4LO Gear

[Lexington]

Hi All

Curiosity question here. When you’re in 4LO, if you manually shift to 3rd, 2nd or 1st gear, does it provide more torque when you go to lower gears or does it only operate in drive? I’ve never tried it and the owners manual doesn’t say anything about it.

With my HMMWV if I shift to 2LO and then shift my drive gears lower I get more torque but it’s a AWD. The 4Runner is a different beast and much more sophisticated. I don’t know if the computer does this automatically or if you can do it manually.

 

[Twilghtzone]

Lower gear - More torque.

Manually shifting gears operates the same way as in high range.

 

[5thToy]

Same torque in any given gear/rpm combination whether you or the transmission is doing the shifting.

 

[Lexington]

Same torque in any given gear/rpm combination whether you or the transmission is doing the shifting.

Thanks. I just wasn’t sure if it would let me do it manually.

 

[mrblah]

Thanks. I just wasn’t sure if it would let me do it manually.

yup, you can definitely do it.

For me, sport mode in 4lo is preferred. Gives me alot of control over the speed, and keeps my transmission from overheating anytime i want to crawl over obstacles or on steep inclines or declines.


Otherwise, i keep it in 4hi if i plan on keeping it in D (drive).

 

[SirWilliamGoes]

In the 4runner your switch to sequential shifting by choosing gear and rather than putting it into that gear your just telling it to not go any higher than that gear. As far as torque it’ll be just the same as if you were in regular Drive.

 

[Jakeepoo3]

Hi All

Curiosity question here. When you’re in 4LO, if you manually shift to 3rd, 2nd or 1st gear, does it provide more torque when you go to lower gears or does it only operate in drive? I’ve never tried it and the owners manual doesn’t say anything about it.

With my HMMWV if I shift to 2LO and then shift my drive gears lower I get more torque but it’s a AWD. The 4Runner is a different beast and much more sophisticated. I don’t know if the computer does this automatically or if you can do it manually.

The manual gear selector is what it says it is. You're choosing the gear you want instead of the truck. This gives you the torque you desire where you want it. Steep trail climbs and downhills is where you would likely use it.

 

[Forgetful]

I find it extremely useful on slippy ice. A unexpected shift can cause you to lose traction.

 

[DAW89446]

That feature works in two or four wheel drive, both high and low range. You can manually shift up or down.

The number displayed on the dash is the highest gear the truck will automatically shift to. If it’s reading “3”, then from a stop it will shift from first to second to third and no higher. If it reads “1” it will stay in first gear.

On road I use the manual mode to engine brake on hills where the truck wants to coast at a higher rate than I want to go and to reduce the use of the brakes. Off road I use it to cap my speed and engine brake. When I’m on rough off road trails, I generally leave it set to go no higher than 3rd gear, sometimes 2nd gear if especially rough and rocky trails. The truck is then free to shift up and down depending on what it needs to keep the engine in a good horsepower / torque range.

Over the decades pretty much all automatic transmission equipped vehicles had this ability. In the 1960s on American cars you put the steering column mounted shift lever in D (drive), 2 for second and 1 for first and the car would drop out of top gear (the vast majority of cars in those years were three speed automatics) to second or first. Some manufacturers used 2 to lock out first gear for better movement from a stop in second gear instead of first to reduce wheel spin on snow and ice.

Today a lot of cars from sports cars to plebeian sedans use steering wheel mounted paddles or the shift lever to do the same. My ‘12 Subaru Outback uses steering wheel mounted paddles to shift up and down in manual mode, though it sticks to the gear you select and won’t shift unless you come to a complete stop in a higher gear.

 

[fkheath]

Over the decades pretty much all automatic transmission equipped vehicles had this ability. In the 1960s on American cars you put the steering column mounted shift lever in D (drive), 2 for second and 1 for first and the car would drop out of top gear (the vast majority of cars in those years were three speed automatics) to second or first. Some manufacturers used 2 to lock out first gear for better movement from a stop in second gear instead of first to reduce wheel spin on snow and ice.

If my memory is correct, Porsche (then Audi and VW) was the first to use the shift lever to manually shift the transmission up or down. They called it TipTronic. Tiptronic - Wikicars