4wd Advice On Driving

[agsnowdon]

Hi

I have the luxury of driving a 4WD pickup and it shifts into 4WD automatically! But as I have never driven a 4WD before I have a few questions could you help me please? Also I will have to help collect rice and other crops from my partners fields which sometimes will be very damp not with huge puddles of water, but the soil will be very wet possibility of getting stuck in 4WD ?????

1. Where and when to use 4WD?

2. When to use 4L and 4H?

3. When I change from 2WD to 4WD a light comes on RFW (its a pretty new FORD RANGER) I imagine this is the dif lock am I correct? and when I change from 4WD to 2WD the light RFW stays on, this can be turnt off by pressing a button RFW. When I change back to 2WD and this light is on I always press the RFW button to remove it could someone tell me the pros and cons of leaving the RFW on, or should it always be off when driving in 2WD?

Thanks for your help!

Ash

[Crossy]

Now we know what RFW is

From http://media.ford.com/newsroom/release_dis...fm?release=2364

Four-Wheel Drive

The Ranger 4x4 comes standard with remote electronic front-wheel hub lock system. This allows operation of the four-wheel-drive system from within the cab by pushing a button on the instrument panel. This system includes a Remote Free Wheel (RFW) feature which electronically disconnects the front differential and propeller shaft from the front wheels when the vehicle is in two-wheel drive mode - reducing drive-train wear and improving fuel economy.

A floor mounted transfer case shift lever for the four-wheel-drive system is standard and automatically engages and locks the front-wheel drive mechanism when 4x4 is selected. The mechanism remains locked after the transfer case is shifted back to two-wheel drive until the Remote Free Wheel (RFW) switch is pushed.

There's a bunch of tips on 4x4 driving here http://4wheeldrive.about.com/

From the same site:-

Hi Range 4WD

4H allows you to drive full speed, if necessary. The high range ratios in 4WD mode are the same as the gear ratios in 2WD.

When to use 4H:

for traction when the area isn't steep

when stuck in sand

extremely slippery conditions

snow

ice

rocky, gravel roads

gullies

extremely muddy areas

ridges

Low Range 4WD

4L is for creeping along at slow speeds. It reduces the strain on your vehicle, just remember to stay below 25mph in low range. While it does not provide more traction, it does provide 2-3 times more torque at about 1/2 or 1/3 of the speeds in high range.

When to use 4L:

on wet, slippery surfaces

passing through sandy areas

on rough trails

through shallow water

rock-climbing

climbing steep hills

through mud

descending steep hills

Isn't Google wonderful

[chanchao]

> 1. Where and when to use 4WD?

Only on slippery surfaces. Such as dirt roads after rain, or loose sand (like a beach). Don't use it on any kind of grippy surface. I personally also don't think you should use it on a regular paved road in the rain.

Most 4WD cars/trucks have a limited slip differential, which is great because in slippery conditions it prevents one wheel from rotating freely without grip, while the other wheel would be stationary. However when taking a normal corner, the outside wheel of course makes more rotations than the inside wheel. The limited slip system would try to prevent that, too, which is not useful. (Try it for example, put it in 4WD on a paved surface and try a tight turn.. It won't really work.

> 2. When to use 4L and 4H?

4L only in seriously challenging conditions. Like conditions where you'd want to take it as slow as possible and need the most torque as possible. So typically steep, slippery inclines and descents. It's also useful to be able to descend slowly from a hill while only using the engine to brake, not the actual brakes. in 1st gear Low, you can keep your foot off the brake and go down the hill VERY slow and controlled. (Don't EVER touch the clutch in taxing off-roading when going up or down a steep hill)

> 3. When I change from 2WD to 4WD a light comes on RFW (its a pretty new FORD RANGER)

> I imagine this is the dif lock am I correct?

I drive a ranger too and I have no clue what it stands for. I name R.F.W. as "Release the Frucking Wheels!". I think it actually releases the front wheel hubs. With the RFW light on, the front wheels are attached to the front axel, meaning they can be driven by the front axel. After pressing the RFW butten, this is released. (Allowing the wheels to rotate without the whole front part of the 4WD system to rotate also. (Reduces wear and saves fuel). Note: While the RFW light is on you can freely shift between 2H and 4H without coming to a stop first. After getting on to a proper road again you press the button and the Front F'ing WHeels are Released.

> and when I change from 4WD to 2WD the light RFW stays on, this can be turnt

> off by pressing a button RFW. When I change back to 2WD and this light is

> on I always press the RFW button to remove it could someone tell me the

> pros and cons of leaving the RFW on, or should it always be off when driving in 2WD?

No benefit whatsoever. It should always be off unless you're either using 4WD or are in a situation where you might need it again soon, allowing you to engage 4WD without stopping first.

