Maybe they are not that dumb if they didn't start looking for a frame in a unibody Geo Storm

 

:pat: Doh! I guess I'm the idiot!

 

This is a trick that I found our works but would not recommend it to any one unless it is an absolute emergency. The main road that leads out of my little town to RT 340 has a little 1-lane underpass. The problem is you go down a very steep hill and have to make a 90 degree right hand turn to go through it, you can imagine how many people have hit this stone wall! I can remember the school bus which had to swing way wide to fit hit the wall a few times when we would have substitute bus drivers! If you go strait past it you end up at a dam access road on the Potomac River, which leads directly into Harpers Ferry National Park near the train station. Well a few winters ago I was crawling down the hill when I started to slide out of control, at the same time a girl in a Honda Civic came through the underpass and tried to come up the hill, she didn’t make it very far. I mashed my brakes to stop all of my gears and threw my rig in reverse and punched it! I would really not recommend this but it kept me from hitting her and the stone wall of the underpass! I’ve used this one other time while wheeling, I started to slide over an embankment that was about a 6' drop off a few feet further ahead of me, I made sure to lock up the brakes before dropping it into reverse and nailed it! I guess I’m lucky that I haven’t killed my trans and that I haven’t crashed my rig! Just thought I would share this one. Oh yeah after I helped her get her civic out of the road, it was not moving either way, I gave her a lift back home and got her #, that was a fun few months…..

 

I guess it could have and after the fact I was fully prepared to hand over my insurance information if necessary but the little a$&hole took off again like it was a bright sunny day with out looking at his truck or even talking to me, so F-him... he deserved it in my opinion, he not only was putting himself at risk, he was putting every one else that was out for what ever reason at risk driving around in a 5,000 pound battering ram like a total moron. There is no room for error if a Navigator at 50 mph slides out of control head on into some one that is trying to get home from work in a Corolla. I dont mean to piss any one off, but some people deserve what they get.

 

Yeah - the Corolla owner should have gotten a 4Runner!

 

poor Geo, it gets killed because they didn't bother showel and hook up to the proper anchor point (it should have one)

 

Wow the boys in the video need some learnin!
That was as funny as it was pathetic.
snowman

 

When my 4Runner was just over a month old I was out in white out conditions and the road was ice and covered with a inch or 2 of snow, I came over the top of a hill a little to fast, and when I hit the brakes to slow down the ABS kicked in immediately, ended up rolling down the entire hill with the ABS pumping like mad and soon as I got to a spot where I could see the road and that no traffic was their I stomped on it and did a controlled slide cause it bears to the right, since I ran the stop I already made the decision to run if a cop spotted me

Another time this Honda Accord passed me and a mile down the road on a bend he was 50 feet in the woods, he waves me down and is like can you help me out and all I could do was laugh, latter when I came back the flat bed guy was just dumb founded on how to get him out.

 

I was just wondering what exactly is the difference between 4hi and 4o? Being brand new to 4wd, I have a lot of learning to do, and im going to start it out slow and careful.

also, in sand conditions say driving out onto the beach in deep sand, is it a better idea to keep the momentum in 2wd (which ive done previously without problem, though ive seen other SUVs get stuck), or go steady in 4wd? how much is 4wd going to help in such sandy conditions? thanks!

 

I rarely ever use 4wd on the roads, it snows once a year, maybe twice if we're lucky. Sometimes if its a torental downpour of rain I'll lock in so I can pull the lever if I need it.

When off road, I usually stay in 2wd, and often times, I'll go in 2Lo, because I need the extra power. It takes some strain off the clutch. If I know there is mud ahead, I'll lock in and use high or low depending on what I need. After a while wheeling you learn what to do and when according to your preferences and driving style. It just takes some time.

 

4hi - after the transmission, the transfer case will transfer torque to both the front and rear wheels.

4lo - after the transmission, the transfer case includes another set of gears that lowers your gear ratio. in the toyotas it's about a 2.28:1 gear ratio. so you take what ever gear you have selected in the transmisison and multiply it by another gear reduction. the purpose is to multiply your torque (at the exepense of speed). basically it multiplies the number of gears you have in your transmission by 2, giving you a lower range of gears to use when you need the torque (and not the speed).

e.g. say you have a 5 speed transmission you might have the following gear ratios:
1st gear=3.954:1
2nd gear=2.141:1
3rd gear=1.384:1
4th gear=1.000:1
5th gear=0.810:1

if you're in 4lo have the following effective gear ratios
1st gear=9.015:1
2nd gear=4.881:1
3rd gear=3.155:1
4th gear=2.280:1
5th gear=1.846:1

that means that 3rd gear in 4lo will feel almost like 1st gear in 4hi and 5th gear in 4lo is still lower than 3rd gear in 4hi (so you can't go any faster than you could go in 3rd gear!)

be careful in 4lo, you get a torque multipication, so you can break things much easier.

if you can do it in 2wd you can do it in 4wd and it'll just be easier. there's nothing wrong with keeping momenum in 4wd just like keeping momentum in 2wd - you just have two extra wheels helping you along.

 

Thanks for that post, it was very informative. So say you were driving in 4wd in some heavy snow but able to keep a decent speed, would it be recommended to use 4hi in that case? Thanks again

 

I am used to driving a 100 hp 22re, but now i have the 3rz 2.7l (150 hp), so itll probably be a bit different.

but, in the small experience i have had driving on ice (in my '90), if you are careful, you can drive in 2HI with little problems... its when you start thinking that the truck will handle like it does on dry ground that you really get in trouble/danger. i personally never used 4LO or HI on dry ground, pavement, or ice, not even when there was an inch of ice on the road and a freaky texas "blizzard" for about 2 days. its not stupidity, you just-dont-NEED it a lot of the times.

but offroad, i mean even the least bit offroad, 4HI at minimum. 4LO most of the time, but sometimes i could get away with 4HI, in thin mud and transiting between spots and stuff. but when trying to negotiate even the slightest obstacle, 4LO for me, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. It gives you opportunity for that intimate control of your vehicle (which i am NOT claiming to have.. ), and makes it easy for you to negotiate. I also never tried to conquer even a steep gravel hill in 2HI or 4HI with my '90. It's just not logical.

it's also a question of what your definition of "offroading" is (if you want mine, PM getitdone about it ). To some people, it's just light trail riding, to some, its slinging as much mud as possible (redneck mudding.. ), and then there is Roger Brown's definition of offroading (visit www.4crawler.com and look at his pics!! ). Its all point-of-view based.

Just offroad within your abilities, if you think you need 4LO, you probably do, so lock those hubs, and rip the earth a new one, and keep building terrain-conquering toyotas!!!!

just my opinion...