pos

pos

Well-Known Member
Hello,
I have always been a little cofuffled about my n/a 90's gear box and what I can do with the high / low and difflock stick.

Low Ratio:
  • Is this for climbing up steep slippery slopes e.g. a wet field with no traction?
  • Can I run through all of my gears in low ratio?
  • Does it consume more fuel?
High Ratio:
  • Is this just for standard driving and most off road when the surface is not too slippery?
Differential Lock:
  • I don't really have a clue what this does to be honest, so please could someone explain? :eek:
Finally, when in high ratio if I move the little stick (what's it's propper name?) accross to the left, this activates the diff lock. What effect does moving it accross the the left have if I'm in low ratio?

Thanks in advance for any help, I'm totally confused!
-Pos
 
Think of it as a ten speed gearbox as opposed to 2 separate ones High range is for driving reasonably fast and low range is for driving really slowly.

Doesn't matter whether it's on or off road. If you pulling a really heavy trailer up a really steep hill you might need low range to get up the hill. good for engine braking going down the other side.

Difflock stops the wheels from turning at different speeds which they need to do on solid surfaces as the outer wheel has to turn faster than the iner wheel when turning corners. you can chage in and out of difflock while moving as long as the wheels are turning at the same speed (not stuck and spinning the wheels)

Make sure your stationary when changing from low to high or vice-versa
 
When would the difflock come into practise then? Is it for offroad if you're slipping? A kind of manual traction control?
 
The diff lock on 90/110 discos and RRs is generally a centre diff lock. This is in addition to the diffs on each axles so you have 3 in total. Confused yet? As Red hand says diff lock prevents wheels turning at different speeds on the same axle. Where the Centre Diff Lock comes in handy is when you get into a situation where 1 wheel loses traction altogether. 4wd or not if you had one wheel off the ground (not impossible in a landy) then all the power would go to the wheel with no traction and it would spin away getting you nowhere. When you select centre diff lock it allows both axles to turn at the same speed and so allows the axle which is still in full contact with the ground to turn its wheels.

Does that make sense?
 
Generally speaking, when traction is poor, you want to be in the highest gear possible for the conditions. Therefore low ratio should only be used when going up hills steep enough to need it.
 
that is one of them commonly mis understood things. lots of folk think that low ratio is the one to use when yer wheels are spinning , but as tinny sez, it int. ave even seen a **** drive into a muddy bit , stop, then put it into low range.
 
So say if I'm plodding up a hill in 3rd gear in high ratio and it's struggling. If I were to switch to low ratio, and keep it in third, would I get up a lot faster?

Also, what's this I hear about the difflock winding its self up?
 
Another bit of advice (I've just discovered) when your pulling out off a track on to a main road, Make sure you put it back into high range before deciding you've just got enough time to pull out in front of someone. Not pleasant watching the grille of an Artic filling the rear view mirror as you struggle to exceed 15mph AAARRRGGHHH.
 
pos said:
So say if I'm plodding up a hill in 3rd gear in high ratio and it's struggling. If I were to switch to low ratio, and keep it in third, would I get up a lot faster?

Also, what's this I hear about the difflock winding its self up?
Click to expand...

That would be like dropping from 5th to 1st without braking. the lower the gear the slower you go just like on a pushbike but the easier it is to get up the hill.

If all the wheels are travelling at the same speed as you turn, the outer wheel can't move faster than the inner wheel so the strain is taken up by the Diff once the stresses reach a certain point something has to give usaly an half shaft.
 
The thing to remember is that without the diff lock, your Landy is basically a 1wd vehicle. As said above, if one wheel is off the ground or spinning in mud, you stop. With the CDL locked, you are in 2wd and will stop if you spin one front and one rear wheel. I have a Detroit locker at the back and standard diff at the front, so my Landy has 3wd, ie I have to spin both back wheels and one front to stop. To get real 4wd you need three diff locks, like a Unimog or many of the 'challenge' Land Rovers you see in the mags. Even then you can spin all four wheels in mud and stop, so then the winch comes in handy.
 
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