4 WHEEL DRIVE WOBBLE
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
From: Tulsa, Ok
4 WHEEL DRIVE WOBBLE
OK first off I am new to a 4 wheel drive vehicle so please excuse me if I say something really stupid here.
Put the 250 into 4 wheel drive high tonite and almost immediately the front end started to wobble like hell. What the heck did I do or didnt do? I put it back into 2 wheel and it was just fine.
Put the 250 into 4 wheel drive high tonite and almost immediately the front end started to wobble like hell. What the heck did I do or didnt do? I put it back into 2 wheel and it was just fine.
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 501
Likes: 1
From: Pacific NW
4 wheel drive is not meant to be used on good road conditions like asphalt. It's meant to be used on road conditions where there's slippage, like sand, ice or snow. Basically, when you go into 4 wheel drive, your front and rear axles are tied together, and if you're not going perfectly straight, your drive train starts binding, and then you get that feeling of wrestling with your steering wheel. Try out your 4x4 on a wet dirt road, or a beach and you will not receive nearly as much binding as you just did. a true 4x4 system is very different from an AWD system used on cars like subaru's, audi's, and RAV4's, where their system allow slippage between the front and rear differentials. I could go into more specifics, but that's the general jist.
Senior User
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 294
Likes: 1
Jus2shy did a great job in explaining the 4WD in detail. The only thing I would add is to make sure both of your front hubs are set on AUTO and not LOCK...I have seen one hub set to AUTO and one set to LOCK make the front-end of the truck act crazy.
Junior User
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
From: SW Ohio
I tired mine out today on dry pavement and no issues. Worked just like any other 4 wheel drive vehicle I have had. Should not get any negative affects just because the pavement is dry. If it happens again, might want to take it in and get it looked at. Not normal.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 436
Likes: 2
From: Salt Lake City, UT
I have to disagree. Any 4WD I've ever owned does this if you attempt to turn at all on dry pavement while in 4WD...including my current vehicles.. '11 F350, '04 Nissan Armada and '91 Toyota 4Runner
Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 224
Likes: 7
From: Regina, Saskatchewan
turning on a dry non slip surface will cause the front end to bind and jump around, it is normal. Leaving one hub locked and the other unlocked would make no difference, even if your vacuum seals were blown.
Lead Driver
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 6,600
Likes: 84
Since the tires can't slip, something has to give.
If I have not been out where 4x4 is needed in awhile, I will engage it on a paved road just to keep the 4x4 in shape (no turning, less than 25 mph).
For some reason I thought the owners manual says to engage the 4x4 monthly but I could have imagined that.
My old '02 Explorer would engage 4x4 by itself so that was always fun.
Eventually, it became stuck in 4x4 early this year so I gained plenty of paved road 4x4 experience (that I could have done without).
Several weeks at a Ford dealer and another few weeks at a 3rd party shop and no one could resolve it. Oh well, off topic story.
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