Having just acquired my first Jeep, 2003 TJ with manual transmission, I'm having a great time plowing through the snows of Nova Scotia. I simply shift in and out of 4WDH, either stationary or moving, and away I go. Putting it into 4WDL, however, is another story. The manual says to shift at 2-3mph, if stationary the gears may not mesh. After tryiny unsucessfully a couple of times,(horrible grinding, probably going too fast), I finally got it in then couldn't get it out. Had to stop, shift the jeep into neutral, quickly move the lever from low to high, then start up again. So, my question is this, since I'm doing so well with 4WDH, why would I ever bother with Low?

 

First things first. Shifting into and out of low range, it will usually work if you are stationary and in neutral or alternatively just moving, trans in neutral and then shift t/case.
When would you need low range? If you ever go onto any tight or rocky trails you will wish you had even lower gears than low range. It's also good for pulling a boat up a loading ramp or a car out of the ditch.

 

Thanks o.f. The part about the boat is good as I plan to be hauling one this summer.

 

Ya like old fart said, its low gearing. You get the use of practically all of your jeep's torque. It works awesome for crawling or pulling things :) i work at a dodge dealership and i use my tj to tow in vehicles. Gives me an excuse to get in it again :P

 

I used the low-range a few times this winter to tow cars out of the ditch. It works great - but I found that the Jeep had to be not moving to engage the 4L.

Back in December I pulled a Cop car off the Highway median, he was up to the top of his wheels in a snow drift - it was kind of funny really.

 

The 4wd low range is also most useful in steep off-road hill descents...gives you lots of control without burning up your brakes.