Great day at Rausch with Offroad Consulting (1 Viewer)

[BlueMarblePA]

Just wanted to thank everyone who has helped me get started in this addictive hobby.

Beautiful weather yesterday.

One amazing thing is that even though I have driven stick shift manual for over a decade, learning how to feather lightly in tricky situations was very difficult and will take practice. I stalled at least ten times on the tricky Rock crawling sections. Thanks to Kyle who taught me patiently.

 

[Stumpalama]

Just wanted to thank everyone who has helped me get started in this addictive hobby.

Beautiful weather yesterday.

One amazing thing is that even though I have driven stick shift manual for over a decade, learning how to feather lightly in tricky situations was very difficult and will take practice. I stalled at least ten times on the tricky Rock crawling sections. Thanks to Kyle who taught me patiently.

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What you need is an Orion 4:1 T-case. It is the most impactful modification I did to my 40 and made wheeling sooooooooooooooooo much more enjoyable.

 

[BlueMarblePA]

Did some reading on orion. Sounds great. Improved low range for creeping, low rpm crawling and no change in the high gearing so my 55-60mph would remain same.

Am holding off on any more purchases though, as I have bought two land cruisers in less than a year (2015 200 and 1974 40)!

 

[Stumpalama]

Did some reading on orion. Sounds great. Improved low range for creeping, low rpm crawling and no change in the high gearing so my 55-60mph would remain same.

It is especially nice compared to the 2.23:1 t-case and stock gears. Saves the the clutch, starter and your left quad.

 

[jamarquardt22]

Dosent Marlin Crawler make a "toy box" for these.

 

[VBRoamer]

Raise a toast to the only automotive hobby I know where the more you spend the slower you go!

 

[Cass007]

^^^ True Story right there

I can't imagine wheeling with a manual transmission. I have enough issues without worrying about the clutch.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

What you need is an Orion 4:1 T-case. It is the most impactful modification I did to my 40 and made wheeling sooooooooooooooooo much more enjoyable.

Yes indeed. You don't feather the clutch when crawling. That will just wear out the clutch or cause you to roll backwards. Generally, you stay in low/low and let it creep. If that's too fast, get an Orion.

About the first lesson I got was "don't touch the clutch", especially on steep uphills. Better to let it stall and stay in place hanging on the gear.

 

[76FJ40]

Dosent Marlin Crawler make a "toy box" for these.

The Toy Box is available again. It's available with either a 2.28 or 4.7 low range which further reduces your stock xfr case gearing.

ToyBox for H42 | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

 

[BlueMarblePA]

Yes indeed. You don't feather the clutch when crawling. That will just wear out the clutch or cause you to roll backwards. Generally, you stay in low/low and let it creep. If that's too fast, get an Orion.

About the first lesson I got was "don't touch the clutch", especially on steep uphills. Better to let it stall and stay in place hanging on the gear.

That makes more sense now. Kyle had me make an approach on 45 degree incline slick rock and explained how to do it, also saying it was much better to stall than to depress the clutch. I chickened out of that approach and climb as we both acknowledged that if I screwed up, I could dump the rig into the woods.

Will need to practice. I don't dare tell my wife I want to join you all in two weeks

 

[Stumpalama]

The Toy Box is available again. It's available with either a 2.28 or 4.7 low range which further reduces your stock xfr case gearing.

ToyBox for H42 | Marlin Crawler, Inc.

Toyboxes extend the drivetrain too much and require a lot more modification than an straight Orion, especially on a '74. On a '74, it is a straight up replacement for the stock case.

 

[Stumpalama]

That makes more sense now. Kyle had me make an approach on 45 degree incline slick rock and explained how to do it, also saying it was much better to stall than to depress the clutch. I chickened out of that approach and climb as we both acknowledged that if I screwed up, I could dump the rig into the woods.

Will need to practice. I don't dare tell my wife I want to join you all in two weeks

You let it stall because that will hold you much better than the brakes which can cause loss of control and increase the risk of a roll.

 

[PAToyota]

Kyle is a great guy. Very patient and knows his stuff. I can't think of anyone else I'd point someone to for lessons.

 

[fireball]

In a manual truck if you fail a hill climb you’re better off to let it stall than to grab brake and clutch?

 

[BlueMarblePA]

Kyle is a great guy. Very patient and knows his stuff. I can't think of anyone else I'd point someone to for lessons.

This is what I was taught. I was too chicken to try this as my instinct is to press clutch and brake at same time.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

In a manual truck if you fail a hill climb you’re better off to let it stall than to grab brake and clutch?

Generally, yes. You have to unlearn the street habit. If you hit the clutch it will typically roll back a bit and this can be hard to arrest with bad consequences.

 

[fireball]

So if you are halfway up a climb, stall it out, then what's next?

Clutch, brake, put it in reverse, start engine, slowly let off both brake and clutch to allow tranny to ease you back down the hill, no brakes?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Either restart in gear and keep going or use the brake first, then depress the clutch and shift into reverse. It's kind of intuitive when you're worried about rolling back. The hardest part is unlearning your lifetime habits.

But in any kind of rocks or steeps, you're going to want lower gearing. The Orion is a nice solution. I like low gears so much I have an Orion and an SM420 transmission, so 115:1 gearing. Stock low is 33:1.

 

[Stumpalama]

In a manual truck if you fail a hill climb you’re better off to let it stall than to grab brake and clutch?

Yes! Just brake to a stall.

 

[jamarquardt22]

In a manual truck if you fail a hill climb you’re better off to let it stall than to grab brake and clutch?

Correct. For the brakes to work you need a running engine. If I stall, my plan is to try and start in gear. If that fails, I will set the ebrake as hard as I can. Then without shifting out of gear I will clutch and attempt to restart that way I can dump the clutch if the start fails and I start to roll down the hill.

@jtaco1 had a fail on a hI'll climb that went badly .