Cheers,

Chanchao

By the way, I think the biggest challenge when driving the Ford truck (the 2.5 Turbo) off-road is the abysmal torque at low revs.. Under 1800 rpm it is completely and utterly dead. Then (very) suddenly the turbo kicks in when you get above that, causing wheel spin. I hate that. But not as much as I hate trying to go up something, have the rpms drop below 1800 and the whole thing just dying..

Does anyone know if there's ways this could be tuned for better torque at low revs? perhaps fiddling with the turbo or the exhause system? Would that make fuel consumption even worse than it already is?

I'd really like to address this without getting a new car or changing the engine.. I've also driven Isuzu and Toyota 4WD trucks and it's a night and day difference.. in 1st gear Low there's absolutely no stopping those, even when hitting the brakes.. those just keep slugging on, even up really insane inclines.

[agsnowdon]

Crossy,

Thanks for your tips. GOOGLE Doh

Chanchao,

Thanks as well. Its the 2.5 Turbo they have too yes the turbo is a pain in the ass! Low revs its a bit pooh but I love the Ranger!.

Another question, why are we getting alot of black smoke when giving it some or going high revs up a hill?

Is this cause they and I need to let the turbo cool after each drive?

Do you think somethings upset in the turbo to produce this black smoke??

Ash

[jonik]

well back home we use 4wd at wintertime and 2wd in summertime but in los i sure don't know why somebody even consider buing a 4wd car, unless u got a lot of horses under the bonnet. Sure u don't do any mud-driving.

As i do some work at cars i can tell u that black smoke comes from to much fuel , this could be the injectors. And since this is a high rev prob i would say it's so. Nothing to do with the turbo. If u got blue smoke it's oil, meaning poor sealing in the engine. If it's white u sure got a water leakage some thing u would d see in the watertank if it's empty..........................every day in the rest of your life u learn something new.........................

Sorry low rev that was but still the injectors/regulation thats the prob.

[agsnowdon]

i sure don't know why somebody even consider buing a 4wd car, unless u got a lot of horses under the bonnet. Sure u don't do any mud-driving.

Thanks for your advice!

I think alot of people in Thailand buy 4WD as they ive in rurual areas no roads etc and also for the pickup aspect. I know the could get the 4x2 but for driving in post water logged field with the pickup filled to the brim with rice it sure will come handy.

What do you think?

[N&M]

Getting out of a bog in a rice paddy should be fun with not many trees around. Make sure there are other vehicles around or something to anchor to if you really get bogged down, otherwise hours of digging and putting shit under the wheels may just result in moving a few feet before your stuck again, especially if your wieghed down with a heavy load of rice. lol, that could be fun also, loading and unloading the rice several times to get out.

As for the Diff lock, i have never used an auto one. But the rules should be the same, never use the diff lock in 2wd, by that I mean never leave the diff lock on after you have used 4wd and forget about it and go driving off down the highway.

4wd is usefull in rough country as well as wet and slippery OFF road conditions. Most tracks you can use 2wd because the vehicle has the added bonus of high clearance and that is the main criteria on rough roads. 4wd is only required if you are going up very steep or very rough sections that need some extra grip and also for river crossings of any real depth.

Oh and why dont you just use the rice tractors and their little trailers to carry the rice off the field to your waiting vehicle nearby on a more solid bit of ground.

Can you drop some of that rice around our house for this info ?? rice off the field is much more tasty.

[agsnowdon]

Can you drop some of that rice around our house for this info ?? rice off the field is much more tasty.

No worries lol.

Another question I have is after reading this on one of the web links up page

Additional Tips:

-Don't change gears in the middle of a water crossing, going up or down hills, or in sand dunes.

why is this and what would you do if you ran out of revs?

[N&M]

If you change gears in these moments, you run the risk of losing traction and ...

In water, becoming stuck and while you are moving constantly at an even solid speed, you can change the flow of water and depepnding on depth, you may drown the engine. But biggest risk is just stalling and becoming stuck, you should try for a constant slow steady speed to keep the momentum going and pull you out of the water.

Up or down hills, you run the risk of losing traction and sliding back down the hill. Going down hill, the gears act as a steady brake and if you change gears, you are suddenly in nuetral for a split second or more and run the risk of losing traction, losing the steadiness of the decent and all of a sudden you get this little rush of speed, you hit the brakes and you go sliding down the mountain with your wheels locked lol.

In sand, you rely here on constant speed at a high rev to keep from sinking in the sand and keeping you moving. If you change gears, the vehicle will almost come to a stop from the sand 'frcition' I guess, not a scientist and this pulls the vehicle down into the sand and stops you dead in your tracks. The sand may then be to deep to get going from a standing start, then you be bogged.

