How do you put this thing in 4 Low?

belchfire · April 7, 2020

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

rav3 · April 7, 2020

3 minutes ago, belchfire said:

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

@belchefire.....It's my understand that for LOW range 4X4, the truck needs to be stopped & in neutral to go into that range. (The owners manual says 3mph or less) If you where moving & it went in, it might tear up your transfer case if it were allowed by the ECU. I'm assuming this is on your '18 Silverado in you info box. This is my opinion only. Good luck

LDM · April 7, 2020

When I've put my 18 in 4Lo, it requires me to come to a stop, change from 4Hi to 4Lo, shift to Neutral, wait for full engagement, then shift back to D/R. Same for my 15 when I had it. Going to 4Lo will also disable all traction control and driving assistance options. Shifting to 4Lo on any truck I've ever owned as always required a full stop to do so and I really wouldn't want to try shifting to 4Lo while moving. Most likely you will end up damaging the transfer case.

belchfire · April 7, 2020

Sounds good; I'll try again at full stop in neutral and see if it goes. What is the right-most setting (momentary) that shows N. Is that for flat-towing with the T-case in neutral?

Salsa De Piña · April 7, 2020

Sometimes it's easier to engage 4 low while rolling really slowly. Like "come to a complete stop on almost flat surface, shift the transmission into neutral, shift TC to 4 low, then take your foot off the brake and roll slightly" slowly.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Salsa De Piña

truckguy82 · April 7, 2020

1 hour ago, belchfire said:

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

I’d like to see where the owners manual says you can shift into 4wd low at any speed

truckguy82 · April 7, 2020

Pro -tip Thats related

If you never use it, shift inTo 4wd low like once every 20k miles and drive like 50 ft just to keep the mechanism lubed.

had a truck that could not activate it because i didn’t use it for 100k miles

JimCost2014 · April 7, 2020

1 hour ago, belchfire said:

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

When you say it, are you talking about the transmission, or transfer case being in neutral?

The transmission is what you shift into neutral, that function on the TCase would only be used if you were flat towing your truck.

newdude · April 7, 2020

1 hour ago, belchfire said:

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

You don't have to be moving for 4Lo. Transmission in NEUTRAL. 4Lo CAN NOT be done "on the fly".

mikemcclain8 · April 7, 2020

2 hours ago, belchfire said:

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

My 2015 Suburban: Shifts to 4 High on the fly. For 4 Low, once in 4 High, come to a stop, shift to neutral, then flip to 4 Low. Info Screen says shift in progress. Reverse to come out of 4 low.

dieselfan1 · April 7, 2020

The best way is a complete stop, shift trans to neutral, put it in 4 lo . It takes a few seconds to engage. You will feel it engage. Don't do it while it's moving. You can do that if you want to go from 2wd to 4 hi or from 2wd to Auto 4 .

bigoilman · April 7, 2020

2 hours ago, belchfire said:

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

You need to read it again.

btj_z71 · April 7, 2020

2 hours ago, belchfire said:

OK, so I read my manual and basically, it all said it could be shifted "at any speed". I watched a couple of videos that didn't seem to jive with each other. One from McKraig Chevy said it had to be in neutral to engage 4 low, another said it had to be moving at a very low speed and even mentioned neutral; WTH, how are they moving in neutral? I tried at rest with it in drive and with it in neutral and no joy. How do you engage 4WD Low?

Got to be completely stopped and in neutral, then you can get in 4 Low