When to change GOAT modes

[ZeroCool]

I keep forgetting to ask. Did I miss in the manual about changing GOAT modes while driving? Like could I change between ECO and NORMAL or NORMAL to SPORT while in motion?

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[HungLo]

Yes, you can change them in motion. Better question is when to use the other modes. Like what conditions and how fast should you limit yourself to the other offroady modes?

 

[ZeroCool]

If I remember right slippery is ok in rain and snow, but the rest are a little more specific.

 

[ChefDank]

I keep forgetting to ask. Did I miss in the manual about changing GOAT modes while driving? Like could I change between ECO and NORMAL or NORMAL to SPORT while in motion?

I was wondering the same thing; wasn't in the manual. Having never dealt with something like this; I always come to a stop when switching. I figured thats what would happen in "realtime"; get to the sand...air down and switch to sand mode, same with rock crawl. Then air up and switch back to sport when exiting unless hitting some mud and ruts ?‍?
I'll never switch them while moving....for my peace of mind.

 

[ZeroCool]

I was wondering the same thing; wasn't in the manual. Having never dealt with something like this; I always come to a stop when switching. I figured thats what would happen in "realtime"; get to the sand...air down and switch to sand mode, same with rock crawl. Then air up and switch back to sport when exiting unless hitting some mud and ruts ?‍?
I'll never switch them while moving....for my peace of mind.

I went into sport once while moving and the rpms went way up lol and I thought maybe I shouldn't do that. ?
So I’ve been doing it like you.

 

[13MikeH]

I know with the old systems you weren't supposed to shift exceeding 45mph. If you went into 4low you needed to stop, and shift and keep speeds below 25mph. (It's been a while my numbers may be off but that was ballpark.) I've really only used normal and eco so far, and shift at speed. Sport runs higher RPM anyways so not surprising it ran up. I'd suggest with mud, slippery probably stop/low speed is better as I'd guess other than Zero cool tossing his kids fries while driving with his knees (I kid I kid) you'd be driving slower anyways working with conditions.

 

[o0260o]

There is nothing mechanical happening when you change GOAT modes other than the downshift when going into sport. All they do is change the shift points and throttle response (maybe steering response?). I haven't tried slippery or sand but if I had to guess the slippery probably makes throttle even less responsive and sand maybe turns down traction control.

 

[jofer]

You can shift while moving and it's definitely fine to switch between eco/sport/normal/slippery on the fly. E.g. I regularly do while in motion. Switching between those changes throttle response, shift points / transmission behavior, and traction control behavior but nothing else. It's basically just telling the computer "hey, use these settings to decide what to do when I press the accelerator".

The other modes (sand, mud+ruts, rock crawl) you can also enable while moving in the sport, but don't enable them on the hightway. They also disable themselves any time you get above a certain speed (20mph? I don't remember).

In any type of vehicle, enabling 4 wheel drive or locking differentials on paved surfaces or other settings with lots of traction will stress things, and can cause mechanical failure (including shearing drive shafts / axles apart). That's because on firm surfaces, all 4 wheels need to turn at different rates anytime you're not going in a straight line. The whole point of 4wd is to keep even power / spin rates to the front and rear, and the entire point of locking diffs is to keep equal spin rates between the left and right.

When you turn, each wheel has to travel a different distance. It's safe to lock things offroad because you don't have much traction on gravel/sand/mud/rocks. The wheels are forced to turn at the same rate, but they easily slip on a lose surface. On pavement, it takes a lot more force to make them slip, so you're putting a lot more stress on both the drivetrain and tires by locking things in 4wd and/or locking front/rear diffs. You can shear things apart if you try to turn tightly on pavement.

The sport doesn't doesn't have mechanical lockers for the front/rear differentials or the center differential (or the equivalent - being sloppy with terminology), but regardless, it's trying to do the same thing via friction when you put it in 4wd and/or lock the rear diff on the badlands. It may not shear an axle in half, but it still stresses things significantly to turn while on pavement in the offroad modes.

