four wheel drive question
Thread Starter
|
Captain
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 565
Likes: 0
From: De Soto KS
four wheel drive question
Hey guys. I have a question for you 4 wheel drive gurus. I was driving through town on ice and salt so switched the truck into 4 high. Stopped off for a soda and got back on the road and forgot that I still had it in 4 high. But didnt realize it until I had gone several miles down the highway at around 75-80 MPH. Once I realized that I was still in 4 high I flipped it back to 2 wd. Do you think I hurt anything?
Champion
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 4,839
Likes: 5
From: Apex, NC
Chances are no you didnt. It would typically be obvious if something broke. The reason you don't want to drive in 4 wheel drive on a normal road is that the tranfer case locks the 2 axles together so they are forced to go the same speed, and when you take a turn the 2 axles need to go different speeds. Chances are all that happened were you pulled the tires around the turn, cause if you broke something you would have heard or felt something snap.
Hall Of Fame
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 10,923
Likes: 19
From: NM
Like said above if you didnt hear or feel nothing most chances are you are okay.
Another reason why it is bad to drive on pavment in 4wd even if it is a straght line is because the tranfercase puts the front axles 50 50, and the diff gears have to be the same to turn. This meens that there is no room for a few varribles like if tires are differnt sized due to pressure. And the front axle ratio is not exactly the same as the rear. Even if it says so. For example if the rear is 3.55 the front is 3.56 or 3.57. Even if it says 3.55. The reason the do this is to make the rear turn faster then the front for turns. If it was exactly the same then the fronts would start binding up quick on turns, so this allows for some more slack. And any type of binding no matter how much is not good. So that is why when you engage it in 4wd it is best to driveing on a servace where the tires can slip a little if they have to, to lessin up the binding. Sorry for the long explantion I just rembered learning all of this is school.
Another reason why it is bad to drive on pavment in 4wd even if it is a straght line is because the tranfercase puts the front axles 50 50, and the diff gears have to be the same to turn. This meens that there is no room for a few varribles like if tires are differnt sized due to pressure. And the front axle ratio is not exactly the same as the rear. Even if it says so. For example if the rear is 3.55 the front is 3.56 or 3.57. Even if it says 3.55. The reason the do this is to make the rear turn faster then the front for turns. If it was exactly the same then the fronts would start binding up quick on turns, so this allows for some more slack. And any type of binding no matter how much is not good. So that is why when you engage it in 4wd it is best to driveing on a servace where the tires can slip a little if they have to, to lessin up the binding. Sorry for the long explantion I just rembered learning all of this is school.
Last edited by Crazy4x4RT; Jan 18, 2009 at 01:12 AM.
