Slick rock 4-wheeling technique question

qslim

The Man with the Big Yellow Car
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I went Moab a few weeks ago with the fam for the first time, and it was my first experience driving around on those crazy slick rock trails. Question is what do you more experience fellas do with regards to 4WD management? I was jammin that 4WD selector constantly because I was paranoid about making any turns on that sandpaper-like rock in 4WD. I was very conscious of only moving straight in 4WD, anything beyond a mild turn (like 20 degrees on the steering wheel) I would pop it down into 2WD for fear of binding. Is this normal? All the other wheeling I've ever done has been on a loose surface, so it's a 'set it and forget it' thing.

One thing I was considering was the gearing in this Sahara. The gears are still stock, so there is no way my 3.73s could negotiate the some of the steep climbs (Fins n Things) and descents without pulling up to 4L. So I would crawl uphill (or down) and then if I had to make any line adjustments by turning the wheel I'd put it back in 2wd.

Do I have any idea what I'm doing?
 
Unless you have a front locker, there isn't any reason you'd have to put it in 2wd just to turn as it turns the same in 4wd as 2wd, if the diffs are open.
 
Next trip relax and leave it in 4WD.

As noted above, you may want to turn off a front locker in some turning situations on technical obstacles in order to reduce stress on the front end components, but there isn't any need to shift out of 4WD before beginning a turn and particularly not on "blue" trails like Fins.

Your instinctive reaction to shift into 2WD may also be signaling a tendency to be using 4WD high range when low range would be more appropriate. Pay attention to that on your next trip as well and "don't fear the gear" as some like to say.



Fins and Things in my "other" 4x4, taken on a month long overlanding trip in 2015:

Fins N Things 3.jpg


I will guarantee that I was in 4WD low range. ;)
 
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I went Moab a few weeks ago with the fam for the first time, and it was my first experience driving around on those crazy slick rock trails. Question is what do you more experience fellas do with regards to 4WD management? I was jammin that 4WD selector constantly because I was paranoid about making any turns on that sandpaper-like rock in 4WD. I was very conscious of only moving straight in 4WD, anything beyond a mild turn (like 20 degrees on the steering wheel) I would pop it down into 2WD for fear of binding. Is this normal? All the other wheeling I've ever done has been on a loose surface, so it's a 'set it and forget it' thing.

One thing I was considering was the gearing in this Sahara. The gears are still stock, so there is no way my 3.73s could negotiate the some of the steep climbs (Fins n Things) and descents without pulling up to 4L. So I would crawl uphill (or down) and then if I had to make any line adjustments by turning the wheel I'd put it back in 2wd.

Do I have any idea what I'm doing?

Glad you asked this, I've never been but I will be in moab here in just a couple of weeks. Let's hope the Rubi lockers don't take a dump while I'm there...
 
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If I'm trying to make a tight turn I'm always going between 2 and 4. For just a trail ride, I leave it in 4. I did add 2low to my TC for this reason.
 
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4low and locked. It stays that way. Though recently I separated the F/R lockers so I can open the rear to make tight turns. The front will stay locked in that case.

20190308_130238.jpg


20190308_141501.jpg
 
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4wd lockers engaged all the time. It will squeak across the slickrock. That’s normal and will not damage anything. Messing around could.
 
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I always turn my lockers off between obstacles. No reason to leave them on and it makes the Jeep easier to drive around. Not sure what the reason would be to leave them on, especially when they can be turned off with the flick of a switch.
 
Turning them on and off is just another thing to do, opportunity to have something not engage properly if you improperly shift the TCase lever, etc...Once your’e in properly, you’re in, have fun and enjoy Dan. Great meeting you.
 
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Turning them on and off is just another thing to do, opportunity to have something not engage properly if you improperly shift the TCase lever, etc...Once your’e in properly, you’re in, have fun and enjoy Dan. Great meeting you.

I leave the Jeep in 4lo all day, but I don't see why you wouldn't flip the lockers off. At least in my Jeep, turning with the ARB's clicked in isn't all that fun.
 
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I leave the Jeep in 4lo all day, but I don't see why you wouldn't flip the lockers off. At least in my Jeep, turning with the ARB's clicked in isn't all that fun.
I can understand that in the front diff. 😊 That’s why I went with a PowerTrax no slip. Not trying to be rude. I do know guys that turn their front locker off when turning. But again, that’s one reason I went with a PowrTrax no slip. I didn’t want to mess with that. But in snow, I understand, you want a selectable up front.
 
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I think that they are talking about factory Rubicon lockers. The rear has a true trac type lsd that can fail. If the lsd fails the locker doesn't work either.
 
Try unlocking just the rear. You'll be surprised by how easy it is to steer with just the front still locked.

My ARB's are actually wired so I can't do that. Think the reasoning is that turning tightly with the front locked would cause things to bind up pretty quickly and eventually damage something.

With rubicon lockers, it might make sense to keep it locked up so you don't damage the clutch pack in the rear (IIRC those are prone to failure). But otherwise, I would definitely take the lockers off if you don't need them, purely from a drive-ability standpoint.
 
Forget for a moment ARB, Eaton, Rubicon, etc. I would set mine up the same way with a rear selectable and independent control. The front locker is not the one that restricts the steering the most.
 
No reason to unlock on slickrock that I can figure. Everyone is going slow anyway. Where are you going?

A Jeep goes through Hell’s Revenge in 3-5 hours. A motorcyle in 27-29 minutes. If you want to go faster and have easier steering, get a motorcycle.
 
No reason to unlock on slickrock that I can figure. Everyone is going slow anyway. Where are you going?

A Jeep goes through Hell’s Revenge in 3-5 hours. A motorcyle in 27-29 minutes. If you want to go faster and have easier steering, get a motorcycle.

Does your Jeep steer alright with the lockers in? Only reason I unlock is so I can steer more easily and relax a little more while going through the trail. I could drive around with my lockers in if I wanted to, but it would be a little more work. I only found I needed my lockers 3-4 times through all of hells revenge. Just seems a little odd to me to leave them on all day when I only needed them a couple times.
 
I don't lock the front unless I feel I need it, which isn't that often. With the front locked it doesn't turn very good and seems to put a lot of load on the power steering. The PS pump gets noisy driving around with the front locked