All of these basicaly relate to losing your forward steady momentum and grip. Slow and steady usually wins the race in these situations, sand requires certain speed to keep going, water steady and consistant, up down hills the same. Anything such as sand and mud require some speed at times to give you the momentum to get through, but it is all relative to the exact conditions in front of you. All conditions vary. This is why 4wd'ing is not an exact science, but a learned experience.

Edited January 29, 2006 by N&M

[agsnowdon]

If you change gears in these moments, you run the risk of losing traction and ...

Up or down hills, you run the risk of losing traction and sliding back down the hill. Going down hill, the gears act as a steady brake and if you change gears, you are suddenly in nuetral for a split second or more and run the risk of losing traction, losing the steadiness of the decent and all of a sudden you get this little rush of speed, you hit the brakes and you go sliding down the mountain with your wheels locked lol.

This is why 4wd'ing is not an exact science, but a learned experience.

Thanks for your help I was mainly after the hill risk.

Take Care

Ash

[Beachcomber]

Black smoke CAN be a turbo problem

Beachcomber

[Deke]

My Ford spits out black smoke too. It happens when I shift to a lower gear and really step on the gas. I never see it otherwise.

[N&M]

Diesels burn a little more black smoke than usual, particulalry as mentioned above when powering on.

Petrols should not, usually a sign of a problem. But I am not a mechanics ###### so no real idea.

[agsnowdon]

My Ford spits out black smoke too. It happens when I shift to a lower gear and really step on the gas. I never see it otherwise.

Exactly what ours does!

[wilko]

I've used 4wd on wet roads and it probably saved my life and vehicle on at least one occasion. Road surfaces in Thailand are particularly unreliable.

4wd H is really for poor road conditions, low ratio is for the more tricky moments.

Without limited slip 4wd is virtually useless. Most pickups only have it on the back axel. You will see some beam axel conversions that will have a front locking diff. I'm not aware of any pickups that have front locking diffs as standard. This means that in slippery/wet or other lack of traction situations your front axel could end up with one wheel spinning and the other stationary, so your only hope is that the rear axel diff locks and gets you out.

Your Ranger has freewheeling front hubs which need to be locked to benefit from 4wd. this appears to be happening automatically. There are all sorts of variations on this. Look and some vehicles' front hubs and you will see a twist switch on the front hub; this is a manual solution for the same thing.

It is important to run the vehicle in 4wd for a few kilometres every month just to keep everything free and lubricated. One other common fault is that one forgets to change the oil in the diff; this will result in it not working.

There are all sorts of tips and stuff for not getting into trouble off road…far too many to go into here. Basically remember safety first and if you go off into the bush go with a group of vehicles, that way you have help nearby if you get into trouble. It is useful to remember that on loose sand, you will get better traction if you reduce your tyre pressure by half…invest in a good tow rope….keep 2 spare tyres on board…..remember your centre of gravity….this kind of info will get you out of all sorts of unnecessary scrapes…

[Plus]

I thought Ford had a supercharger with intercooler, not turbo. Sorry to interrupt.

[wilko]

I thought Ford had a supercharger with intercooler, not turbo. Sorry to interrupt.

I'd be extremely surprised if it had a supercharger. Diesels are particularly suited to turbos as they run off the high exhaust pressure. as for intercooler, some later models are now being fitted with these but the Ford/Mazda is an old model, I'm not even sure they have those.

look at the badging they usually have lettering indicating the technical spec...i.e DTI or something like that.....

[Deke]

My 2003 Ranger has a turbocharger and intercooler.

[chanchao]

All Ford Rangers (and Mazda Fighter) trucks that have the 2.5 Turbo engine have an intercooler, also the old ones.

It's true they started writing 'intercooler' on the back only later.

Any clues on how to increase low rpm torque?

[wilko]

My 2003 Ranger has a turbocharger and intercooler.

So they do have an intercooler, but no supercharger!

[Plus]

Yes, turbo and intercooler, but only 2500 cc.

[chanchao]

Can't help but think that their 2900 cc non-turbo engine would be a lot more suited to off-road driving. They only offer that engine in lower-spec trucks though. If you want that engine, you also don't get electric windows, airbags, etc. Still the 2500 Turbo is brilliant for on road / highway driving.

[wilko]

Crossy,

Thanks for your tips. GOOGLE Doh

Chanchao,

Thanks as well. Its the 2.5 Turbo they have too yes the turbo is a pain in the ass! Low revs its a bit pooh but I love the Ranger!.

Another question, why are we getting alot of black smoke when giving it some or going high revs up a hill?

Is this cause they and I need to let the turbo cool after each drive?

Do you think somethings upset in the turbo to produce this black smoke??

Ash

You'll see black smoke form almost all diesels...if you inject too much fuel into the combustion chamber it doesn't all burn completely. When diesel burns the main by-products are carbon and water - better than gas eh?. this means that they are prone to throwing out a bit of carbon particulates every now and then....however too much black smoke is a sign of a need for adjustment or service. If you really want to freak out, take a look in the mirror at night when you pull away from the lights....you'll see clouds of stuff refected in the lights of the vehicles behind.

