No power in reverse - what's wrong?

[Sverige]

Over the weekend I was on a sandy beach along a riverbank and got stuck in deep soft sand. After additional airing down, digging out, and putting traction aids behind the tires I was unable to reverse. It was the first time I've experienced this, wondering if anyone can shed some light on what I might have been doing wrong.

The diffs were clear, a path for the tires had been dug out, and sticks/limbs had been laid down in the path I intended to use to get unstuck. I put the car in reverse and applied gas. Nothing. The motor revved but no movement, no wheel spin, no rocking, nothing. I even tried flooring it in reverse, the motor definitely revved but nothing translated to ANY of my 4 wheels. It almost felt like my emergency brake was on (but of course it was not).

Ultimately, I dug out the front and moved the traction aids around and drove out forwards. I just thought it was really bizarre that the truck appeared to have zero "go" in reverse. Ideas on what I was doing wrong? Any explanations you can think of?

Thx

 

[natvet]

Does reverse work normally on dry land?

 

[Sverige]

Yes, works fine otherwise.

 

[phsycle]

Does it work ok now? Were you in 4Lo with the center diff locked?

 

[re_guderian]

bump xfer shifter to N?

 

[Sverige]

I was in 4H, but tried it in 4L too. Played w center diff lock. Nothing worked. Reverse worked fine as soon as I got off the sand.
Here is a pic of the beach before I get stuck.
The sand was deeper where I got stuck, but my diffs were still clear.
No, it was not in neutral.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

With what you're describing either the tranny or t-case was in neutral. Maybe you shifted the tranny to N to drop it into 4L and forgot. Simple mistake. Easy piece of mind is go recreate the situation.

 

[neoworm]

Transfer in neutral.

 

[AimCOtaco]

He said he could go forward but not back so I'm guessing he was shifting back and forth and was more than likely not in neutral.

Could there be a throttle limit for operation in reverse? In which case he just didn't generate enough torque to break the wheels loose?

What is the reverse gear ratio v the 1st gear ratio?

OP, try to re-create this with some wheel chalks (AKA bricks, rocks, wood blocks, etc.).

I don't know enough about auto trans issues to speculate much but it seems like he was not in neutral. Seems like the first thing you would glance at when you stomp the pedal and it goes nowhere.

 

[Sverige]

Correct, it was not in neutral. I put it in and out of 4H and 4L to see if that would make a difference.
Good idea to go out and try to recreate the situation. I think that in order for it to be productive I should have some things to test or some ideas tho.
It sounds like I am correct to assume that I should expect the same power in reverse as in drive, and that no one is aware of a common fault that might limit reverse when bogged.
Thx

 

[AimCOtaco]

Lost dude? Whats with the forward to amazon.com?

 

[Sverige]

Any insights?

It happened again at the beach today. It's like the truck isn't even in gear (but it is). Revs, but none of the wheels turn or spin. Same in forward and reverse. thank goodness for 2 sets of maxtraax to continually bail me out. My buddy showed me that when he turned off Atrac in his FJ and aired down to 18psi his truck was unstoppable in sand. Do we have a way to defeat Atrac in ours? I have a 2004.

Related, what settings do you guys use in sand?
I have been in the practice of turning off airbags and VSC, then 4D high range with center diff unlocked.
I air down my 275/75 R18 BFG AT KOs from 43psi to around 25psi.
Does this sound similar to your sand driving settings?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

It's got to be your t-case, you must not have it fully in L.