Which Gear 2.........................................................

I'll be the dummy ... reverse ... low range if available. Read it carefully to see where the catch was, but could not find it.

:)

Jack

Hiya Will


Ok as a newbie,i'll giv a stab,One of those key starts in reverse ????

Unless you need to winch down,to be safe ( 4by loses traction)

Cheers

I know.

A plain Shirt, light brown shorts and good boots to match.

chains

Well, depending on steepness/slipperyness of yer "hypothetical" slope, I'm thinkin' it may be time to get out yer
recovery gear;-)))

For one I would not be locking the brakes up nor locking the handbrake at any stage... that would make you nothing more than a passenger in an out of control vehicle.

Even if you could not stop the slide you could direct the vehicle so by the time you get to the bottom you could possibly get an angle going to be able to maneouvre and use low 1st or 2nd to drive forwards back up.

Failing all attempts to get traction you are doing a recovery with what you have available... a strap would be quickest attached to a vehicle at top but a winch would be slower but equally effective.

my 2 cents worth anyway.

reverse, low range.

g,day
I would try not to jack knife the trailer on the way down, cheers bill.

As vehicles change, we have to alter what we do. In the past when manual diesels were the go, we'd do a classical key stall start with reverse/low range (assuming the vehicle was stationary). But with more autos and petrol 4wds and with the fancy electronic decent control etc, you really have to know your own vehicle.

Many of the modern petrol vehicles will rev to a couple of thousand RPM on startup, so a conventional key stall start is a scary prospect, and you have to keep the motor idling.

And engine braking is becoming a thing of the past, so best of luck to those who say they can reverse slowly backwards without using the brakes.

I'm going to learn something valuable here for sure:

Sure I only have a Forester and don't go where you heavies go, but, from what I have been reading about lots of stuff, because I do like to get about and learn the 4ED stuff I would say this;

Assuming I have stopped (completely albeit momentarilly) without breaking anything I would tend to do nothing and let it creep back down the slope, without doing anything - that would probably also break something, and I don't know what to do so I'm reacting automatically without knowing what I am supposed to be doing.

I can't suggest another option because I have just made a choice.

The satphone?

The Porta loo?

Seriously, I'd leave it idling in N (to maintain brake power).

One would assume as it was steep and traction was lost you would already be in low range. (unless you drive one of those pretend 4b's!!!)
A simple reverse gear key start would see you safely back down.
Neutral may keep power to your brakes, but "angel gear" as its commonly know offers no engine braking or drive traction.

briann

Howdy Willem!, You know how to get an array of opinions on a topic! lol. If its as steep as your making out, and happened to be wet clay, Then" its all over red rover" Forget everything and HANG ON!, caus your going to the bottom of whatever,.. wether you like it or not..hahaha , But i'm sure you have plenty of stories on incidents like that..lol.



Cheers Axle.

Vehicle is stopped. Engine Off.

Low Range.

Reverse.

Handbrake off.

Footbrake off.

Start Engine.

DO NOT TOUCH BRAKE

DO NOT TOUCH THROTTLE

Ease down hill.

Have Beer.

So Willem do you have a definitive "hypothetical" answer.

I know what I did in the real world, with the trailer on the back too. I got out of it without bending anything.

The only heart flutter was when I thought, on the third run at this hill, that I may not actually be able to get up. The thought of a 50km backtrack with a displeased Mrs so late in the day was not something to be taken lightly.

Duncs

Reverse-high range, play the hand brake a little.

Cheers.....Lionel.

Once .... and only because I deemed the terrain suitable .... steep hill, smooth and grassy with no obstacles apart from the gradient .... I reversed a diesel 4x4 in low range whilst in 1st gear.

Lost traction on climb and started sliding backwards ... took foot off accelerator to brake and change gears and found vehicle slowed satisfactorily to gain purchase and continue up - with some deft throttle work.

Was a short lived moment before backwards descent started again. Simply feathered the throttle all the way to the bottom ...

Against all the rules touted these days and most of back then but worked fine on that occaision and in the particular vehicle.

Several years ago when working on Pipe Line Easements, I had to
gain access via a Banana Plantation, it had been raining and the
Red Soil Track was greasy,I had just taken delivery of a new Short
Wheel Base Troopy, any way I started down this track between the
Banana Trees and the vehicle started to slide, now this track was
fairly steep, and at the end of it was a drop off, about 20metres
and to the left was a sharp corner which followed parallel to
the cliff edge, being inexperienced with skating in a 4x4 I pulled
the hand brake on and allso jumped on the brake pedal, it didn't do
a thing to stop the momentum, you only have a few seconds to
react to the situation, in hindsight I could have ploughed into the
Banana Trees to stop the truck, but I slid down the track and as I
got to the sharp left hand corner I released the hand brake and
accelerated around the corner, and gained control, after I finished
the inspection I got towed out with a Drott, and had a Liquid Lunch.

Cheers
Daza