If you want to get rid of the turbo lag....well...

Fit a supercharger!

Superchargers are run off the crank or at least directly from the engine which means they deliver extra air pressure straight away, whereas a turbo is exhaust driven so the faster the engine revs the more air pressure it delivers.

They are usually set not to work at low RPM and have to cut in at some point, how gentle this is up to the makers spec and service adjustment. Not a job for an amateur really.

I guess the thing is not to be lazy and gear down before putting your foot down…

[Plus]

I've never seen black smoke coming from Toyota Tigers, but very often from Isuzus. I once read an explanation in the newspaper - something to do with their technology.

[chanchao]

I mostly drive under 2000 rpm, but after having done that for a while, if I then rev it high (3500 is high. ) an incredible amount of smoke comes out of the Isuzu. (Ford is clean, almost never see any kind of smoke except perhaps if I try the same with a cold engine)

I asked the dealer and they said it's pretty much normal. They also said there's a filter in there which they can remove, but not replace (!?). Does that make sense? After removing the filter, I think they said it will smoke a bit more in normal conditions.

Should I remove that filter? Is it really impossible to clean/replace? Why?

[wilko]

I mostly drive under 2000 rpm, but after having done that for a while, if I then rev it high (3500 is high. ) an incredible amount of smoke comes out of the Isuzu. (Ford is clean, almost never see any kind of smoke except perhaps if I try the same with a cold engine)

I asked the dealer and they said it's pretty much normal. They also said there's a filter in there which they can remove, but not replace (!?). Does that make sense? After removing the filter, I think they said it will smoke a bit more in normal conditions.

Should I remove that filter? Is it really impossible to clean/replace? Why?

if they're talking about the air filter; leaving it out might allow more air in and improve combustion but then you are ignoring the manufacturers spec. it's there for a reason! I would think the best thing to do is CLEAN or better still REPLACE all the air filters and make sure that the air flow is correct. Then adjust the injectors back a little; this might result in a small loss of performance but should cut down on smoke. It is BLACK smoke isn't it? Sounds like you should change your service centre too.....

[chanchao]

It's kind of useful to use on people behind you who are misbehaving. Shift down a gear or two and rev it. Even surprised myself what a smokescreen I produced.

I think they were talking about filters in the exhaust system though, is that possible? For sure the airfilter is being cleaned and replaced regularly (cleaned at every oil change, or sooner after a dusty drive, and replaced every 10K km. I don't think anybody was suggesting to leave that one out... I should think that one is pretty essential in Thailand's dusty conditions.

[Bung]

I think they were talking about filters in the exhaust system though, is that possible? For sure the airfilter is being cleaned and replaced regularly (cleaned at every oil change, or sooner after a dusty drive, and replaced every 10K km. I don't think anybody was suggesting to leave that one out... I should think that one is pretty essential in Thailand's dusty conditions.

They must be talking about a catalytic converter. Don't know if the fords you drive have them but the Vigo has one.

A properly tuned diesel shouldn't smoke excessively, have your injectors and fuel pump done and make sure you have a clean air and fuel filter. I did my injectors / fuel pump done on my '96 strada and it made a world of difference.

[wilko]

It's kind of useful to use on people behind you who are misbehaving. Shift down a gear or two and rev it. Even surprised myself what a smokescreen I produced.

I think they were talking about filters in the exhaust system though, is that possible? For sure the airfilter is being cleaned and replaced regularly (cleaned at every oil change, or sooner after a dusty drive, and replaced every 10K km. I don't think anybody was suggesting to leave that one out... I should think that one is pretty essential in Thailand's dusty conditions.

I can't think of any reason to put a filter on the exhuast...the engine should burn clean enough and that would only mask crap that should otherwise be sorted by adjusting your injectors and fuel pump. I don't think that diesels have catalictic convertors.

If it's kicking out a load of black smoke it is a result of fuel air mixture and this is usually sorted by adjusting the injectors and/or pump. Diesels do not change the amount of air they suck in, only the amount of fuel, so if the air intake is restricted or you pump in too much fuel it results in improper combustion and the resulting black smoke. Turbos increase the atmospheric pressure and thus the amount of air available bbut basically it's the same principle...I suppose if the turbo is not doing it's job, then that too would result in too little air for the amount of fuel and black smoke...so maybe check that too - (if you have one)

As regards to the air filter(s); whereas a clean is often enough, make sure thety actually ARE changing it and not just showing you a new box! The same goes for any inline fuel filters you may have replaced....

Blue smoke is oil entering the combustion chamber and white smoke is water. Both these alternatives should be looked at with a certain degree of urgency.