Is a 4LO start from 2nd gear (manual) while offroading safe?

[jdr]

6MT TRD offroad owner here. Been learning about offroading with the manual through the trial by fire sort of speak, hitting easy - moderate trails of increasing difficulty with a stock truck to get a feel for everything that makes sense. Was hoping to ask you offroaders with more experience. With 4LO engaged it's perfectly safe to start (0 mph) from 2nd gear without really lugging the engine right? Intuitively it feels like it is, but I haven't tried it. Been meaning to find a small dirt road to see how the truck feels when I try it.

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[Cappaworks]

Perfectly acceptable. Your Tacoma has a transfer case low range ratio of 2.57:1, high range is of course 1:1. The transmission gear ratios are below. So theoretically, in the right conditions you could probably even start in 3rd gear low range with an effective gear ratio of 3.70:1. Starting in 2nd low range would effectively be a 6.22:1 ratio, which is lower than 1st gear high range. Of course there is some additional driveline drag to consider, but it would be a non issue in this case.

• 1st Gear: 4.78:1
• 2nd Gear: 2.42:1
• 3rd Gear: 1.44:1
• 4th Gear: 1.00:1 (Direct drive)
• 5th Gear: 0.78:1 (Overdrive)
• 6th Gear: 0.64:1 (Overdrive)
• Reverse: 4.07:1

 

[oxi]

With my old 86 and 35's, rev the engine, 2nd gear, low-4 and drop the clutch and get un-stuck.

It depends on the off-road situation, if you can crawl in 1st gear, fine, if you need some muscle, starting out in 2nd gear, low-4 works great to avoid hitting rev limiter right away.

With this same 86 converted to desert racing with same 5-speed manual and t-case, we gutted the front end. Complete removal of drive shaft, gears till diff was empty, removed cv axles and plugged the wheel bearing holes with PreRunner seals from 1990's PreRunner 2wd.

Ran the race truck in low-4 for every desert race. Worked fine puling 35's with factory 4.10:1 Top speed was 85 on graded roads down in the desert running low-4 with nothing up front.

 

[jdr]

Perfectly acceptable. Your Tacoma has a transfer case low range ratio of 2.57:1, high range is of course 1:1. The transmission gear ratios are below. So theoretically, in the right conditions you could probably even start in 3rd gear low range with an effective gear ratio of 3.70:1. Starting in 2nd low range would effectively be a 6.22:1 ratio, which is lower than 1st gear high range. Of course there is some additional driveline drag to consider, but it would be a non issue in this case.

• 1st Gear: 4.78:1
• 2nd Gear: 2.42:1
• 3rd Gear: 1.44:1
• 4th Gear: 1.00:1 (Direct drive)
• 5th Gear: 0.78:1 (Overdrive)
• 6th Gear: 0.64:1 (Overdrive)
• Reverse: 4.07:1

This explanation makes perfect sense. Thanks!

 

[jdr]

With my old 86 and 35's, rev the engine, 2nd gear, low-4 and drop the clutch and get un-stuck.

That sounds fun, hah! Also, those are some sweet pics.

 

[Pappy]

With 4LO engaged it's perfectly safe to start (0 mph) from 2nd gear without really lugging the engine rrght?

100%. Sometimes you don't need first to get moving off road. It all depends on the terrain.

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