Hard to admit but..... I don't know how to drive off road.... (1 Viewer)

[OverlandLexusTN]

Don't wheel alone. Come wheel with me. Will teach you tricks! We hit the cove in Tracy city sometimes. Would be a bit much stock but with a lift and sliders, add some tires. Coolness

I'd be up for coming out there. Not too far from me.

 

[Bamagirl]

Don't wheel alone. Come wheel with me. Will teach you tricks! We hit the cove in Tracy city sometimes. Would be a bit much stock but with a lift and sliders, add some tires. Coolness

Prentice Cooper is also a good place to get your feet wet with trails and ways to learn how your vehicle works. We were up there over the weekend riding. It isn't far from Tracy City and just outside of Chattanooga.

 

[half k cruiser]

@half k cruiser does it matter if you are in "D" or "2" when you are in 4Lo? I didn't think it mattered at all. Now, how does the "2nd start" help when in 4Lo?

I like to manually select my gears when in 4lo, for the simple fact that I control how much wheel speed I want. If you put the vehicle into 4low and the gear selector in drive, its still going to shift around between gears except the shifting is much harsher. 1st gear 4low is almost too low for most trail driving. I will hit that combo if I'm trying to crawl up or down a very steep obstacle. It gives you the maximum torque and lowest, most controllable wheel speed. Otherwise, locking the truck into 2nd gear low with the procedure I mentioned allows you to have a nice combination of additional torque plus decent on trail wheel speed. The good thing about the GX is it already has an abundance of power. In fact you might get away with just running high range 1st gear. You really need to experiment to see what you like.

Also, the advice about finding someone who knows what there doing and going wheeling with them is solid. Choose these people wisely as they will have a great influence on your future successes or failures. The group of guys with a bunch of trail damage on their rigs, are probably not the best guys to emulate. Finding someone you trust to spot you is huge. You will learn a lot just watching them and learning how they guide you successfully through obstacles. After enough trail time you will get a pretty good idea of how you like to run lines. When you get to that point you can try your hand at spotting people yourself.

 

[JLee]

If you have an Overland Expo near you (AZ in spring and NC in fall) they typically have entry-level 4wd classes.

 

[White Stripe]

Going offroad can be fun. If you don't know what your doing it can be very dangerous. Their is a video on YouTube of a dude who thought it would be cool to let some chick drive his rock buggy. She obviously didn't know much. She rolled the buggy and degloved her hand trying to stop the roll. Winching, jacking, off camber driving, etc. Their are many situations that can become a complete disaster if you do basic things incorrectly when going offroad. Get help from knowledgeable people and have them teach you.

 

[GXO]

I watched a guy break his arm because he thought it would be cool to touch a tree as he rolled passed. POP

 

[Arailt]

Just remember it's not as steep as it looks and when in doubt, throttle out.

Scratch that. Jeep habits die hard.

 

[DRANGED]

This is a great thread with lots of great information!Reading learning and experiencing are all good ways to get out there, arm yourself with some information and it will make a lot more sense once you get out there. You can lock the center differential at any moving speed you can switch from high to low below four miles per hour but it's best to just stop, you can go from 4lo to 4hi at speed.

here's a great general resource that I found very helpful, a friend gave it to me as a gift a few years ago and it has relevant information from old vehicles even up to modern fuel injected and traction control system vehicles with electronic lockers, air lockers, ABS-actuaed, etc.

@Merlin2111, any updates, reports, experiences to share?

 

[azgx]

I am new to off roading and I am looking to learn how and when to use things like the center locking diff, 4hi and 4 low ect. Are there any good videos or articles to read that you would recommend to learn the basics? I am worried that I might damage something if I engage things at the wrong time. If the videos happen to be GX specific that would be awesome but I figure all the systems are similar so anything will be better than nothing.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger all I've had are 2 wd and really never got stuck. I went every where in my '03 4Runner then found out it was a 4X4 road so this is new to me too. When I went to school in Flagstaff AZ we always knew who got the new 4x4 at the first snow, it was the guy in the ditch.