My truck just gave me surprise!!!!!!

[DalesCarpentry]

My truck just gave me surprise!!!!!! You guys know I bought a 1998 Chevy K15000 4x4. This truck has about half the engine I am used to. It has the 4.3 Vortec. My last Chevy 2003, 2500 HD Silverado had the big 6 liter. That thing had power for sure. Well my wife told me today after cutting the grass I needed to dig up a big Roadademdrum bush we have in front of our house. I am sure I miss spelled that but I think you know the kind of bush I am talking about. This thing has a trunk that is 8" around. I told her I would hook the truck up to it. She said you are going to have to dig around it first. I said we will see. I know for sure my old truck would pull it like a bad tooth. I hooked up a big old chain to it and choked it up real good. I put my truck in 4 wheel low for the first time since I bought it. I gave it a yank and my tires spun a little. I backed a little and had another try. When the truck started to spin again I stopped. I backed up one last time and give it a pretty good jerk. It come loose and left a 3' deep hole in the ground. My wife just shook her head and said I would never thought you could yank that out of the ground. I said pounding my chest this is as manly as it gets.LOL I told her I just pulled a big old tooth. To be honest I had my doughts about the new truck. It came through though. You put it in 4 wheel low and it will pull for sure. I think I kind of like my new truck even though it has half the engine I am used to. It gets better gas millage for sure and still pulls when I need it to. This was the first test of this truck with half an engine and it passed. Dale

[Skunk]

I put my truck in 4 wheel low for the first time since I bought it.

It's amazing what a little gearing change can do. But what I find even more amazing is that it was the first time you ever put your new truck into 4-low. Are you saying that you never tried out the 4 wheel drive unit on that truck before you bought it? You took a big chance on that one.

[DalesCarpentry]

I put my truck in 4 wheel low for the first time since I bought it.

It's amazing what a little gearing change can do. But what I find even more amazing is that it was the first time you ever put your new truck into 4-low. Are you saying that you never tried out the 4 wheel drive unit on that truck before you bought it? You took a big chance on that one.

No I only checked out 4 wheel high. I figured if that worked I was good. Was I wrong? I really know nothing about how these things work. Dale

[Skunk]

I put my truck in 4 wheel low for the first time since I bought it.

It's amazing what a little gearing change can do. But what I find even more amazing is that it was the first time you ever put your new truck into 4-low. Are you saying that you never tried out the 4 wheel drive unit on that truck before you bought it? You took a big chance on that one.

No I only checked out 4 wheel high. I figured if that worked I was good. Was I wrong? I really know nothing about how these things work. Dale

Well, it sounds like it turned out good for you. I have seen some old trucks that worked great in 4 high, but 4 low was pretty much useless or just plain shot (seen it the other way around too). For example, when I finally retired my old Suburban, it would still go right along in 4 high, but if you could even get it to go into four low, it would just pop right back out again under any stress. But yours sounds like it's still in great shape, so that's good. No worries I'd say.

[DalesCarpentry]

I put my truck in 4 wheel low for the first time since I bought it.

It's amazing what a little gearing change can do. But what I find even more amazing is that it was the first time you ever put your new truck into 4-low. Are you saying that you never tried out the 4 wheel drive unit on that truck before you bought it? You took a big chance on that one.

No I only checked out 4 wheel high. I figured if that worked I was good. Was I wrong? I really know nothing about how these things work. Dale

Well, it sounds like it turned out good for you. I have seen some old trucks that worked great in 4 high, but 4 low was pretty much useless or just plain shot (seen it the other way around too). For example, when I finally retired my old Suburban, it would still go right along in 4 high, but if you could even get it to go into four low, it would just pop right back out again under any stress. But yours sounds like it's still in great shape, so that's good. No worries I'd say.

Boy that is good to know. It feels like it is geared as low as my old truck. When you put it in 4 wheel low you feel like you could pull the world. It is a very low gear. I would bet if you tried to drive 25 MPH or less in that gear you would blow the engine up. I just had the transmission replaced in my truck. After I did what I did I got to thinking I hope I did not put to much stress on the new to me transmission. Like I said I don't know much about how these things work. When I did this did I put the stress on my new transmission or the gear box between my front 2 wheels? When hi or lo go out of a 4 wheel drive does that have to do with the transmission or that front gear box? Thanks Dale

[BBF]

The gearing does it just about all. Dunno how it is with your truck, my Samurai would increase the ratio 50% from high to low and it was done with a seperate unit from the gearbox. The drivetrain was designed to handle the extra torque that the low range would produce..... or at least it should have been designed that way.

[Rex in OTZ]

As I remember those old 1970's and 1980's chevy trucks had a heavy chassis and with enough momentum they could punch trough some good sized snow drifts, also having good inertial momentum trees and shrubbs dont argue too much, 4 years back I had allot of willows growing in my yard some over 3" in dia by the house, I at first tried cutting off them willows they came back twice as bad so I ripped them out by the roots useing a 1980 1/2 ton chevy and some binder chain, while pulling they rarely stopped the truck they gust slid right out.