4 wheel drive..., why?
Moderator &
Senior Member
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 31,440
Likes: 4
From: The Bluegrass State
Abusive / Rude posts have been removed. Also, if you quoted the aforementioned posts, your posts have been removed too...
One ban issued. Let's keep it clean, guys. Thanks.
-RP-
One ban issued. Let's keep it clean, guys. Thanks.
-RP-
If you're going straight, everything's all good. I sometimes flip my 4x4 on while crusing down a straight road just to get the gears turning and make sure everything is working like it should... Just don't turn too hard.
I understand what you're saying and agree the order you listed, but I'm in posttal's camp. If the difference in speed between the front and rear tires causes hop, it'd make more sense for the order to be (again, slowest to fastest):
L rear
R rear
L front
R front
The order you listed shows a bigger difference between the inside and outside tires. Does that make sense to anyone else, or am I off? Or maybe it's a combo of both inside vs outside and front vs rear?
- NCSU
... for a left hand turn, in order from slowest to fastest, or put another way, starting inside the circle from smallest to largest circle.
L rear
L front
R rear
R front
The tighter the turn, the great the speed difference for all wheels. This causes a speed difference between the front and rear wheels. ...
L rear
L front
R rear
R front
The tighter the turn, the great the speed difference for all wheels. This causes a speed difference between the front and rear wheels. ...
L rear
R rear
L front
R front
The order you listed shows a bigger difference between the inside and outside tires. Does that make sense to anyone else, or am I off? Or maybe it's a combo of both inside vs outside and front vs rear?
- NCSU
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,551
Likes: 0
From: Tennessee
Well..that was my mistake..and an honest one at that now that I did a little research this morning.
I WRONGLY stated that Gm rear end additive is made from whale sperm..I was told this a few years back by a parts guy at a local dealership when buying a rear differential additive that is needed to prevent rear wheel hop in my 78 vette.The rear rear hop and wheel skip is related to this posting and I thought it was relivent.
BUT..in doing some checking this morning I found that the additive was actually made from SPERM WHALE oil..NOT WHALE SPERM.Keep in mind I said above that this was what I was told by a guy at GM..didnt know if was fact or urban myth.ALSO before anyone jumps down my throat the Endangered Species Act outlaw the use of sperm whale oil back in the 70's so unless the stuff the guy sold me was an very old bottle he was wrong again.Sperm whale additves WERE needed to prevent wheel hop and friction breakdown in GM vehicles but replaced with synthetic oils.My car being a 78 was caught in the middle and the guy before me changed gear lube and put in no additives..
NOW back to FORDS ..ford also recommend an additive in there differentials..ford LSD fiction modifier OR use a synthetic gear lube like Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Lube LS 75W-90 ..the LS standing for Limited Slip.
So back to the ORIGINAL question of this posting..you should also be sure your running the proper gear lube if you bought the truck used.Although running on dry pavement in 4wd will cause wheel chatter and I'm sure thats your original problem ..its no big deal...but so will not having the proper lube in the differential.
Oh and below is a link to the sperm whale stuff..
http://www.lubegard.com/LXE.aspx
And heres a link to THIS forum discussing this additive..
https://www.f150online.com/forums/ot...rear-diff.html
Sorry for ant miss information..as I stated..it was a rum and coke night after having to put my dog of 16 yrs down and I was rambling and making little sense..as I'm sure i am now.
I WRONGLY stated that Gm rear end additive is made from whale sperm..I was told this a few years back by a parts guy at a local dealership when buying a rear differential additive that is needed to prevent rear wheel hop in my 78 vette.The rear rear hop and wheel skip is related to this posting and I thought it was relivent.
BUT..in doing some checking this morning I found that the additive was actually made from SPERM WHALE oil..NOT WHALE SPERM.Keep in mind I said above that this was what I was told by a guy at GM..didnt know if was fact or urban myth.ALSO before anyone jumps down my throat the Endangered Species Act outlaw the use of sperm whale oil back in the 70's so unless the stuff the guy sold me was an very old bottle he was wrong again.Sperm whale additves WERE needed to prevent wheel hop and friction breakdown in GM vehicles but replaced with synthetic oils.My car being a 78 was caught in the middle and the guy before me changed gear lube and put in no additives..
