"Darting" in 4WD?

So? Any update?

 

traction and drag. ice/snow/slush and even regular water have a way of increasing a tires rolling resistance but decreasing its traction. these surfaces tend to pull a truck in their direction. if only on one side, you may have to fight the truck. slow down.

yes, your diff IS erratically sending power to front wheels, though one or both of them always is receiving power, it may trade wheels here and again as they encounter different surfaces, the tire with the LEAST amount of traction receives the power until your trac system applies resistance to try and convince power to go to the other tire.

I don't suspect anything wrong with your truck. shitty conditions make driving unpredictable. why many people crash if im not mistaken

 

I love how all the sunny-weather state people chime in

If you haven't driven in snow/ice then you don't know. It's not like driving on dirt.

OP I would listen to your fellow northerners and take their suggestions. worst-case is there is actually something wrong and needs fixed.

On a side note being that 5-6 months are normal for what we call "bad weather", how often are you running in 2wd? not saying the 4wd should fail at all but there could be a chance at premature wear of diff/CV/tran or other drive-line part.

 

I feel the same toward people that don't understand their 4wd system

fellow northerners didn't have much for suggestions, in fact the only ones I noticed were ones concerning tire pressure, and "torque steer" which is the condensed version of what I typed.

seeing as to how I didn't offer much myself, OP, I would try turning off TRAC if enabling 4wd doesn't do so automatically, that way slippage may be more predictable

 

Man, I totally agree.

 

This is nothing more than increased rolling resistance at the tire that hits the slush or snow pack. Basically if one front tire goes into a substance that is harder to roll freely through it has the same effect as if that one front brake was applied but not the other one. It will pull the front of the vehicle in that direction. Whether or not the effect is exacerbated by the traction control attempting to compensate I couldn't tell you.

I can tell you from driving around in patches of slush and clear pavement today in my patrol car that the effect can be quite dramatic at 50-60mph. Felt like I was fighting with the car for half the day.

 

Did you check the bjs?

 

implying that if you don't have 4x4 you don't need 4 tires?

 

True.

I was implying that you need 4 tires with the exact amount of wear on all tires, or you will get drivability issues switching into 4 x 4. The speed sensors are amazing on these trucks.

 

Where's the slush when it's -25*C? There is no melting and no fresh snow at these temps, here, have a look:

http://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/nl-23_metric_e.html

I'm talking about a cleanly snowcleared road which is covered in compacted ice - that's right - asphalt roads up here are covered in ice for about 5 months of the year. You physically cannot get it off. When the temps warm up in late March, then the ice/compacted snow gets soft and it can be scraped off with a grader. I have driven this same truck for 4 years on the same roads and in the same conditions, the conditions are not different, the truck is behaving differently.

During my checkup the front suspension and steering is all as it should be. No metal filings in the diff oil when it was flushed and changed, BUT we found an odd tire on the front end. One of my front tires was a 265/70/17 vs. all the others at 265/65/17 ! Yes, I should have picked that up, but it seems so impossible that a tire shop could F that up that it didn't even cross my mind. I am thinking that may have been my problem, different ratios on the front end could have caused the odd behavior.

More to follow as I even up the tire sizes....

 

Different tire size is the issue .
Energy will take the path of least resistance being the smaller of the two tires
Hopefully you havnt been driving around too long like that .
Not good for the gearing in the diff and transfer case at all .
That tire shop owes you a complimentary diff and transfer case service and maybe throw in a couple new front tires .
Be sure to document thier findings/ your findings

 

I'm betting I could guess what tire shop would do that.. It probably has a red decor and gives back funny fake money..

 

LabradorBoy,

I live in the mountains; and have similar road conditions, on the Township roads, during a snowy winter, such as this year. Our roads are patchy asphalt; and no salt is used on these particular roads. Plus some sections of the road are high crowned; which really makes driving interesting.

I just read your post, where you found one front tire, was an odd size.

Yes this can really make a difference; especially on roads like ours.

The one odd size tire/wheel will be spinning at a different speed, or revolutions; and this can really play havoc when in 4x4.

oldracer

 

I wish... I'll be honest, if the cost of putting 4 like tires on this truck solves my problem I'll feel like I made away like a bandit.

 

LOL not quite. We don't even have anything that good around here! Just a Mom and Pop tire shop who has had a pretty serious changeover in staff lately and has gotten me out of more jams than they have put me in... so if there is no long-term damage, I don't really care.

BFG AT 265/70/17's are on order and should be here in two weeks.

 

To put some closure to this thread, the cuplrit was indeed odd tires. Now that I have 4 265/70/17's on my truck, shifting into / out-of 4wd is seamless again, the truck tracks straight and no more darting.

I am so happy to have 4wd back again without any damage to my drivetrain. It has been a long winter banging around in 2wd with the auto LSD engaged, but it was good for my driving skills just the same.

Appreciate the help from those who drive in snow.

 

I drove on my slightly smaller spare for less than 2 weeks this winter and the truck drove weird in and out of 4wd. The spare was 265/70 and the other tires were 265/75. As soon as I got new tires it all went away. At a minimum, I replace them in pairs and ideally replace all four to maintain the same diameter tire to not screw up the 4wd system and decrease uneven tire wear.