Atlas II Driving tips??

[Bobbed Ranger]

I've noticed that a few of you have Atlas II's and was hoping to get a few do's and dont'd about driving with the 4.3 off road?

I've had the truck since new and have tried mud, and deep water crossings ( dont care for them much) perfer rock crawling, have been on the silver lake dunes, and in bear mtn (the RRR trail)

thanks
Andrew

 

[FAKRWEE]

Hey Andrew, welcome to the Atlas Club. Dollas for Dollar you've made the best investment for rockcrawling

I have a stick shift so I don't know about automatics. The biggest dif I noticed was in picking gears when going uphill. Sometimes when you need momentum you have to use 2nd or 3rd gear, 1st gear might be too low. It's just a matter of practice. I suggest you start off on easy trails and work yourself up to the harder ones.

Have a great time

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

I have the 5 speed also, what crawl ratio do you have?

 

[FAKRWEE]

If you mean gears I have I have 4:56s. I don't know the crawl ratio. I'm having 5:13s installed.

 

[Rick]

1st is usually too low for hill climbs as Tom said. Too many RPMs with not enough tire speed.

One of the features I like the best about the Atlas II is the ability to drive in 2wd low range. I'm in 2 low the majority of the time and only go into high when I need it. Half the time I forget I'm in 2 low and try an obstacle and am like WTF why are my tires spinning!

You can shift from low to high range on the fly at any speed. If you are doing top speed in low... 20 or so in 5th make sure you put your shifter in like second gear and depress the clutch while you shift the transfer case from low to high. Otherwise you will bog terribly when you end up in 5th gear at 20 MPH!

To shift into low range you must be stopped.

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

COOL no more having to stop to go from 4lo to 4 hi when momentom is needed.
you really dont use first in 4low?

what about going in to 4hi any speed ?

 

[Rick]

I do use 1st in low, just not for hill climbing. I use it for rock crawling. For rock crawling it's still not low enough...

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

get outa here, is it better then stock, where my spotters say to "slowdow" and I do and then I stall

 

[Rick]

Oh yeah, it's nearly twice as low as stock, but it's not to the point where you can just let the clutch out on any obstacle and have it crawl up. In order to do that you would need a Klune V as well as the Atlas. They don't make a Klune for us though... Don't get me wrong the Atlas low gear is a TREMENDOUS improvement over stock.

What really helps is a hand throttle control which is nothing more than a bicycle shifter lever mounted to the 5 speed shifter and to the throttle mechanism.

http://www.explorer4x4.com/rickthrtcable.JPG

http://www.explorer4x4.com/rickthrtcable2.JPG

 

[FAKRWEE]

Another great advantage is being able to transfer full torque either to the front or rear. This is a very handy feature. On one of my trips to Rubicon (Hint Rick) My drivers side radius arm bracket started to break. We reinforced it with a ratchet strap and I disengaged the front dif and was able to make it from Buck island lake to Rubicon Springs thru the Old Sluice in rear 2 wheel low where I found someone with a welder and was able to fix it. You gotta love it.

Hey Rick got a question for ya. On my trip to Arizona when my rear u-joint was going I tried to put it in front 2 wheel hi to drive to your place but it wouldn't engage. Is this some type of safety feature.

 

[Rick]

I'm not sure why they won't let you engage just the front axle in high range.

I do know that front wheel drive by itself sucks in the truck. I had to disconnect my rear driveshaft at Truckhaven once and I tried to drive out on just my front axle I was getting stuck on the easiest stuff even with my front ARB engaged.

I ended up driving all the way back to Phoenix with front wheel drive, the truck defintaley was a bit squirrely.

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

Originally posted by Rick

What really helps is a hand throttle control which is nothing more than a bicycle shifter lever mounted to the 5 speed shifter and to the throttle mechanism.

where did you go through the fire wall? under the carpet?

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

Originally posted by Rick


I ended up driving all the way back to Phoenix with front wheel drive, the truck defintaley was a bit squirrely.

I was woundering about that, FWD, might be a little different with the rangers f/r wieght (?)

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

and how long a cable did you use? on the hand throtle?l

 

[Rick]

Tom's overall gear ratio will be 76.5:1 with his 5.13 gears. Mine is 71.3:1 with 4:88 gears.

To figure out overall ratio, multiply axle ratio * transmission 1st gear ratio * transfer case ratio =

So it's like this 4:88 * 3.4 * 4.3 = 71.3

Measure from inside your truck to the throttle body, that's how long a cable you need. Yes I went under the carpet and through the firewall.

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

do you have the Mazda 5 speed? or is that 3.9?

 

[Rick]

Yep, the Mazda 5 speed.

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

so I'llhave 66.66 with 4.56 gears?

 

[Rick]

Yep. A stock T-case would give you 38:1

 

[Bobbed Ranger]

Do you guys have a custom transmission support? or did you go for the 1" body lift?