Because there's no mechanical devices locking up or transfer cases involved, you _can_ switch into/between the 4wd modes in the sport (not necessarily the big bronco) while moving. In fact, that's really kinda nice, because normal mode works great for a lot of trail riding, but it's really easy to toggle on one of the other modes when coming up to a rough section in the trail. Stopping is often a bad idea (momentum is your friend!), so being able to flip things on has been really handy in my experience.

My observations (take them with a grain of salt):

Sand locks 4wd and acts kind of like sport mode. It keeps RPMs high (i.e. in a low gear), disables traction control, and generally tries to keep you moving. It's basically encouraging a lot of wheel slip to keep momentum up. You'll generally hear things downshift and the engine rev up when you enable it.

Rock crawl enables 4wd, locks the rear diff, and _really_ slows down the throttle input. Things will also stay in a low gear as long as possible to maximize torque. It's meant to encourage very precise low-speed driving over very tricky situations. I think it might also disable some of the proximity sensors / etc, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Mud+ruts is kind of your generic 4wd mode. It'll allow some wheel slip, seems to make the throttle response a bit slower/more-precise, and engages 4wd. However, it's not making as many assumptions as the others. Think of it as "trail mode" (though, honestly, normal mode is really good for pretty much all of your usual trail driving).

 

[AllTerrain]

You can shift while moving and it's definitely fine to switch between eco/sport/normal/slippery on the fly. E.g. I regularly do while in motion. Switching between those changes throttle response, shift points / transmission behavior, and traction control behavior but nothing else. It's basically just telling the computer "hey, use these settings to decide what to do when I press the accelerator".

The other modes (sand, mud+ruts, rock crawl) you can also enable while moving in the sport, but don't enable them on the hightway. They also disable themselves any time you get above a certain speed (20mph? I don't remember).

In any type of vehicle, enabling 4 wheel drive or locking differentials on paved surfaces or other settings with lots of traction will stress things, and can cause mechanical failure (including shearing drive shafts / axles apart). That's because on firm surfaces, all 4 wheels need to turn at different rates anytime you're not going in a straight line. The whole point of 4wd is to keep even power / spin rates to the front and rear, and the entire point of locking diffs is to keep equal spin rates between the left and right.

When you turn, each wheel has to travel a different distance. It's safe to lock things offroad because you don't have much traction on gravel/sand/mud/rocks. The wheels are forced to turn at the same rate, but they easily slip on a lose surface. On pavement, it takes a lot more force to make them slip, so you're putting a lot more stress on both the drivetrain and tires by locking things in 4wd and/or locking front/rear diffs. You can shear things apart if you try to turn tightly on pavement.

The sport doesn't doesn't have mechanical lockers for the front/rear differentials or the center differential (or the equivalent - being sloppy with terminology), but regardless, it's trying to do the same thing via friction when you put it in 4wd and/or lock the rear diff on the badlands. It may not shear an axle in half, but it still stresses things significantly to turn while on pavement in the offroad modes.

Because there's no mechanical devices locking up or transfer cases involved, you _can_ switch into/between the 4wd modes in the sport (not necessarily the big bronco) while moving. In fact, that's really kinda nice, because normal mode works great for a lot of trail riding, but it's really easy to toggle on one of the other modes when coming up to a rough section in the trail. Stopping is often a bad idea (momentum is your friend!), so being able to flip things on has been really handy in my experience.

My observations (take them with a grain of salt):

Sand locks 4wd and acts kind of like sport mode. It keeps RPMs high (i.e. in a low gear), disables traction control, and generally tries to keep you moving. It's basically encouraging a lot of wheel slip to keep momentum up. You'll generally hear things downshift and the engine rev up when you enable it.

