THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

Im very new to manual 4x4 ing ( my Disco is 4L or 4H with 1 lever) so i need a little classroom session, please.

I took the Pinz out to the beach last weekend and it occurred to me, I don't know what I'm doing. It seems to me that throwing all the levers down cant be the best approach.

The sand is very deep and loose and since its heavily traveled, the ruts are deep and go in many directions, crossing them was challenging.

What worked, but i had jeeps passing me, was the first (closest to me) lever down. Is this the way to go or should i have all 3 levers down? also. I really needed to rev the engine to get through it.

Whats the lever (red knob) on the floor do?

TIA

Just to be sure I went out to my pinz and checked...no red lever on mine, so I don't understand what you mean. What year is yours?

He might be referring to the hi/low lever.

compunerdy wrote:He might be referring to the hi/low lever.

yes, i believe thats right, mine has a dark red ball knob on it. When do you deploy that?

In order to know what to do, you've got to understand what each
lever does. I'm going to make this as non-technical as possible,
so all you mechanics out there, don't post why I didn't mention
differentials or locking plates, etc.

When the 1st shift lever (the one labeled 4x4) is moved into the 4x4
position, the gear begins using the "4 wheel drive", instead of just
the rear wheel drive. When you "lock" your hubs, you are connecting
the axles to the drive that locks them in rotation together, making
them turn as one unit. They will spin freely but at the same
speed together.

So, when you have all the levers in the up position, one rear tire may
spin at a different rate than the other. The front wheels are just being
pushed by the back. When you engage the rear lock, the rear wheels
will spin simultaneously and the front wheels, can drive and spin at different
rates depending on the terrain. When you engage the front lock, the front
wheels will also spin, locked to each other, all turning at the same rate.

In short: for 100% sand, I would probably have everything locked to get
the best traction, since sand can allow one wheel to be slipping, and the others
to be getting traction, both front and rear.

OK that makes sense (the transfer case lever). It might also be helpful, if traveling in sand for long distances, to lower the tire pressure to create a bigger footprint for better flotation. Just a thought.

The Jeeps will pass you because they 1. have more power and 2. generally run wider tires than we do on the Pinz which gives them more floatation on the sand. With that said it is worth mentioning that airing down makes a huge difference in deep sandy conditions. It will make for a better ride, the engine doesn't have to work as hard and you will get better traction. When I take my Jeep in deep sandy conditions I run low range, rear locker engaged, front open. Haven't been stuck in sand yet and that's on stock tires with 15 psi. I'm sure other's with more Pinz sand experience will chime in as to what works best.

What they said. Airing down helps. What your tires can
be air down to, depends on your tires and wheels. Start
with about 50% of what you run them at, and see how low
you can go before you blow a bead.

Oh, and if you air down, don't forget to take a small electric
air pump or an air tank to air up when you're ready to drive
home. (I never trailer mine)

I second airing down in sand. I'm running Truxux MT 255/85 16 tires on stock rims and generally never run them below 18PSI.

I've found that running through fairly level sand such as in washes or at the edges of dunes that having the truck in 4 WD (green level down) with the front axel locked (rightmost yellow lever down) helps greatly with the steering except in very tight turns. I only use the rear locker if I feel like I'm loosing forward traction. With both the front and rear locked in 4WD the truck wants to push straight ahead all the time. This is about the only time I've found it best to use only the front locker. I've heard that locking the front only can help in steep fall line (straight down the hill) decents. I haven't tried it enough to really give an opinion.

Use of lockers on loose terrain like sand is problematic. You should generally avoid using lockers if you're traversing across a slope. If one end or the other starts to slide down hill they can make matters worse. On the other hand, They help out a lot if your going straight up a slope. What works best can change depending on the conditions. It helps to get a feel for the truck to know when to use or not use the lockers.

If there is a 4x4 trainer in your area I strongly encourage taking a training class or two. They can give you a lot of good information on gear selection, when to use low range, when to apply lockers, etc. The trainer will most likely have Jeep experience and probably won't be familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the Pinzgauer. Some trainers will teach techniques to that emphasize avoiding use of the lockers until absolutely necessary. These are good techniques to know but on Pinzgauers because of the fully independent suspension and lack of axel articulation (you lift wheels in the air a lot) the lockers are your friends and it pays to know when to use them.

Under most circumstances if I think I may need a locker I engage the rear locker. If I know I'll need a locker I engage both of them, Just be aware that if you need to make a tight turn you may need to disengage the front locker and the rear locker too if its extremely tight or the rear has more traction than the front .

I run the truck in 4 wheel drive almost all the time when I'm driving off pavement. Some people recommend running in 2 wheel drive to save gas if you really don't need 4 wheel drive but I've found it doesn't make any noticeable difference on the Pinzgauer and the truck steers better in 4 wheel drive.

For high and low range on the transfer case I'll keep it in high until if feels like 1st gear isn't low enough or if I'm running in conditions that require a lot of shifting and want the steps between gears to be smaller. This helps to avoid the situation where second seems too low but third is too hi. When the road conditions improve and allow for faster travel I'll shift the transfer case to hi and shift down one gear on the transmission and keep going. You'll appreciate the ability on the Pinzgauer to shift everything on the fly if you run with Jeeps much. Jeeps and many other 4 wheel drive vehicles need to stop or slow to a crawl to shift the transfer case or engage or disengage the lockers.

I hope this helps.

Good Luck with Pinz

Oh, and if you air down, don't forget to take a small electric
air pump or an air tank to air up

Or CO2 tank if you want fast inflates.

Step 1, push in clutch, step 2 change range, step 3 release clutch and you are in low range. Low range is not wise in sand, as it will dig you in due to torque.
Do yourself a big favor and read the operators manual, it will answer most questions. It is online in several locations
Welcome to the group

Either David or pinz4x4 once recommended locking the front dif in sand. Only the front. It works well! Pulling through sand appears better than pushing.


Do NOT travel at high speeds in sand ruts. Lateral ruts will cause very large bumps perfectly spaced apart to launch your truck into the air. Landing on the nose will damage the front suspension and possibly bend the nose down to the point that the doors no longer latch.

Ask me how I know: (

CO2 in tires will make them seem like they have a slow leaks as the molecules are so small that they will make their way through tiny pores.

This can be proven by catching CO2 in a balloon over a bottle of yeast, sugar and water. You will notice that it falls more quickly than a balloon filled by blowing it up. The next day the balloon will be noticeably smaller than the control as the smaller molecules have escaped.

The Pinz will certainly outperform your Disco. I know it beats mine. (03 and 02)

Cheers, Clive

Good info guys, I will try the front locker thing next time I'm at the dunes.

tx Dave

Engage levers left to right, in that order. Disengage in reverse order, right to left.
Engage four-wheel drive and lockers BEFORE you need them.
Never engage a locker while a wheel is off the ground and in motion.
Disenage everything before you drive on pavement.