Also, if you have the standard pred the gearing is different than in the 05 TLD, so comparing the two gear to gear is pointless. I had an 04 with the regular gear box and I usually had to downshift to make any real big hills. You want to get a good run at the hill in the highest gear you can, then just start grabbing gears to keep your revs up, once you lose momentum in the sand your done......