Truck Got Stuck
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
From: Tidewater, VA
Originally Posted by beowulf
The only this is, I was throwing mud at the same time from both tires up front....also, if the front diff. is open, then why on the pavement you can feel the tires "skip" whilst turning? Shouldn't 1 "slip" so that doesn't happen?
And if the front diff. is indeed open, WTF? Obviously when a person engages 4x4, said person needs more traction. Is this yet another way of Ford saving money? OMFG! I gave you some reputation points though.
And if the front diff. is indeed open, WTF? Obviously when a person engages 4x4, said person needs more traction. Is this yet another way of Ford saving money? OMFG! I gave you some reputation points though.
But the hopping you feel when in 4WD when turning is definitely because one front wheel and one back wheel are solidly locked together through the transfer case and moving through different arcs of curvature. The solid lock makes them turn the same speed, but the different arcs require different speeds, so one tire is forced to slip and the truck hops.
Putting it in 4WD does give you more traction - in your case TWO driving wheels rather than ONE. And even if that one up front is spinning, it's putting a little forward pull on the truck, which can be enough to pull you through. Plus it cuts the torque to both driving wheels in half, reducing your likelyhood of breaking a tire loose in the first place.
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 348
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
Some good info here, but I've got another question. I have a 3:55 open diff 4X4...which tires actually get power?? To me it feels like the right rear tires gets power, but can't tell which front gets it. I'm gonna assume it's the opposite of whatever rear tire gets power. I noticed this winter while taking off going straight in 4 wheel drive a few times that the front of the truck would pull to the side. I've never had any other truck do this.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
From: Tidewater, VA
The tire that has the least traction gets the power with an open diff. All else being equal, I think (NOT sure) that the design of the rear and the cut of the gears favors one side a little more than the other - which is typically why the right rear will spin before the left rear. I'd assume flipping that around on the front means the left front would tend to spin, but ONLY if the traction were the same on both sides. But even if you have a truck that tends to spin the right rear, if you put the left rear on ice and the right rear on pavement, the left rear will spin.
Check out this link and some of the links from there:
http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/def_turnpart.html
Check out this link and some of the links from there:
http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/def_turnpart.html