Think it's axle wrap?

I notice when I'm offroading in 4wd (probablly does it in 2wd as well) and I try to spin my tires in loose gravel, even just kinda slowly spining them while going up about little less than a 45 degree mound of loose gravel/dirt, that the rear end of my truck hops pretty damn harshly up and down and sounds horrible like it wants to break something.

I do have a 1.25" block which I'm going to replace with a ICON leaf pack and ICON shocks. Just wondering if such a small block could cause that at such a slow speed on a 4 banger?

I still kick myself for not seeing how the truck does offroad when it was brand new and stock, so i could compare.

 

Wrap is not speed dependent. I would also guarantee you have some axle wrap causing the wheel hop.

Ditch the block is a good start. An AAL should stiffen up the rear end a bit.

Loss of traction can also cause wheel hop. As the drive line is loaded up trying to drive over the mound the power gets resisted...Lose traction and you get all that force unopposed.
So-in short- Get the block outta there and I wouldn't TRY to spin the tires...It's kinda not the point.

 

I am kinda reviving an old thread. But i think i had the hop. I never heard of it before, but yesterday, me and my friend in his suzuki vitara went to offroad in the snow trail. Naturally he got stuck and i had to pull him out.

I put my locking diff on and start pulling, after couple sec of driving in place, i hear this horrible noise. Naturally i want to fix it.

What should i change so that doesn't happen again?

P.S Love the snow trails at night! In summer you don't see anything at night, but in winter, WOW!! It's magical.

 

Did you need the locker for some reason? 4Lo wasn't cutting it to get him out? Were you stuck too?

Generally speaking, locking up the rear end is going to put you at greater risk of wrap than leaving the diff open...and whether or not it will actually provide you with more moving force for your vehicle is very very situation dependent.

 

Well it was pretty uneven terrain in snow, i wasn't stuck in the extreme sense, but there was times i had to stop and move back. I don't know if lockers was 100% necessary, i could of probably pulled him out without it. But i wanted to make sure i did.

Do i damage anything mechanically when it happens? It doesn't sound good at all that's for sure. Car drives fine and dandy tho.


I think i got wheel hop. I saw this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anHrvIWJoZM

And it sounds like that sometimes. Are they the same? Axle wrap and wheel hop? How do i fix those?

 

Axle wrap and wheel hop are closely related, but not exactly the same.

In leaf sprung vehicles, they tend to root back to soft leaf springs, which the Tacos have (in the standard 3 leaf pack) to provide that "car like" ride that so many people who want a truck that doesn't act like a truck love.

The easiest way to get the most relief from the issue is an AAL, perhaps even two.

I have the TSB leaf springs and only get wrap VERY rarely (I think it's happened twice in the 6 months I've owned the truck). I plan to stick in another AAL down the line which should take care of the situation for good.

Axle wrap isn't really damaging, but it's not the best thing for your truck either. If you can swing the ching, have an extra leaf or two shoved into each spring pack. The rear end will ride stiffer, you'll have greater payload capacity, and your wrap should diminish.

Wheel hop is something you should avoid. As soon as it happens, get off the throttle, let the truck settle down, and start slow again. Prolonged/severe wheel hop can damage driveline parts.

 

Thanks for your help. I will consider buying a lift kit, the extra leaf suspension they usually have should fix the problem. Hopefully. As for wheel hop, i think it was my inexperience in off-roading. When you have so much torque as to cause wheel hop, you should not be spinning your wheels in the first place.

I looked it up and a traction bar should help me out.

 

Traction bars help too, but are a bit more pricey to get in than extra leaves.

More torque = wheel hop more likely. 2nd Gen V6 Tacomas are very torquey vehicles for their weight...remember, we pack as much torque as V8s did 10 years ago...and they did it in heavier trucks.

The issue is wheels losing traction - 4wd distributes the engine's torque amongst 4 wheels instead of 2 (2hi), making it less likely that any given wheel's torque will overcome that wheel's traction...you actually have less torque per wheel with 4wd but that's WHY you get better traction on low traction surfaces.

I would've tried 4hi first, and then 4lo...and remember, 4lo produces a LOT of torque with its gearing. Most of the time with 4lo, you can idle along and get whatever movement you need.

 

Update... (in Unsolved Mysteries voice)

That horrible sound I was hearing turns out it was the metal trim ring on the end of my K&N conical filter smacking the fender well, under hard vibrations and or engine movement.

I had a similar knocking sound sometimes when I crancked over/started the truck and found it to be the filter hitting the fender well when the engine shifts within the mounts on start up (normal engine movement).

I took the K&N filter off and as a temp thing, threw in a universal and a little smaller conical filter so I can clean the K&N with no down time and it doesn't hit and make that God awefull noise at start up or offroading on the same exact trails, that I thought was the driveline wanting to snap or something.