My transfer case selector was impossible to move but appears to have freed off after a 1000 miles or so. If does need to be in neutral before trying to engage locked low or high.
My understanding is that some early chassis numbers may need some attention regarding their transfer cases. Perhaps try and check with your dealer if yours is one of them.
I have a very early chassis number. My transfer case was checked at the time February/March and found to be good. There were also vehicles at my dealer at that time with bad transmissions (they could not be downshifted into high range again.
I'm very new to 4x4 offroad. I've watched a lot of youtube stuff to get the gist but there's nothing that can replace hands-on experience. With that in mind, I signed up and went on a 4x4 day training course. It was quite expensive but then the Grenadier isn't the cheapest option for offroading. I figured it might help keep me from destroying the thing. The course had a lot of theory but we eventually got the opportunity to do, what to me looked bloody scary, a 4x4 track. The instructor said to use diff locks. I asked, "which ones, front, rear or centre?" He said all of them. I read the manual and have pretty much memorised the thing. I know the sequences to engage the different diff locks. However, the next 20 minutes proved to be exceptionally frustrating. I was on flat level ground. I placed the gear lever in neutral. I was able to move the transfer lever to 4L. When I moved the lever to 4low locked, it felt like I was trapped inside a games arcade. My god, the bonging and beeping went mental. The instructor and I tried for 20 minutes to get it engaged with no luck. Of course, without that, you can't use the front or rear diff locks either. He finally said, "Just point it up the hill and go for it." So I did. The Grenadier handled it with less effort than it takes me to make a peanut butter sandwich. Peanut butter sandwiches are my main food. I have made a lot of them over the years and I'm good at it.
I reached the top, quite excited, and waited for the next instruction.
I’m happy to help you out with any issues you’re having, and I'm not too far away.I'm very new to 4x4 offroad. I've watched a lot of youtube stuff to get the gist but there's nothing that can replace hands-on experience. With that in mind, I signed up and went on a 4x4 day training course. It was quite expensive but then the Grenadier isn't the cheapest option for offroading. I figured it might help keep me from destroying the thing. The course had a lot of theory but we eventually got the opportunity to do, what to me looked bloody scary, a 4x4 track. The instructor said to use diff locks. I asked, "which ones, front, rear or centre?" He said all of them. I read the manual and have pretty much memorised the thing. I know the sequences to engage the different diff locks. However, the next 20 minutes proved to be exceptionally frustrating. I was on flat level ground. I placed the gear lever in neutral. I was able to move the transfer lever to 4L. When I moved the lever to 4low locked, it felt like I was trapped inside a games arcade. My god, the bonging and beeping went mental. The instructor and I tried for 20 minutes to get it engaged with no luck. Of course, without that, you can't use the front or rear diff locks either. He finally said, "Just point it up the hill and go for it." So I did. The Grenadier handled it with less effort than it takes me to make a peanut butter sandwich. Peanut butter sandwiches are my main food. I have made a lot of them over the years and I'm good at it.
The next task was turning around and going down the track using descent control, which worked brilliantly. No issues there. I could speed up or slow down with the controls on the steering wheel. I felt like I was in control. I was feeling fairly chuffed after reaching the bottom. The other participants took their turns on the track, and we all were instructed to go back to 4H before heading off to the next spot in the Ourimbah State Forest (NSW Australia). Now this is where I lost some level of confidence in my Grenadier. I moved the lever to 4H, which seemed to go just fine. I put it in drive and holy &^$#. It sounded like me learning how to drive my grand dad's old Alice Chalmers tractor before I was tall enough to reach the clutch. The knob looked like it was in the right place. I shoved it in that spot quite hard to make sure but it still didn't quite get it. There is nothing to show you when you have successfully engaged 4H. You can have the transfer case between gears and nothing tells you. That seems really stupid to me.
I'm not a mechanic so by no means an expert. It feels to me like the transfer case shifting from H to L is mechanical. When it's not quite in gear, you can feel the gearbox when it's not quite engaged, ie. grinding gears. However, engaging the centre diff is not mechanical. It doesn't feel mechanical and judging by the ridiculous electronic alert nonsense going on, I'd say it is done with actuators or something similar.
