all over road when 4 wheel engaged

[dcampbell]

I just finished a manual hub install(pretty simple). My trucks a ranger 4.0 ,5 spd, 31x10.50x15 tires, no lift . it is all over the road on dry pavement, under power. at low speeds off road snow cant tell. Ive never driven the truck with 4x4 engaged until now because of bad hubs. Im wondering if it could be tires, front end alignment. It seems to steer alright in 2 wd, not great but not loose. Im talking dangerous pulling left and right.

 

[Captain Ledd]

You're not supposed to have 4wd engaged on dry pavement. low speeds and offroad allow the stresses to be relieved by the dirt/snow. In 2wd the front spins independently (and now not at all since you can unlock them completely)

You'd need a full time transfercase with a differential in it to run 4wd on pavement.

it has to do with the front tires traveling slightly different speeds than the rear, turning radius's and etc. Stresses from speed differences build up and eventually break the tires loose causing the vehicle to jump around.

 

[fastpakr]

As he said, sounds like it's doing exactly what it ought to do on dry pavement. The system wasn't built for that purpose.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Is this with just the front hubs locked? Or do you have the transfercase in 4hi as well? If you have it in 4hi that's your problem. Don't engage the transfercase with the hubs locked on pavement.

 

[dcampbell]

I unlocked hubs runs fine, you guys were dead on correct. I wasnt aware you couldnt run on dry pavement. I havent driven a 4x4 on the road much, at least locked in. hey ya learn something new every day. thanks guys.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You can leave the hubs locked, but you cannot have the transfercase in 4x4. Though, this will hurt your gas mileage with the hubs locked. If you're not going to be needed 4x4 (might snow or whatever) leave the hubs unlocked.

 

[fastpakr]

You can leave the hubs locked, but you cannot have the transfercase in 4x4. Though, this will hurt your gas mileage with the hubs locked. If you're not going to be needed 4x4 (might snow or whatever) leave the hubs unlocked.

It won't hurt your mileage enough to care about. If it were a significant impact, Ford wouldn't have made the switch to full time hubs a few years ago. CAFE ratings are a huge issue for the OEM's.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Agreed. But if you don't need them, why have them locked?

 

[fastpakr]

If there's no chance of needing them, you shouldn't have them locked. However, if you're in a situation where there's any chance of needing it quickly, you might as well just leave them locked. Situation dictates. Sometimes, being able to shift in and out of 4wd on the fly is extremely helpful.

 

[wolfn34]

hi everyone, i have a question about a 2000 ford ranger super that i own. when you turn switch on the light comes on but it won't engage into 4wheel drive. what could be the problem? thanks for any and all help.

 

[Jspafford]

hi everyone, i have a question about a 2000 ford ranger super that i own. when you turn switch on the light comes on but it won't engage into 4wheel drive. what could be the problem? thanks for any and all help.

Check your other post.

 

[canyoncritter]

I have locked the hubs and t-case in to 4wd before on dry pavment before (test drive make sure gears match) and never had the "dart right or left" like your talking about. except once. turned out to be mismatched gear's in the diff's....


to test this out, find a straight road section, or a parking lot with about 100ft that you can go straight NO TURNS. lock the t-case in to 4lo, lock the hubs. throw it in 1st, let off the clutch or just let the auto iddle you along.

if it dont hop and dart, your gears match, if it starts hoping and trying to jerk back and forth, good chance mismatched gears....assuming all your tires are the same size on all 4's

 

[dcampbell]

I changed my tires in front , one had a bulge in it that ran around the whole tire. right in the center of tread. strangest thing Ive ever seen. steering perfect now. whats strange about it is I never noticed it in 2 wheel drive.

 

[97ranger4x4]

Yeh another good thing about the manual hubs, is if you do alot of manuvering with heavy loads, you can now use your low range, but leave the hubs unlocked and get 2Low. I have found this helpful when towing boats up steep launch ramps where 4wd isnt needed but its nice to have the lower gearing.

 

[Defective]

You wouldn't notice in 2wd because the tires are freewheeling. In 4wd they are somewhat locked together. Your messed up tire had a different radius than the other tire.

You should be able to drive down dry pavement in 4wd and not have it dart around. Going around corners it will bind and scrub the tires or bounce the suspension some, depending on how fast and your tires/traction characteristics, but you should not be getting sudden outrageous steering changes. BTW, I'm not in any way recommending driving in 4wd on dry pavement.

BTW, I only just now noticed we have a spellcheck, has this new?