Rock crawl enables 4wd, locks the rear diff, and _really_ slows down the throttle input. Things will also stay in a low gear as long as possible to maximize torque. It's meant to encourage very precise low-speed driving over very tricky situations. I think it might also disable some of the proximity sensors / etc, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Mud+ruts is kind of your generic 4wd mode. It'll allow some wheel slip, seems to make the throttle response a bit slower/more-precise, and engages 4wd. However, it's not making as many assumptions as the others. Think of it as "trail mode" (though, honestly, normal mode is really good for pretty much all of your usual trail driving).

Good read!

Question how is it driving your Badlands just too leave it in normal mode and hit the 4x4 button and disable traction control.
And just leaving it in normal mode?
do you find the ratio of the gearing power / RPMs to be easily manageable or are you finding the goat mode are helping.


This question is coming from a driver who's used to using 4x4 where the 'drivers brain and foot' control the vehicle.
( knowing that consistency of the accelerator throttle pedal was part of tackling the trail)

vs.
the brain the vehicle changing what the foot is doing.

My consideration here is why would I need the vehicle to change the RPMs on me when I can do that myself.

 

[jofer]

Question how is it driving your Badlands just too leave it in normal mode and hit the 4x4 button and disable traction control.
And just leaving it in normal mode?

Sorry I didn't notice this earlier!

A key difference is that the various modes change the gearing, shift points, and throttle response significantly. The engine will be at higher rpms most of the time and the transmission will shift differently. Things will also rev up much less readily to give you more throttle control at low speeds.

In addition, you actually use different gears when goat modes are enabled. Normally, the sport skips gears when shifting (e.g. I could be wrong, but I think first gear isn't even used by normal mode. If it is, then it skips second. Either way, some gears in the transmission aren't usually used by normal mode.). The off-road goat modes mostly won't skip low gears and will try to smoothly transition instead of skipping close gear ranges to improve fuel economy.

It's easiest to give it a try to get used to it. Basically, the different modes reprogram the transmission, AWD system, and throttle. It really really does change the way things drive compared to only.disabling traction control, hitting 4wd, etc. (Also, rock crawl mode is extra traction control, so it's the exact opposite of disabling traction control. Ditto for mud and ruts, but to a lesser degree.)

 

[AllTerrain]

Sorry I didn't notice this earlier!

A key difference is that the various modes change the gearing, shift points, and throttle response significantly. The engine will be at higher rpms most of the time and the transmission will shift differently. Things will also rev up much less readily to give you more throttle control at low speeds.

In addition, you actually use different gears when goat modes are enabled. Normally, the sport skips gears when shifting (e.g. I could be wrong, but I think first gear isn't even used by normal mode. If it is, then it skips second. Either way, some gears in the transmission aren't usually used by normal mode.). The off-road goat modes mostly won't skip low gears and will try to smoothly transition instead of skipping close gear ranges to improve fuel economy.

It's easiest to give it a try to get used to it. Basically, the different modes reprogram the transmission, AWD system, and throttle. It really really does change the way things drive compared to only.disabling traction control, hitting 4wd, etc. (Also, rock crawl mode is extra traction control, so it's the exact opposite of disabling traction control. Ditto for mud and ruts, but to a lesser degree.)

?
While I do understand the variables of what the goat modes control. Wanted to get a driving impression from it. Appreciate your response!

Uses Gearing more effectively!

That makes sense is similar to a tow mode button. Remember having an F-150 with that sometimes I would hit tow mode just up in the mountains help acceleration on steep grade. Held the gear.

Or old school overdrive button.

 

[Whitenight]

If I remember right slippery is ok in rain and snow, but the rest are a little more specific.

I have used SAND mode in deeper snow and when going at lower speeds (below 40) since it will put the vehicle into full time 4wd mode and give better traction and steering. Once I get to the highway I shift into SLIPPERY mode. You will hear and feel the difference.

 

[AndyMac204]

I keep forgetting to ask. Did I miss in the manual about changing GOAT modes while driving? Like could I change between ECO and NORMAL or NORMAL to SPORT while in motion?

i do it all the time on the fly.

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