There are stacks of 4WD’s on the market that have been purchased for dozens of different reasons ranging from “enough seats for the kids” to “I bought it for towing” amongst many others. However, if you’ve never taken your 4WD off the road you are probably wondering what that little lever is next to your gear shifter.

Knowing the operations of your 4WD is extremely beneficial, and you will find that your vehicle is more than just a large car and is manufactured by engineers to be an extremely capable offroad vehicle. By being able to engage your vehicles 4WD gears and subsequently understanding what ‘low range’ is you will discover a HUGE range of conditions you can drive through safely and with much more control than you imagined!

So let’s talk about the typical 4WD gear shifter situated next to your ordinary gear selector to give you a better understanding of what is possible in your 4WD.

Starting with 2H, this stands for 2 wheels being driven by the motor with high range gears, typically in a 4WD the 2H setting will drive just like a normal car, with the 2 rear wheels being powered by the engine at standard road speeds and standard grip conditions.

The next selection is 4H, standing for all 4 wheels being driven in standard gear ratios, this is for situations where you may find your vehicle struggling a little bit for grip, as an example, gravel roads, icy conditions, fire trails and even hard packed sand- by having 4 wheels powered, soft surfaces, may slip either of your rear tyres but your front tyres are also powered and are usually able to pull your vehicle into better grip.

4H is not ideal for bitumen usage, typically 4H will not have a set of differential gearing between the front and back wheels, which means that if your tyres are on firm grippy surfaces you will encounter “Wind up” in the gears, which can either cause your tyres to slip, or even in some situations catastrophic equipment failures like cv joints universal joints and busted drive shafts.

Some vehicles have the option to run 4H with differential gearing or “unlocked” which allows you to drive in 4WD without risking damage to your gearbox.

Finally we have 4L, many 4WDers get excited at the prospect of engaging 4WD low range, operating in much the same way as 4H but with a set of reductions to your gearbox, and typically locking your front and rear wheels together.

4L will turn your road going vehicle into a tractor! Being able to grip unconventionally soft surfaces and climb up steep surfaces that have greatly reduced traction. By using reduction gearing on your engines output you increase the amount of torque you can put on the track and reduce the amount of wheel speed and slippage by a considerable amount. This gearing allows your 4WD to crawl slowly and purposefully through slippery mud, soft sand, up steep hills and with the reduced speed and additional torque, you increase your vehicles engine braking capability making steep down-hill sections much more controlled allowing you to avoid locking your brakes.

If you want to head offroad to test out your 4WD in its low range gears, you should know a few pro tips that will help you in getting the most out of your 4WD.

When you are putting your 4WD into low range gears the objective is to gain traction you can give your 4WD heaps of additional help, you can let your tyres down, the amount of air you have to let out is actually quite a lot (approximately half highway pressures) whilst letting your pressure down you should make sure you keep your tyres balanced.

This job is extremely easy with a Kwiky Tyre Deflator, it simply screws onto your tyre valve and dumps air extremely quickly and in control with it whilst also giving you an accurate reading of your tyres air pressures!

This may sound absolutely insane, dumping the air out of your tyres is something people do to their enemies, how will this help you get more performance offroad?

By releasing your tyre pressures you allow your tyre’s side wall to sag and the contact area of the tyre elongate, giving up to 200% more contact area, this means that you can easily grip more of the track surface and put more torque down to the track meaning you don’t lose any traction.

Don’t forget a compressor to bring your tyres back up to highway pressure, by bringing an Adventure Kings Thumper MKII Air Compressor it will only take a few minutes to get back up and on the road!

Even when you only plan to hit mild tracks with your 4WD sometimes things don’t go to plan, this is why you need to bring an offroad Recovery Kit like the Hercules Snatch Recovery Kit, it essentially works like a big bungee cord, storing heaps of energy to snatch you out of trouble however you’ll need your buddy or another 4WD to pull you free!

Get out there and try something new this weekend, with your 4WD and your Hercules recovery kit!