NOW back to FORDS ..ford also recommend an additive in there differentials..ford LSD fiction modifier OR use a synthetic gear lube like Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Lube LS 75W-90 ..the LS standing for Limited Slip.
So back to the ORIGINAL question of this posting..you should also be sure your running the proper gear lube if you bought the truck used.Although running on dry pavement in 4wd will cause wheel chatter and I'm sure thats your original problem ..its no big deal...but so will not having the proper lube in the differential.
Oh and below is a link to the sperm whale stuff..
http://www.lubegard.com/LXE.aspx
And heres a link to THIS forum discussing this additive..
https://www.f150online.com/forums/ot...rear-diff.html
Sorry for ant miss information..as I stated..it was a rum and coke night after having to put my dog of 16 yrs down and I was rambling and making little sense..as I'm sure i am now.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,551
Likes: 0
From: Tennessee
Oh yeah.......
I had my 98' pegged at 100(had 33"s tho so prolly more like 115 guestimation).......
Drove in 4hi many ah time never hurt anything, truck never had a single prob.
Eventually right before i got rid of it, a syllanoid went bad and it wouldn't let 4hi disengage....I didn't kno this until my gas milage kept suckin soo bad.
Maybe that is b/c i drove in 4hi alot? i doubt it tho, but i did this for like 3 years.
Also The syllanoid went bad after the second time the truck got put into park goin about 45. It was in 4hi the first time 2hi second time....That might have been what did it....not sure tho.
I had my 98' pegged at 100(had 33"s tho so prolly more like 115 guestimation).......
Drove in 4hi many ah time never hurt anything, truck never had a single prob.
Eventually right before i got rid of it, a syllanoid went bad and it wouldn't let 4hi disengage....I didn't kno this until my gas milage kept suckin soo bad.
Maybe that is b/c i drove in 4hi alot? i doubt it tho, but i did this for like 3 years.
Also The syllanoid went bad after the second time the truck got put into park goin about 45. It was in 4hi the first time 2hi second time....That might have been what did it....not sure tho.
Last edited by offroadn'98; Nov 21, 2009 at 12:21 AM.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 615
Likes: 0
From: Deatsville, AL
Random155, your doing just fine running your truck in 4wd. The front differential is a limited slip unit and the front tires do not turn the same speed in turns. Binding is quite normal in all trucks but most of that problem lies in turning while the steering is all the way to lock position and this only happens in very slow speeds. Never do this because it causes a huge strain on the hydraulic pump internals. I have rebuilt many of these front diffs and X-fer cases also installing gears in my shop, including my own. It will not hurt your truck except gas mileage to drive it like this. Rainy or wet roads were put into consideration when designing these limited slip units and the sole purpose of being able to "Shift on the Fly" at 55mph when the highway suddenly becomes rainy and wet.
So when it's raining and your family's safety is in mind, put it in 4-hi and forget about it. Keep it out of the lock position and it will not hurt anything.
So when it's raining and your family's safety is in mind, put it in 4-hi and forget about it. Keep it out of the lock position and it will not hurt anything.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: cleveland.ohio
I think all anyone has to remember as far as wheel hop and hard steering in 4wd on dry pavement goes is that its NORMAL..they all do it..so try not to do it again.
We can agree or disagree on causes..which wheel does what..side to side ..front to back..proper additives for the diff..sperm whale oil or synthetic
but it really isn't going to change the fact that on dry pavement at a slow speed and tight turns...like pulling into a parking space...your gonna have a problem.
I use my 4wd on a wet roads at a light to get a jump on the punk kid in his turbo eclipse with the hugh muffler and wing..while he's spinning I'm going.I'll use it anytime I want traction as most of us do.its not just for snow or off roading.and sometimes when I get to work and pull in the parking space the 4wd is still engaged..even though I turned it off it takes a bit for it to disengage and I'm late for work..and I get a little wheel skipping..so be it...life goes on.I try not to do it often..but i'm not going to worry about it if it happens every once in a blue moon.
