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So, I will be picking up mt first Pinz from Scott near the end of July/beginning of August. In preparation I got a service manual and owners manual. When reading through the owners manual I did learn a few interesting things. Mostly that it's not like an 4x4 I've ever driven. Most of it made sense though, except one part. When reading about the transfer case, the owners manual says to leave the clutch engaged and to be in 4th or 5th gear and go from high to slow. This does not sound correct to me at all and I feel like it would not be a smooth transition... So what's the process everyone uses? Typically in Jeeps and junk, it's always been disengage clutch, go to neutral, engage clutch while rolling slowly, go to 4x4. Can this process be repeated on the Pinz?

Thanks in advance for the help!

If you are getting the pinz from Scott...have him run you through the fine points of the vehicle. Learn the points of operating it from someone that knows these things.
4x and lockers are hydraulic and can be engaged on the fly.

I was just speaking on the transfer case. I know about the 4x4 and lockers. Unfortunately, I *might* not be able to fly out to California to check the thing out with Scott. Work has be moving around a lot and I don't want him having to store while I find a weekend I'm not busy...

It all seems super straightforward, just need to know if people are keeping the clutch engaged when switching from hi to lo range and vise versa or if this is some error in the users manual.

My take on what you wrote is, while the clutch is engaged to shift the gearbox from a low gear to 4th or 5th, shift the transfer case to low range and then release the clutch. Same as any vehicle with 2 gearboxes ( or a truck with a 2 speed rear end)

Well, that's what I figured, but following the nomenclature of the owner's manual, 'engage' the clutch means to not touch the clutch pedal... It's strange. I figured it was like you explained. Thank you David!

On a "typical" transfer case, say a Jeep, Ford, Chevy (pretty much everything except Pinzes), shifting the transfer case determines whether the vehicle is in 4x2 or 4x4 mode, plus in 4x4 it also chooses between low range and high range.

On a Pinz, the only thing the transfer case does is choose between low range and high range.

This can be done while moving, although you do not want to shift into low range when traveling above low speeds. (duh)

5th gear in low range is faster than 1st gear in high range. The shifting speeds illustrated give you an idea of the ranges involved with each range.

The control which engages typical "4x4" operation is the leftmost hydraulic locker, and would leave the differential locks unlocked.

Does this help at all?



Sorry, perhaps Dave gave you all you needed. Just saw you answered. I'll put this in anyway, just in case.

Even if it doesn't help me, it's there for the next person I just wanted to make sure that I was right in thinking that you can't go changing ranges with it in gear, clutch engaged... Which I don't even think it would if I tried!

Oh. Well, you can. Depending on your speeds, it is possible to shift the transfer case while the transmission remains in gear and the truck is still moving.

But it's not really practical in any gear except the lowest.

You can downshift the transfer case while the transmission is still in gear, if your high range speed is not above the maximum speeds for the same gear in low range. This only typically occurs in 1st or 2nd, I'd think.

You can upshift the transfer case while the transmission is still in gear, but the higher gears might prove to be too tall for this to be very drivable.

I'll often push in the clutch, leave the stickshift in gear, and just shift the transfer case lever to get the lower (or higher) gear that I'm looking for. While rolling!

To help out operations by your average army driver, there are three small factory plate just above the locker levers. The middle one shows a small table with operating speeds for each of the 5 speeds in both high and low range.
It is in km/h, but if your speedometer is as well it should help.

This is for ex-Swissie trucks, no idea if the plate is there as well on ex- Austrian Army Pinzes...

Went out wheeling last week and the trail required use of the transfer case. Like the post by Twin Pinzies, I also disengage the clutch, leave the gear in low and engage the transfer case. I am almost stopped so forward motion is virtually a non issue and speed is about 2mph when I shift into that position.