I've gotten stuck three times now where two wheels, front right and back left spin and the other two just sit there. Is my four wheel low not engaging or does the limited slip actually suck? I'm just curious because the vacuum lines came off and I put them back on and now I'm wondering if I did it wrong. Thanks for your opinion.

 

If the front wheels are turning at all, then the four wheel drive is working. The front diffs are hardly ever limited slips from the factory, so it is common to only spin one front.

Are you sure that you have a limited slip in the rear?

If your truck is a half ton with the corporate 9.25 rear, it is common for the factory trash lok's to spit out the little clips that hold the clutches in place. Without those clips to hold the clutches there is no resistance to hold them back, therefore it acts like a open rear, with no power being transferred to the wheel with any amount of traction.

 

The limited slip in the back definitely works, at least a little because i can spin both tires when I gun it. I was mainly asking if it was possible that 4 wheel low wasn't engaging and it was only 4 wheel high engaging. Because both of them feel and drive the same

 

You should REALLY be able to tell the difference between 4lo, and 4hi...... if you can't, then there is an issue with the transfer case.

 

You apparently have an issue with your t-case linkage then. 4-lo will tach the engine out quicker than 4-hi. 4-lo is mainly for crawling around.

And even an open diff will spin both wheels occasionally, with enough throttle in low traction situations. A healthy limited slip will spin both all the time, whether your in the slop, or dry pavement.

Either way I'm guessing you have an issue with the shift linkage for the t-case, or the t-case has an internal failure causing you not to have 4-lo.

 

Everytime I go out and I'm in mud all around my truck spins all 4 tires. Never been in mud and had a 3 wheel situation.

 

All 4 low does is lock the front and rear 50/50, you can still have 1 of each tire spinning.. It doesnt lock the differentials..

Hell on some older transfercases it doesnt even lock it lol

 

I thought the point of four low was to lock the differentials in the front so they would grip anything, but you wouldn't be able to turn. I recently took off my rear differential housing and didn't notice any clips off or hanging, are they easy to spot?

 

Nope. The ONLY difference between four high, and four low, is the gear reduction in the transfer case. Hi is 1:1, Lo is 2.73:1. Does nothing with the differentials. It can't. Unless the previous owner put something else in the front axle, you have an open front differential. There should be a sticker under the hood somewhere that says what axles you have, and if there is a limited slip in the rear.

 

Well that makes more sense. The gear ratio is the only difference? There's nothing else? That amazes me, I always thought 4 hi was open diffs, that's why you could drive with it, and four low was locked (or locked as the LSD will give you) and that's why it is bad to drive on concrete with. But now that you mention it's impossible it makes sense. Thanks for the help