How fast MPH can you shift into 4L?

[powershift]

Taken from the Land Rover iGuide Online for model year 2016 LR4. I'm not sure if this applies to other production years.

RANGE CHANGING ON THE MOVE [G1800132]​

The recommended method of changing the range of the gearbox is with the vehicle stationary, see STATIONARY RANGE CHANGING. For experienced off-road drivers, a change from low (Lo) range to high (Hi) range, while on the move can be accomplished, see CHANGING FROM LOW TO HIGH RANGE.

CAUTION:
Changing from Hi range to Lo range can only be performed while the vehicle stationary.

CHANGING FROM LOW TO HIGH RANGE [G1800134]​

To change from low (Lo) range to high (Hi) range, while the vehicle is moving:

1. Make sure the vehicle's speed is less than 60 km/h (38 mph).
2. Use the rotary gear selector to engage the gearbox in Neutral (N).
3. Press and release the Hi range button.

The vehicle's range change indicators will confirm the change. See RANGE CHANGE INDICATORS.

NOTE:
If the Hi range button is pressed before N is selected, the message SELECT NEUTRAL FOR RANGE CHANGE will be displayed in the Message centre.
Once complete, use the rotary gear selector to engage the gearbox in Drive (D).

Previously, I made a post about the first sentence under "Range changing on the move" https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/changing-from-low-to-high-and-vise-versa-while-moving.45526/ if you are interested. To me it says "its ok to shift into 4L if you are experienced, otherwise do it stationary". Aside from that, if damage occurs doing a shift on the move they should have indicated that under the same heading.

 

[DaJammer]

Previously, I made a post about the first sentence under "Range changing on the move" https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/changing-from-low-to-high-and-vise-versa-while-moving.45526/ if you are interested. To me it says "its ok to shift into 4L if you are experienced, otherwise do it stationary". Aside from that, if damage occurs doing a shift on the move they should have indicated that under the same heading.

Interesting. I checked out your old post, and see it was taken from page 81 of the manual for your 2012. I checked my manual for my 2016 (with HD), and found the following on page 109.

So either our two vehicles have somewhat different transfer cases that allows Hi to Lo changes for you but not fore me, or for liability reasons, Land Rover changed the language in their manual due to gearbox failures and are only saying Lo to Hi is OK under the correct conditions, and never HI to LO.

 

[djkaosone]

Here's another document that'll add some more confusion. Again, I typically go 10 mph before dropping it into (N) and selecting Lo gear, and popping it back to (D) without any issues. I didn't know that you can go a little faster from Lo to Hi.

 

[powershift]

Interesting. I checked out your old post, and see it was taken from page 81 of the manual for your 2012. I checked my manual for my 2016 (with HD), and found the following on page 109.

So either our two vehicles have somewhat different transfer cases that allows Hi to Lo changes for you but not fore me, or for liability reasons, Land Rover changed the language in their manual due to gearbox failures and are only saying Lo to Hi is OK under the correct conditions, and never HI to LO.

Drastically different. Looking up part numbers for the transfer case might indicate if the t-cases are different. Not sure why they changed it. What happened to me initially was when going from N to D, the vehicle slowed like I was in too high of a gear. Does your manual suggest using 4L while towing at low speeds? Mine has that, it says its easier on the drive train to do it that way. I was very excited about reading that, it makes a lot of sense and its easier on the rig at max tow.

So maybe if someone does 15 MPH and puts it in D, they may mechanically skid a bit and Land Rover didn't want to teach rev matching so they took the easy way out and removed the feature suggestion.

Here's another document that'll add some more confusion. Again, I typically go 10 mph before dropping it into (N) and selecting Lo gear, and popping it back to (D) without any issues. I didn't know that you can go a little faster from Lo to Hi.


View attachment 25951

I haven't had a genuine need to drop into 4L at over ~5-8 MPH because the air suspension works best at slow speeds. But testing the 4L transition again yesterday, at 20 MPH I held 2K RPM and made the change. Smooth as butter. Surprisingly though, after putting it in command mode it showed 5th gear!

I had been using command mode and never went out of 4th, didn't think I could because the upshifts while in 4th weren't accepted. I need to try giving it even more gas and speed next time because that could mean 2 gears were sitting on the table. But I don't drive that fast except for when I don't want to switch in and out of 4L during a stretch that isn't technical.

But while towing, if I were to get an RV and drive in 4L, the gears would make the engine feel like it has a lot more power for climbing.

 

[powershift]

I had been shifting on the fly to 4L under 10 MPH frequently. Now there is a bind and a thump when shfting to 4L. It doesn't do that when stopped and when changing from 4L to 4H it doesn't bind either. So I guess there is a limited number of shift on the fly to 4L before it breaks? I'm going to miss shifting to 4L on the fly but at least its still working.

 

[powershift]

I was having a progressive problem where at first there was a slight bit of resistance felt driving when dropping into 4LO at about 8 MPH, next few times the problem reproduces only then I relate the binding/resistance to the shift change.

Then the next few times the shift slowed the vehicle and felt like it was in error state getting into 4LO but made the transition. At that point I panic and stop doing shift-on-the-fly range changing while in motion. Weeks later I try range changing on the move to 4LO again and no problems at all. Today I tried it at an off-road park, smooth as buttah.

Thinking about what could have changed one variable was the fluid temperature. Every time I felt the resistance shifting into 4LO it was in the morning and the engine was cold. I'd drive about 1/2 mile to a technical section and then make a shift-on-the-fly range change and thats when the problem was reproducing. Does anyone think fluid temperature could have an influence on shifting in/out of 4LO?