Did my wife hurt my truck?

[brokemechanic3000]

My wife drove my truck in 4 low on the road and I was wondering if she hurt anything. I asked her and she said she was only going 40 MPH!
I was so pissed but when I drove it later it seemed fine.

 

[tmcalavy]

How long/far? What is your 4WD setup, on-demand? manual hubs? Need more info.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

About 50 miles and it is a manual hub equipped stock 4wd drive system on a 99 Mazda B3000 SE.

 

[Earl43P]

If they are MileMarker or Warn type hubs that you have to get out and engage them, she couldn't have hurt a thing.
Front wheels not locked in = 2wd in low range. No issue.

 

[ab_slack]

^^ Agreed

If hubs weren't locked all she did was spin the front shaft and the side shafts, but there wouldn't have been any binding and such. She probably would have noticed something serious with the steering if hubs were locked and pavement was dry.

If the road was fairly wet, it is possible to have sufficient slip to eliminate most of the stresses.

Speed itself, at least on my BIIs was never an issue in 4WD. I quite routinely would run 35 to 45 in the snow and regularly up past 50 and on highways been upwards of 70mph in the snow.

 

[exbass94]

Speed itself, at least on my BIIs was never an issue in 4WD. I quite routinely would run 35 to 45 in the snow and regularly up past 50 and on highways been upwards of 70mph in the snow.

You do that in low range?

 

[Mark_88]

If it wasn't locked hubs then probably not an issue...locked hubs on dry road is probably the worst thing you can do to it...and low gear would probably send your gas mileage down the tubes as well because it generally causes higher revs...

Change the door locks and don't give anyone else a key...

 

[kimcrwbr1]

If the front drive shaft was spinning unloaded it could damage the u-joints. Get under it and in neutral grab the driveshaft and see how tight the u-joints, splines and flanges are and look for possible seal leakage from floppin around. I hope your more mad at yourself for not teaching your wife how to drive a 4X4 properly? Hopefully you weren`t too much of a dick.

 

[ab_slack]

You do that in low range?

I missed the low range part. No that certainly wasn't low range.

40mph low range probably wouldn't be too bad. If the RPMs were really screaming surely she would have noticed.

Wondering if this was an automatic of manual cause if manual surely she would have noticed the shifts were quite abnormal.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

It is an automatic and the revs had to be 3500 to 4000 hubs were locked in.
She noticed but she kept driving anyway.
Will I be fine by changing all fluids it drives fine and the 4wd still works.
I will check out the front end when I get time to.
BTW the hubs are the rugged ridge manual hubs I got through baseline 4x4.

 

[adsm08]

I doubt I would even bother to change the fluids if none of them are close to due. The transmission fluid probably took the biggest beating.

What she did is the wear and tear equivalent of towing a large trailer.


FWIW I have had my truck up to almost 50 in low-range. Not for anywhere near that distance, but I did do it once. I'm still using that transfer case. The rest of that power train has since met a horrible horrible end from being replaced with better parts.

 

[BLOODBANE]

Unless you have deep gears, I would concur with these guys. Some high RPM's out of the engine, but otherwise, should be O.K.
I know in my Samurai 40-50 mph would be impossible in low range, but I have some deep gears in the T-Case.

If anything was gonna happen, it would have already done so.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

I'd be inclined to think the cooling system and the heads were in the most danger. That's a lot of heat to be generated driving 50mi @4k rpm. But if you said it was fine and it didn't overheat...

Just drive it and don't worry about it. Tell her something catastrophic happened to it, and voila... $2000 budget towards upgrades, I mean "repairs"...

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[Andy D]

The rear U-joint let go 150 miles from home I couldnt find 4 wheel high (no shift motor) I did find 4 low. I nursed it home on the front end. It was screaming at 40 mph, but everything held up. My route had me crossing the Berkshires, so I coasted up to 55 mph

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

When I was younger I'd use 4low to drive wherever I had to, when my rusty old B2 blew brake lines.
Also if something was hydraulically wrong with my clutch, it was easier on the starter when i'd take off uphill.

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