Mountain Driving

[Mr_Fruffles]

I purchased my 2004 XLT 4.0L V6 4x4 as my "mountain car". I wish I had a V8 however it gets the job done as-is. I have been having some issues with the auto 4x4 engaging when I did not want it to so I will be doing the brown wire mod once the temp gets back to the double digits. Anyways my question is when do I use what gear? Is it better to have overdrive off when in the mountains? For switch-backs what gear should I be in? What are my max speeds for 1 2 3? How much snow or ice do I need to utilize 4x4 high? My past experience with 4x4 has been only while plowing when I lived in Illinois and I never messed with lower gears.


I appreciate any advice/knowledge.

 

[Hugh Janus]

Turn off overdrive. Unless you are towing, you can trust the tranny to pick the right gear. Oh and slow down cause 4wd doesnt help your braking distance. To reduce traction surprise, put it in 4wd high if the road is snow-covered. Be like a trucker, don't go down a hill any faster than you went up it. Practice a stop on ice so you know how thw ABS reacts

 

[Mr_Fruffles]

Turn off overdrive. Unless you are towing, you can trust the tranny to pick the right gear. Oh and slow down cause 4wd doesnt help your braking distance. To reduce traction surprise, put it in 4wd high if the road is snow-covered. Be like a trucker, don't go down a hill any faster than you went up it. Practice a stop on ice so you know how thw ABS reacts

In regards to overdrive, should it be off unless towing even when I am not in the mountains? I have messed around with braking on snow/ice (parking lot) and definitely did not like what I heard but it sure worked. What about for driving switchbacks?.....1st gear?

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread btw

 

[fordysenior]

I had a transmission shop tell me 'always turn off the overdrive' -- for standard driving have it off, turn it on when using higher speeds and a lack of uphill and downhills. They say it saves the transmission. As for driving switchbacks, it depends on how 'switchy' they are. Having overdrive off allows the vehicle to use the tranny and engine to slow the vehicle instead of having to step on the brakes a lot. With a long downhill, if you have the overdrive off, it will help do the braking. With my vehicle, I have not yet used 1 or 2 -- and I've only used 3 once (I've owned the Expl for 12 years). On a snowy road with a 6% downhill, I found myself boxed in on 3 sides by semi trucks (the forth side was the cement highway divider) and I really didn't like the idea of using the brakes. So I put it in third gear and it was really nice to back off the gas and feel the vehicle slow down on its own. So if the switchbacks are bad enough, switch into that gear. Just watch what the RPMs are doing. I know decades ago, the rule of thumb with first gear was no faster than 25 mph. I don't know any current day rules.

 

[Mr_Fruffles]

Sounds good! Thank you for clarifying all that for me. I will be utilizing your input in 8 hours or so and I imagine it will go much better than my first run in the mountains with my explorer

 

[Mr_Fruffles]

Any way to have overdrive off automatically upon startup or do i have to manually turn it off every time?

 

[drdoom]

A member posted a how to in 2G Modified for default O/D OFF using a PAC7 trigger module. He even sells them now preprogrammed for 20 bucks shipped. It might work on yours as well.

 

[TechGuru]

I believe a lot of this is covered in the owners manual...

 

[Mr_Fruffles]

I believe a lot of this is covered in the owners manual...

A lot has changed since 2004 and a lot has been discovered since then that may not go with what the manual says....or at least that is my opinion.