Just bought my truck 5 months ago and I love it. I was recently caught up in a freak snow storm just outside of Palm Springs when I noticed making a tight turn in 4x4 hi seemingly locks up the drivetrain. Ive owned other 4x's and never experienced this before. Looking for 4x owners to give me the skinny on this.

Thanks!

Pics coming soon...

 

Thats common to all four wheel drives (NOT all wheel drive).

Its because the transfer case sends an even 50/50 power split to both front wheels and there is no compensation for the difference in tire speeds between the inner and outer wheel when turning sharply (hence why you never want to run 4 hi/lo on dry pavement except if going straight for a short period of time in the summer to keep all the seals lubed).

 

Agreed very normal.

 

It's normal for a 4X4 as stated. My truck and the 2 prior do it but my wife's Escape doesn't. Many all wheel drive have a viscus(?) coupling connecting the fron and rear wheels that has some slippage and the true 4X4 trucks is geared firmly together so the road needs to be slick for there to be any slippage.

 

Used my 4x4 today in the snow and it did it once I tried turning...Works ok but I don't run it to long in 4x4 if the road is dry...

All my 4x4's did that... It's normal...

 

I was taking off the other day from a dump site where it was muddy and my rear end started to slide... so I switched it into 4HI and heard a thunk under the front end. Is this what you guys are talking about, or is that something different?

 

It is normal operation for hard turns and binding in 4 wheel drive.

F-150's front wheels are locked at turning the same speed on both sides when in 4 wheel drive thus causing difficult turns.

 

Maybe, maybe not.

Were your wheels straight or turned?

 

I think they were turned a little bit... because I was trying to get back up on a dry surface.

 

You normally won't notice much with a slight left or right (emphasize slight).

But, if you turn the wheels much, it will bind harder and harder. Full lock, it will not move and something in the t.c. is going to get real mad at you.

Which brings up a suggestion - if you take it to a full service car wash where they clean the dash, check the selector afterwards.

A couple of moths ago they switched mine to 4H when they cleaned it. Really freaked me out when I turned out of the lot and the front wheels started chirping.

 

A lot of people seem to have a clunk sound when the 4wd is engaged, but mine is pretty seemless and you cant even tell it has been engaged (except for the obvious 4 wheel motion)

 

This post really got me mad. about a month ago i posted a reply saying how true 4 wheel drive vehicules suck at taking sharp turns. i even gave basically the same explanation to why. then a bunch of the posts after that talked about how they can turn fine and that i dident know what the hell the truck was all about. i hope all the A##holes who read my post read this one and feel stupid.....looks like they are the ones who had no idea what they were talking about.......yes...i am a spitfull human being....but in my defence i havent slept in35 or so hours (exam period at university).

 

Go take a nap dude not that big a deal. Why would you let yourself get this upset over what a couple of people on a internet forum would say, does it really affect your life that much?