4x4 mode!

[ups 6.0]

This is my first 4x4 so...sorry
OK! when i'm in a 4x4-hi mode and making a slow turn the steering seems to want to pull a little back and foward!(on a dry pavement) Is that normal? And when I'm moving around 30-40 mph and clicking in to 4x4 I can hear it getting in to a 4x4 mode(not loud but I can hear it)Is that normal??
Or should I be at a stand still to shift in 4x4 ?
Thanks

[kylev90]

the jumping in the stearing wheel is normal, just binding in the u-joints when turning sharply. You should never put the truck in 4x4 while moving and in drive. At least slip it into nuetral while moving, engage it, then go back to drive. Have fun

[kylev90]

OH and just to add, its a bad idea to have her locked in 4x4 on dry pavement (especially turning). Thats when everything gets way too bound up and you break something.

[ups 6.0]

OK...will do!
Thanks for your replys

[Goose350]

It is perfectly fine to shift into 4x4 while driving. That's the whole point of shift on the fly.

[kylev90]

Originally Posted by Goose350

It is perfectly fine to shift into 4x4 while driving. That's the whole point of shift on the fly.

I just figured it would be quite a bit of pressure on the transfer case.

[ups 6.0]

I just feel funny to be able to hear it shift! Everything is so so quite!

[mowdoc]

It is OK to shift on the fly as long as you are not spinning the wheels when you do it. All four wheels need to be turning at the same speed.

When you shift into 4WD you are locking the front wheels to the rear wheels. If one end is turning, the other end will too.

NOW - think about this, , , in a straight line all four wheels turn at the same speed. Locking all wheels together causes no problem in this situation.

When you turn, the front wheels must travel further than the rears do. Just look at your tracks from a turn. See how the front wheels had to go out around the rear tracks?? So when you turn, all four wheels no longer turn at the same speed because the fronts had to go more distance to make the turn. If you are locked in 4WD and make a turn, you feel the wheel shimmy as the wheels try to turn at the same speed. This puts tremendous pressure on the transfer case and the diffs if you are on a hard surface with good traction. You can breaks a lot of parts running around in 4WD on good traction.

If you are on snow or in sand or something even slicker, then it would be OK to drive in 4WD and make turns as the wheels can slip easily on the turns and not put a lot of pressure on the gear cases.

One last comment - - - did you have any trouble finding your white truck in that snow????? Nice pic. I'm in Las Vegas and we had that stuff yesterday, but it's gone now.

[ups 6.0]

Thanks Mowdocs for the explination
No we didn't have any problems finding our truck cuz we were the only one up there even before the plow
The pics was taken yesterday in the Palmdale hills area in the california high desert at 3000 ft.

[richc22a]

It's called 'crabbing'... perfectly normal, better traction, more pronounced..I wonder... .(a Porsche 911 all wheel drive, would it crab...?)