Manual Transmission Frustration

2lo mod advocates, why not just use 4lo? If it’s mostly straight up on pavement, 4lo isn’t going to cause you a problem. I have used 4lo many times on paved boat ramps.

Beyond boat ramps when towing, I’ve never encountered a situation where I needed low range on pavement. I don’t live in a severely hilly area either.

I would however appreciate a lower reverse gear like most everyone else. Reversing out of a rock garden is challenging enough without a high reverse gear.

 

If I could shift from 2 Lo to 2 Hi while moving, it would be real handy having crawl gears in heavy traffic.

 

I’ve found myself stuck in 4lo on busy city streets when I was having fun after a snow storm. I was on unplowed roads having fun in 4lo when I made a wrong turn on to a busy plowed street. There was no where to pull over, I could only do like 30 mph, and sharp turns on dry pavement didn’t seem awesome. Hah!

 

Like you said, “If it’s mostly straight up” it’s no problem, but having to stop at the top of the ramp and go in to 4 Hi and then 2 Hi is a hassle and risky. With the 2 Lo mod you can pull out and away from the ramp without any concerns.

 

It is nice to maneuver around a driveway or whatever slowly and have steering capability without binding. 4LO can work but you’re probably not going only straight in those situations. The boat ramp above is exactly one of them as well. To only go straight, you’d have to stop at the top and switch back, or let it bind. Probably not a problem, but nice avoid with the kit.

All that said, I had the 2LO kit for a while but I removed and sold after regearing. It was fun and useful but I saw a few different people have their 4wd fail to engage and each had the 2low kit (and it was confirmed the problem). All that fails is a relay and it’s no big deal to fix/replace, but the relay is hidden in a really inconvenient spot behind the glove box, so if it failed at an inopportune time, that could be a big deal. That is of course one of the disclaimers when purchasing, and i don’t fault the kit. It is built the best it can possibly be built, but is a shortcoming unfortunately.

I decided my gearing is low enough that I had no reason to keep the kit anymore if it could provide any sort of better reliability by being removed. Plus, someone else wanted it.

 

Which 2LO kit did they have that (might have) caused this failure? I think there's a sort of DIY 2LO mod that you wire up yourself, and then there's the aftermarket 2LO mod-in-box with a built in wiring harness etc, 100% plug & play. (Not currently being manufactured/sold anymore.)

 

If I encountered that situation frequently I might think the 2lo mod more important, but since I don’t I would just make the turn in 4lo those few times. It’s not uncommon to find myself on a high traction surface while off-roading in 4lo. I just ask the truck gently to please turn for me and it does with loud complaints, but forgives me in the end.

 

The guys I’m talking about had 3rd gens, which is a plug and play harness with an industrial relay that’s something like an IDEC 4PDT or something like that. The way it’s built, all 4WD commands (whether tricking the system into 2 low or not) end up having to run through the relay, so if the relay fails you could lose 4wd. It’s a very uncommon issue, but I saw it enough to persuade me to remove it since I had better gearing anyways. I don’t fault the kit, there’s no real other way it could be done. One way to help with issues would be to extend the relay wiring and mount it in an easy location, like under the console or something, and then keep a spare on hand. I considered doing that. Ultimately, it was just not that important for me so I sold it to someone who has a better use for it.

I’m not super in the know on 2nd gens but I believe those are a plug and play mod in box that is no longer made/sold.

 

I have 2lo module, bought and sold product. Not DIY. No issues, been 2+ years now I think? I've used 2lo at cars and coffee when the line is down the road and I have no desire to get the leg workout. Mainly used it for navigating steep paved driveways. I've also used it navigating tight camp sites out at Uwharrie. It's not a mod I use every day, but if I towed more, I would consider this a non-negotiable.