Driving out to a lake this weekend I had the opportunity to check out 4-LO on a gravel road. Road wrapped up and around a 1200' peak then dropped approx 600' very rapidly at the end on the approach to the lake. 1st gear in 4H or Auto wasn't slowing me down enough.

So I stopped, shifted to neutral, switched to 4-LO and put it in 2nd gear. With my foot off the gas this kept my speed at approx 15 mph. I was able to creep down the hill without ever having to hit the brakes. Just to check it out, I slowed and dropped it into 1st. That is a true crawling gear that will hold you at 5mph or less.

Nice feature to have on back country roads.

Nice post. One more reason to get a 4x4 like ours with a two speed transfer case! Most people don't think about the advantages of engine braking on steep downhills.

For those of you out there with 4x4 Armada's who do not off-road very much, please note that you CANNOT DO THIS ON HARD PAVEMENT or you will get drive line bind and may break u-joints or worse. But in gravel, clay, dirt, other soft stuff, this is a very useful technique to control speed coming down a steep incline.

I use mine to back my boat up the driveway, its ugly to do without putting it in 4 low.