A question about towing,low range and diff lock

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Martyn110

Martyn110

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Hi guys I have been to a scout camp today and the organisers decided to park camper vans cars and minibuses all in mildly steep fields, wise choice I think not!!!!! . So all day I have been towing in high range as starting in low wasn't giving me enough momentum to pull heavy campers uphill and keep them moving in the real sloppy stuff, this was going fine until some smart Alec told me I was churning the grass up and I had to use low range and first with diff lock. Are you are always meant to use low range in the mud ? I thought high would be better as you aren't revving the guts out of the vehicle with a heavy load on back and is the diff lock light meant to flash when engaged ? It's a 200tdi defender 90

Cheers

Mart
 
Turboman may be your best man to explain that but there should be no need to rev the guts out of your landy when pulling out of fields in low range. The torque of the low range is a lot higher hence it's ability to pull a lot easier at low speed.

If you are churning mud in high range then you should have gone to low range to maintain grip.
Hence why you can go from low to high while moving but not from high to low.

The diff lock will keep drive to the wheels that have the most grip. Mine doesn't have diff lock so what happens is if i lose traction on a wheel, i lose drive to the other 3 as all the torque goes through that spinning wheel. In the mud, your diff lock will control where the torque is output.

I'm a newb at this but that is what i always thought.
 
Last edited:
I can see what you are saying mate but I just couldn't maintain any momentum in low range with probably 4-1/2 tonne on the back
 
The idea of low range is that you can rev the engine and get plenty of torque through the wheels without them spinning too fast. If your wheels were spinning, it sounds like you might have been going too fast? It's hard to say without actually seeing the conditions though - easy to judge from an armchair!

Diff lock should have been on at all times (on offroad surfaces) though, regardless of high or low. It would have reduced skidding.
 
Lowest possible low box gear and as close to idling speed as you can is usually the way to go. Unfortunately the ability of the towed driver is very important, and many have not a clue. The towing vehicle should creep forward, and as the rope tightens the towed driver should let in the clutch. Same gear, 1st or 2nd low for the towed vehicle, and absolute minimum revs for both! Simples.
 
I'm gunna have to get some training then as I think I' have got this all wrong and maybe the smart Alec was right .... Damn
 
monkfish24 said:
The diff lock will keep drive to the wheels that have the most grip. Mine doesn't have diff lock so what happens is if i lose traction on a wheel, i lose drive to the other 3 as all the torque goes through that spinning wheel. In the mud, your diff lock will control where the torque is output.
Click to expand...

With a normal land rover differential the wheel with least traction will spin. In normal use with the centre diff. Open you will have 1 wheel drive, with that drive going to any of the 4 wheels.
With the centre diff. Locked you will get drive to 1 front and 1 rear wheel.
To get full 4 wheel drive you need to lock all 3 diff's.
Easiest way to do this would be front and rear lockers, or buy a g wagen.
Hope this helps.
 
jacksta said:
With a normal land rover differential the wheel with least traction will spin. In normal use with the centre diff. Open you will have 1 wheel drive, with that drive going to any of the 4 wheels.
With the centre diff. Locked you will get drive to 1 front and 1 rear wheel.
To get full 4 wheel drive you need to lock all 3 diff's.
Easiest way to do this would be front and rear lockers, or buy a g wagen.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Sorry, makes more sense!
 
Martyn110 said:
Hi guys I have been to a scout camp today and the organisers decided to park camper vans cars and minibuses all in mildly steep fields, wise choice I think not!!!!! . So all day I have been towing in high range as starting in low wasn't giving me enough momentum to pull heavy campers uphill and keep them moving in the real sloppy stuff, this was going fine until some smart Alec told me I was churning the grass up and I had to use low range and first with diff lock. Are you are always meant to use low range in the mud ? I thought high would be better as you aren't revving the guts out of the vehicle with a heavy load on back and is the diff lock light meant to flash when engaged ? It's a 200tdi defender 90

Cheers

Mart
Click to expand...

it depends on what load is and conditions sometimes hi box sometimes low,from what youve said hi box with diff lock was best ,higher gear low torque at wheels
 
Wet, sloping grass is probably the worst condition to tow anything on .. and whatever gear keeps you moving is best! If that's Hi second with an odd spinning wheel then that's it, if you can get the traction in Lo first, then that's fine ..

If 'smart-alec' can tell you different, then why wasn't he towing?
 
similar to snow. highest gear without stalling, lowest gear gear to avoid wheelspin.
tbh, highest gear you can set off in at tickover and accelerate to 1500rpm or so on a slack rope and use a light snatch to get stuck motor moving while not stalling yours.
once moving, then as just enough revs to prevent stalling.

diff lock engaged.
me? guessing 1st high or 3rd or 4th low

edit-
re the towee, tell them to use first, lift the clutch, small amount of throttle, and dip the clutch when good surface reached.
 
Last edited:
Cheers guy I don't feel quite so much of a twit now, the "smart Alec" had a series but would rather watch someone get stuck big time and make a fool of themselves rather than just get stuck in. Is the diff lock light supposed to flash when engaged or do I have a problem ?
 
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