrible jolt to the extent of some minor whiplash.

Do you need to activate the HDC before switching from Hi to Low? I'm afraid to even try it out anymore unless I'm not moving.