Difference between 1st gear (L) and 4L? - Toyota 4Runner Forum

ad_robotics · 01-26-2020, 01:25 AM

Hi, I have a 4th gen 4WD and was wondering about what the difference between the two drive options is?

4H in 1st gear (L)
4L in drive (D)

sloscheider · 01-26-2020, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ad_robotics

Hi, I have a 4th gen 4WD and was wondering about what the difference between the two drive options is?

4H in 1st gear (L)
4L in drive (D)

Your transmission has 5 or 6 gears that shift from 1 through 5 as you increase speed - you already know this. These gears are available (not sure about 4th or 5th) in either the 4H or 4L setting.

Changing from 4H to 4L changes between 2 gears in the differential, a High gear which is the normal mode for highway driving and a Low gear which doesn't give you much speed but provides lots of power.

ad_robotics · 01-26-2020, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sloscheider

Changing from 4H to 4L changes between 2 gears in the differential, a High gear which is the normal mode for highway driving and a Low gear which doesn't give you much speed but provides lots of power.

Interesting, I wasn't aware that the differential has 2 gears that can be changed. It makes sense now.

Thanks

sloscheider · 01-26-2020, 02:12 PM

Back in the 70's Dodge colts and a few others had a 2 gear differential to allow for performance to get going quickly and a high gear for fuel efficiency. I think they called it a "sport" mode. I haven't seen that in a while though

Inv4drZm · 01-26-2020, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ad_robotics

Interesting, I wasn't aware that the differential has 2 gears that can be changed. It makes sense now.

Thanks

The differential does not "change gears". Gear changing/ratio changing is all done in the transfer case or transmission.

Unless you consider the t-case to be a center differential, then I understand. Just know it's not the front or rear differentials.

If I'm doing the math right, 4 high in 1st gear is a little lower ratio than 4th gear in 4 low but I could be wrong.

To me its a weird question to ask. 4 low will turn off some electronic stuff, and I think turn on ATRAC. You can put it in 4 low and 1st gear for really slow hill descents when offroading.

Bumbo · 01-27-2020, 04:50 PM

Transmission has its own set of gear ratios, and so does the t-case… In low range, you can still shift through all 5 transmission gears.

It’s actually somewhat similar to a bicycle that had 2 front and 5 rear gears… you have a total combination of 10 different gear ratios.

What’s cool is you can even increase the amount of gear ratios with a crawl box like the Marlin Taco Box.

sloscheider · 01-27-2020, 07:44 PM

I really like the bicycle analogy with a front and rear gear combination. I probably misspoke when I said the differential had 2 gears, sorry. Many years ago when I drive a large truck on my sisters farm her husband explained the red switch on the gear shift knob as a split shift differential

DAH_2727 · 08-06-2022, 09:08 PM

Just bought a 4th gen and was running it in 4lo just to check it out. When in 4lo, My shifter doesnt seem to allow me to shift out of “D” and manually select a lower gear like “3” or “L” for example… am I just not being forceful enough with the gear selector? Or is there a procedure for locking the truck in a lower gear range while in 4Lo?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inv4drZm

The differential does not "change gears". Gear changing/ratio changing is all done in the transfer case or transmission.

Unless you consider the t-case to be a center differential, then I understand. Just know it's not the front or rear differentials.

If I'm doing the math right, 4 high in 1st gear is a little lower ratio than 4th gear in 4 low but I could be wrong.

To me its a weird question to ask. 4 low will turn off some electronic stuff, and I think turn on ATRAC. You can put it in 4 low and 1st gear for really slow hill descents when offroading.

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