Rear Wheels seems locked in 4 Hi

I have noticed my rear wheels seems to be locked while in 4W Hi sometimes especially
when i back up and turn the steering wheel, and even sometimes going forward when i turn
the steering wheel, and thats with the locker not engaged. Do i have an issue with the rear
end? Im considering drain and fill the rear and is there an additive that goes in the rear pumpkin?
Thanks in advance
Ronnie

 

I guess what makes you think you're in 4hi? If you were in 4hi, your front wheels would be locked and jumping/chirping on turns and not rear. We also have open rear diffs so no limited slip (no additive needed). You sure it's not something like hand break stuck?

 

Well not sure about handbrake, it’s not pulled up, and maybe it is my front, can’t detect on dirt road just pavement. Guess I will have to pay more attention to the front since you brought this up. Thanks for the info.

 

If you’re using 4HI on pavement that’s the root of your problems. In 4HI the front and rear axles must both spin at the same speed. When turning the axles travel different distances which is not mechanically possible when locked together in the transfer case so you either feel the wheels breaking loose and slipping or the transfer case grenades.

The solution is easy - don’t use 4HI on pavement where it is not designed to be used.

 

Well depending on mileage, you may benefit from new gear oil.

like aforementioned you don’t need an additive.

I agree, from the info presented sounds like your parking brake might be caught. I’ve had it lock my truck before, going in reverse has gotten it to free up.


And agreed, don’t use your truck in 4wd on pavement if you are

 

Most likely then front end binding. Fluid change won’t help this, but it’s always a good idea to change it often, it’s cheap and easy.

 

This is driveline bind, completely normal and expected on any true 4wd situation. This is why AWD was developed.

Don't use 4wd on dry ground if you want to avoid this.

 

Thanks for all the info folks. Makes me feel better. I run on paved for about 10 miles about once a month in 4hi and a few miles on dirt
In 4lo using rear dif lock with a lot of turns to keep things loose, thanks for all the input!

 

No need to do turns in 4wd, it's just driveline bind and adds wear to everything. Exercise the mechanisms sometimes, but no need to stress it unless you have some critical trip or suspect it's broken. As long as the diff lock light goes solid you can turn it back off again, the goal is to exercise the actuator. making turns while locked does not help you.

 

You're doing turns on pavement in 4hi, and also in 4lo with rear diff locked?

Read the manual before you destroy your driveline

 

Driveline is plenty strong to handle that. it does increase wear, but it's plenty strong.

Just look at the driveline stresses when rockcrawling in Moab. The rock is basically sandpaper.

 

Difference is you often have 1 wheel off the ground relieving bind when crawling

You guys can keep doing 5 point turns on pavement in 4lo with the diff locked. Don't change anything to me lol