P1000 Which gear, when?

[Hucker]

So recently, my buddy and I went riding in some remote areas here in Arizona. We drove up a wash that was riddled with boulders, rocks, gravel, etc. I was in low/turf mode. The Pioneer pulled great, and I never felt the need to run anything other than low/turf in auto mode. The ground clearance in stock form allowed us to crawl over all obstacles without hitting.

My buddy started bragging on the new Pioneer to his brother. The comparable SxS for his discussion was my old Yamaha Viking. Night and day difference between the two -- and I loved my Viking.

My buddy's brother told him to tell me that I should never run in turf mode in low, nor in/on anything other than macadam as it stresses the axles too much. He said these machines should be run in 2wd lock always, when on dirt.

What's the consensus here?

I am in club: He-knows-not-of-what-he-speaks.

Anyone concur with him? Should I be in 2wd lock in technical/slow stuff on dirt?

 

[Admin]

 

[sporttrac4x4]

The back wheel would just slip it would not hurt the axle if it was in turf mode. You can run it in Turf mode if it's in the dirt without hurting it.

 

[drfubar]

I run mine on the blacktop in turf too. I'm sure someone will chime in that knows but I believe it's a type of limited slip when in turf. The power can transfer from one side to the other as needed...

 

[CumminsPusher]

I run mine on the blacktop in turf too. I'm sure someone will chime in that knows but I believe it's a type of limited slip when in turf. The power can transfer from one side to the other as needed...

I believe it's an open diff in turf it would at least make sense to me being a locker as there is no clutches in the rear. I too will only run turf on pavement. For light cruising I'll also run turf it's easier on tires. For higher speeds on dirt roads I'll run in 4wd non lock for more control because of the shorter wheel base.

 

[joeymt33]

So recently, my buddy and I went riding in some remote areas here in Arizona. We drove up a wash that was riddled with boulders, rocks, gravel, etc. I was in low/turf mode. The Pioneer pulled great, and I never felt the need to run anything other than low/turf in auto mode. The ground clearance in stock form allowed us to crawl over all obstacles without hitting.

My buddy started bragging on the new Pioneer to his brother. The comparable SxS for his discussion was my old Yamaha Viking. Night and day difference between the two -- and I loved my Viking.

My buddy's brother told him to tell me that I should never run in turf mode in low, nor in/on anything other than macadam as it stresses the axles too much. He said these machines should be run in 2wd lock always, when on dirt.

What's the consensus here?

I am in club: He-knows-not-of-what-he-speaks.

Anyone concur with him? Should I be in 2wd lock in technical/slow stuff on dirt?

Actually running in turf mode is the easiest on the drive train. It may be harder on your tires when spinning out a lot, but if you're spinning out a lot then you should put it in 2 Wheel Drive lock or four-wheel-drive.

When the two back wheels are locked together, the left and right wheels are always fighting each other for traction when you turn which does cause stress on the gears, bearings, and splines. This problem is greater when you add larger heavier tires.

I'm sure that @Delton will agree with me, we used turf mode only until more traction is needed when riding the Bull in southern TN.

Last weekend we rode 150 miles in Tennessee from royal blue to wind rock. I use turf mode pretty much exclusively until the terrain got hard enough to require four-wheel-drive.










Quote by jackal: "we won't be doing any extreme trails".

 

[joeymt33]

I guess the only way you could really damage your differential in turf mode is if you were spinning one tire sitting still for a long enough time to overheat the differential.

Oh yeah, one more thing to say about this.... every car going up down the highway is running open differentials or limited slip differentials. Either way, they're not locked when running on the street.






Quote by jackal: "we won't be doing any extreme trails".

 

[CarneyRacing]

I agree. From a stress standpoint, turf mode is appropriate for anything that mode has the traction to handle. Some may prefer diff lock for trail riding, etc. but running in turf mode certainly won't hurt anything.

 

[adnoh]

you are correct " He-knows-not-of-what-he-speaks."

 

[Hucker]

You all are confirming what I think -- turf mode is there to alleviate the back tires fighting each other on high traction surfaces. As long as the machine isn't fighting for more traction, turf mode is prudent.

 

[drfubar]

you are correct " He-knows-not-of-what-he-speaks."

Who? Actually that could be any of us at any time....

 

[Someguy]

I agree with pretty much with everyone. I have just about 1000 miles on mine. I ran turf mode most of the time, and found the right rear tire has worn down more, because it is normally the tire that drives, also when you let off the throttle going pretty fast it has a tendency to fish tale, in diff lock not so much. In fwd it really handles, and corners better if you like to put your foot in it.