@ECrider I agree with you that engaging the transfer case to 4H leaves me feeling unsure. Is it fully engaged or is it like half engaged? It leaves me feeling tense and just waiting for it to slip out of gear because I haven't engaged it fully. There needs to be some indicator that says, "Hey you numpty, you haven't got 4H fully engaged!" or give me a little light to show 4L is fully engaged. Also, please Mr. Grenadier, don't just bong and beep at me incessantly because something is wrong with my shift to 4L locked.
I'm going to try again to get the centre diff locked the next time I get to an unpaved track, which might be a few weeks because there aren't any unpaved tracks I can find near the centre of Sydney.
Well done getting out there with your vehicle and seeking training! Try gravelmap.com (noting it’s for cyclists so not all tracks shown are accessible to vehicles). There are a few unsealed roads around the city where you can at least come to terms with your Grens functionality.I'm very new to 4x4 offroad. I've watched a lot of youtube stuff to get the gist but there's nothing that can replace hands-on experience. With that in mind, I signed up and went on a 4x4 day training course. It was quite expensive but then the Grenadier isn't the cheapest option for offroading. I figured it might help keep me from destroying the thing. The course had a lot of theory but we eventually got the opportunity to do, what to me looked bloody scary, a 4x4 track. The instructor said to use diff locks. I asked, "which ones, front, rear or centre?" He said all of them. I read the manual and have pretty much memorised the thing. I know the sequences to engage the different diff locks. However, the next 20 minutes proved to be exceptionally frustrating. I was on flat level ground. I placed the gear lever in neutral. I was able to move the transfer lever to 4L. When I moved the lever to 4low locked, it felt like I was trapped inside a games arcade. My god, the bonging and beeping went mental. The instructor and I tried for 20 minutes to get it engaged with no luck. Of course, without that, you can't use the front or rear diff locks either. He finally said, "Just point it up the hill and go for it." So I did. The Grenadier handled it with less effort than it takes me to make a peanut butter sandwich. Peanut butter sandwiches are my main food. I have made a lot of them over the years and I'm good at it.
The next task was turning around and going down the track using descent control, which worked brilliantly. No issues there. I could speed up or slow down with the controls on the steering wheel. I felt like I was in control. I was feeling fairly chuffed after reaching the bottom. The other participants took their turns on the track, and we all were instructed to go back to 4H before heading off to the next spot in the Ourimbah State Forest (NSW Australia). Now this is where I lost some level of confidence in my Grenadier. I moved the lever to 4H, which seemed to go just fine. I put it in drive and holy &^$#. It sounded like me learning how to drive my grand dad's old Alice Chalmers tractor before I was tall enough to reach the clutch. The knob looked like it was in the right place. I shoved it in that spot quite hard to make sure but it still didn't quite get it. There is nothing to show you when you have successfully engaged 4H. You can have the transfer case between gears and nothing tells you. That seems really stupid to me.
I'm not a mechanic so by no means an expert. It feels to me like the transfer case shifting from H to L is mechanical. When it's not quite in gear, you can feel the gearbox when it's not quite engaged, ie. grinding gears. However, engaging the centre diff is not mechanical. It doesn't feel mechanical and judging by the ridiculous electronic alert nonsense going on, I'd say it is done with actuators or something similar.
@ECrider I agree with you that engaging the transfer case to 4H leaves me feeling unsure. Is it fully engaged or is it like half engaged? It leaves me feeling tense and just waiting for it to slip out of gear because I haven't engaged it fully. There needs to be some indicator that says, "Hey you numpty, you haven't got 4H fully engaged!" or give me a little light to show 4L is fully engaged. Also, please Mr. Grenadier, don't just bong and beep at me incessantly because something is wrong with my shift to 4L locked.
I'm going to try again to get the centre diff locked the next time I get to an unpaved track, which might be a few weeks because there aren't any unpaved tracks I can find near the centre of Sydney.