But if my ford was that delicate I'd by a dodge. I'v owned a lot of fords and a lot of 4x4's and like the commercial says..Built Ford tough.
We can agree or disagree on causes..which wheel does what..side to side ..front to back..proper additives for the diff..sperm whale oil or synthetic
but it really isn't going to change the fact that on dry pavement at a slow speed and tight turns...like pulling into a parking space...your gonna have a problem.I use my 4wd on a wet roads at a light to get a jump on the punk kid in his turbo eclipse with the hugh muffler and wing..while he's spinning I'm going.I'll use it anytime I want traction as most of us do.its not just for snow or off roading.and sometimes when I get to work and pull in the parking space the 4wd is still engaged..even though I turned it off it takes a bit for it to disengage and I'm late for work..and I get a little wheel skipping..so be it...life goes on.I try not to do it often..but i'm not going to worry about it if it happens every once in a blue moon.
But if my ford was that delicate I'd by a dodge. I'v owned a lot of fords and a lot of 4x4's and like the commercial says..Built Ford tough.
Last edited by posttal; Nov 18, 2009 at 06:24 PM.
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,804
Likes: 9
From: Wisconsin
If you're going straight, everything's all good. I sometimes flip my 4x4 on while crusing down a straight road just to get the gears turning and make sure everything is working like it should... Just don't turn too hard.
I understand what you're saying and agree the order you listed, but I'm in posttal's camp. If the difference in speed between the front and rear tires causes hop, it'd make more sense for the order to be (again, slowest to fastest):
L rear
R rear
L front
R front
The order you listed shows a bigger difference between the inside and outside tires. Does that make sense to anyone else, or am I off? Or maybe it's a combo of both inside vs outside and front vs rear?
- NCSU
I understand what you're saying and agree the order you listed, but I'm in posttal's camp. If the difference in speed between the front and rear tires causes hop, it'd make more sense for the order to be (again, slowest to fastest):
L rear
R rear
L front
R front
The order you listed shows a bigger difference between the inside and outside tires. Does that make sense to anyone else, or am I off? Or maybe it's a combo of both inside vs outside and front vs rear?
- NCSU
1) Though the R rear travels a little faster than the L front, notice that the R front travels much faster than the L rear.
2) If you add the speed of both rears and then both fronts you'll see the total is faster for the front wheels. That will be the case for any numbers you use to represent the speed of the tire. Using simple numbers of 1,2,3,4 we get.
L rear + R rear = 1 + 3 = 4
L front + R front = 2 + 4 = 6
3) Put a string on the center of the front bumper and the center of the rear bumper and the mark in the snow from the rear bumpers string will be a smaller circle.
Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
From: GA
I'm more the 2wd reg. cab type myself. I plan on fabing a ladder bar set up for mine if I can just get away from the Stangs...they are a money pit.
Last edited by Jason Roberts; Nov 19, 2009 at 07:02 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 394
Likes: 0
From: Texas
2) If you add the speed of both rears and then both fronts you'll see the total is faster for the front wheels. That will be the case for any numbers you use to represent the speed of the tire. Using simple numbers of 1,2,3,4 we get.
L rear + R rear = 1 + 3 = 4
L front + R front = 2 + 4 = 6
L rear + R rear = 1 + 3 = 4
L front + R front = 2 + 4 = 6
However, another way of looking at it is that there is also a speed difference of "2" between the inner and outer tires, of both the fronts and rears (gotta subtract to get differences...)
R rear - L rear = 3 - 1 = 2
R front - L front = 4 - 2 = 2
Obviously the right front isn't travelling 4 times as fast as the left rear, so those numbers don't really mean a whole lot when it comes to real world results.
It would ultimately depend on the size of the tire (rotational speed differences would be affected by tire size, smaller diameter tires would rotate more for a given speed difference than larger tires), as well as vehicle width and length. At different configurations, you could conceivable get wheel hop from either front to rear, or inner to outer wheel speed differences.
- NCSU
Last edited by NCSU_05_FX4; Nov 20, 2009 at 02:44 PM.
