My brother has a 02 dodge 1500 4X4. While it was in 4X4 one day it started getting squirrely to drive and didnt want to come out of 4 wheel drive. He pulled over and it came out of 4 wheel. THe next time it was driven, his fiance put it in 4X4 for a little while, then took it outta 4 wheel and continued to drive home. About 1/2 way home she called my brother saying that the rear axel was overheating again. THe third time this happened, she put it into 4 wheel for a short time, then took it back out. As she was driving home it over heated so bad that all the wiring near rear axel melted and the ABS light came on and the oilfill plug melted. All the fluid and bearings are shot this time. THey had to load it up and take it home on a trailor. He called a mechanic and he is saying that the front axel isnt coming outta 4 wheel drive. My brother asks, why does this make the rear axel over heat then? Now they are thinking that the rear axel is shot because of the over heating but he is afraid that if they fix the rear axel that this will happen again if the under lying problem isnt fixed too. He was also told that he shouldnt be driving down a dry road while in 4 wheel drive. Shoot.......people do it every day. Up here in the north with winter, we drive in 4 wheel alot.
Anyone out there got any suggestions for him before he lights the truck on fire...LOL.

 

hmm idk thats crazy

 

Yah deffinitely not supposed to drive on dry pavement i 4wd... Technically driving in 4wheel in the snow isnt dry pavement and gives room for slip.. I always use 4wd when it snows up here. But when its dryer the hell out and your driving down a main road, theres no need for 4wd and using it will deffinitely screw things up. As for the front end not coming out and burning up the rear i dont think thats possible, something does have to give since the ratios arent exactly the same but id think it would be a Ujoint or something like that before a diff. I know its a dumb question but did he check the fluid after the first time it over heated? and the second? How olds the fluid, he probably should have replaced it once it overheated the first time. It screws up the oil once its burnt and its useless. If hes got the LSD possibly the dreaded clips came out and started tearing things up?

 

I agree, I'm 98% sure that the front not coming out of 4wheel will not do anything whatsoever to your rear differential. I also agree with the fluid being bad or the factory LSD shooting craps. I don't have a clue what else it could be. If it is bad this would be a good chance to throw in things like a DTT and/or gears.

 

If the OP's vehicle is IFS.... the front diff is always turning.
It's only when put into 4x4 does the transfer case lock and the front is then in a "drive" mode.
You must not put these types of vehicles into 4x4 if the road surface does not allow slipping of the wheels/tyres.
These vehicles are not AWD.
AWD vehicles always have some kind of clutch/viscous coupling, to alow "slippage" of the wheels.
This stops the drivetrain from binding.
The heat experienced in the original posting could be due to this "binding" of the drive train.
Hope this helps?
Al.

 

^^^+1 on the binding, do not run full time, read your owners manual it says wet or off road only, and only as needed. It is not AWD! Now I am not sure that the break down would be in the rear axle, I would think the problem would be caused in the transfer case, and more wear on front axle parts while turning. So my opinion would be that you had a problem in the rear to begin with and it finally crapped out!

 

Have you had this truck since new? It might be possible someone switched the rear axle (or front diff) and you have mismatched gears in it. Check the tags on the differentials to make sure they match. The difference would cause a lot of resistance, which would create a lot of heat.. is the t-case and front diff really hot too?

 

I can't believe the rear axle would crap out before the IFS...

 

If this were the case, you would not be able to move the truck even 10ft without some sort of skidding going on. It would feel like the trucks ebrake is on. So toss that idea out the window.
Checking the tags on the differential will only tell you what gears are in there from the factory. Nobody changes the tags when they put aftermarket gears in. throw that idea out the window.

1.)Possibility that he has been driving around in 4wd all the time.<--i think this was the main cause along with lack of maintenance?
2.)Could be the ring gear itself is severaly worn which would cause all kinds of clunking when put in gear, both forwards and reverse.
3.)Metal is being thrown around in there causing tight clearances which create excessive friction and in turn causes severe heat. Badly worn oil will create severe heat as well.
4.) his tires are not the same size front-back? Same size on the sidewall don't mean jack. if you run on DRY pavement with new tires up front and worn tires out back that will cause lots of issue's.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Heres a few things to clear up some misunderstandings. The only times she ran it for long periods in 4 wheel was when the roads were slippery or snowy or slushy. Theyve had this truck for 5 years and also pulled their small 5th wheel camper with it. When these issues started happening, it was after she had it in 4 wheel drive , was in town on a side road and the side road was slushy so she put it in 4 wheel. Once she was out on the dry road, she took it outta 4 wheel and then this is what happened. Thats the same on the 2nd and the 3rd happenings. The mechanic keeps saying its because the 4 wheel drive didnt come outta 4 wheel......go figure. My brother argued with the mechanic that it couldnt be cuz what has that to do with the rear differential??...but the mechanic is a DODGE mechanic and says he knows what he's talking about.
As for the fluid upkeep....I cant actually speak for that. I dont know how long its been since he changed the fluids. He's usually pretty good about that. He's owned 4X4s since he started driving and he's 46 yrs old.