On vehicles fitted with a centre diff lock, do not attempt to either engage or disengage the centre differential when:

a)Any road wheels are spinning on slippery ground, or b)When turning a tight corner.

It can, however, be either engaged or disengaged at any speed, in any gear, without the use of the clutch, providing you are steering straight ahead. If you have inadvertently driven into a muddy area, having forgotten to engage the diff lock, back off the throttle to stop any wheels that may be spinning, then engage.

It is very important that you disengage the centre differential before you arrive back onto tarmac or concrete. If you accidentally end up with the centre diff warning light still on when back on a hard surface, you must stop and reverse back in a straight line far enough for the 'wind up' to clear. The extinguishing of the warning light will tell you when the centre diff is 'unlocked'.

Alternatively, if you have a wet grass verge right next to you, drive with one wheel on it and blip the throttle to cause a spin-out on one corner. Another way to clear the wind-up in a confined space is to jack up one end of the front axle just enough to take a road wheel off the ground. If you persist in driving on hard tractive surfaces with the centre diff lock engaged, you could break something very quickly indeed. You have been warned!

One of the best assets of a vehicle with permanent four-wheel drive is that you can manoeuvre heavy trailers and caravans slowly in low ratio on a level hard surface providing you do not engage the centre diff.

Selectable four-wheel drive

All Series I, II and III Land Rovers, and the majority of other makes of off-road vehicles have a selectable four-wheel drive system (known also as part-time). This is where normal on-road driving is in rear-wheel drive only, the front propshaft being disengaged from the transfer case.

The ironic thing is that, unless free wheel hubs (FWHs) are either manually or automatically disengaged when fitted, the front propshaft is still being turned by the road wheels while on the move.

If your Series I, II or III hasn't got a set of manually operated free wheel hubs fitted, then buy a set. What's the point of having all the components forward of the transfer case merrily spinning around wearing out, and using unnecessary fuel?

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(c)Goodwinch Limited 2006