Offroad-Express

Hiya all,

Kinda posted up my intro in JEEP tech as i had a couple of questions.

Anyway i got a general noob question. All the 4x4ing i have done in the past has been in a manual. Now I have 96 Jeep cherokee that i have been taking offroad, still stock to get use to it before i lift it and get some 31s . When offroad i drive it like a manual using the gear selection.

Anyone have any more tips for using an Auto offroad?

Hope this aint posted else where if it is pls point me in that direction.

Cheers
Josh

Put a manual lock up in, so you get the same engine braking off road, as you would in a manual, good for heavy towing too.
My new Safari is auto, but I'm yet to take it off road properly, so I'm in the same boat, have tried reversing down a slope and it scared the crap outta me, so I have a lot to learn

"D" for drive and theres only two peddles one for each foot

only use low low for decent down hill decents and when climbing steep tracks espescially if using a deisel where you will need to keep the revs up

good luck and happy 4wheeling

Paybac wrote:Hiya all,

Kinda posted up my intro in JEEP tech as i had a couple of questions.

Anyway i got a general noob question. All the 4x4ing i have done in the past has been in a manual. Now I have 96 Jeep cherokee that i have been taking offroad, still stock to get use to it before i lift it and get some 31s . When offroad i drive it like a manual using the gear selection.

Anyone have any more tips for using an Auto offroad?

Hope this aint posted else where if it is pls point me in that direction.

Cheers
Josh

The only two things you have to be mind of in an auto off-road are heat and water ingress. Keep the transmission cool and check for water ingress after water crossings, and you will be fine. Regarding which way to go, don't know how the transmission on XJs work, but on my TJ I can lock in D 2 1 and it stays in the same gear (essentially). So going downhill, I can down shift to 1 and use engine braking. It would not upshift into 2. Also, going up on steep hills, I sometimes use 2 as it gives me more control over the power band at a given rpm.

You can use a technique called power braking. When decending down a steep slope where you do not have enough engine braking you can use both the brake and the accelator at the same time and of equal strengths. Usually foot braking is a no no down decents as you have no controll and can lock up the wheels and slide down making it dangerous. But if you brake and accerlate the brake slows you down and the accelator keeps you going so you maintain controll over the truck and dont lock it up and slide. This technique is also mentioned in ken siblys 4x4 book and I was taught it by a 4wd instructor. Tends to wear out break pads a bit more though.

surf_tomo wrote:You can use a technique called power braking. When decending down a steep slope where you do not have enough engine braking you can use both the brake and the accelator at the same time and of equal strengths. Usually foot braking is a no no down decents as you have no controll and can lock up the wheels and slide down making it dangerous. But if you brake and accerlate the brake slows you down and the accelator keeps you going so you maintain controll over the truck and dont lock it up and slide. This technique is also mentioned in ken siblys 4x4 book and I was taught it by a 4wd instructor. Tends to wear out break pads a bit more though.

Oh yea interesting, will have to try that out. Do you also use this technique when crawing over obstacles?

I think it was mainly for decents where the auto engine braking doesnt provide enough controll - and when you are tempted to use your brakes. Could work over obstacles where you want to maintain alot of controll. Good for petrol autos where the there is generally less engine braking then a diesel. It takes a bit of practice as you are using both feet (unless you drive your auto with two feet anyway)

Hope this helps.
Cheers, Tom

Its a good technique in an auto, and also very useful when climbing if you start to get wheelspin (no different from using the handbrake gently in a rear-wheel drive). I too was shown it by a professional 4WD instructor, specifically for reversing downhill out of failed/aborted climbs.

Tru , havn't heard of that before, makes sense tho.

Lotsa new tricks for me to learn