when I am turning a small radius ( like parking ) my steering wheel acts like it is fighting the turn but it does it in a pulsing manner. this only happens in 4wd. forward and reverse.

anyone else had this problem ?

92 Exploder XLT w/ @ 140k miles otherwise runs great.

thanks and happy new year

Doug

 

What's the road surface like? In a standard part time 4WD system like this, in 4H the front and rear are effectively locked together. Therefore they have to spin at the same speed. In a sharp turn, because the wheels go through different arcs, they want to spin and different speeds, but can't. Thus it feels like the front and rear are fighting each other if there isn't enough "slip" in the surface to allow them to spin at the same speed.

 

basicly what mrshorty is saying is it is normal

 

If the Explorer has part time 4wd, do NOT use 4x4 on dry pavement. Shouldn't even on wet pavement, it should only be used on surfaces where the tires can lose traction and spin (gravel, ice, snow, sand, mud). Sharp turns on pavement in 4x4 can break parts pretty easily. On a side note, anytime you're in 4x4, the truck will sort of "fight" the turning, and try to go in a straight line.

 

Its not a problem, but it soon will be a big problem if you keep doing it. Its not advisable to use 4wd unless the wheels can slip.

 

thanks for response everyone.

I live in the Sierras and we just got hammered so it was a snowy surface I was driving on. I thought maybe it was a ball joint thing. Also I have only experienced the small radius effect at extremely low speed but thanks again for all the tips.

If anyone cares to answer what happens when you mix 4wd and dry pavement. What is binding ?

take care,

Doug

 

I suppose that, technically, the binding is in the transfer case where the front and rear drivetrains are coupled together. What you are feeling is probably the wheels slipping. When there is enough traction so that the wheels don't slip, then the next weakest link (U-joints, hubs, or worse) breaks.
How would you characterize the "snowy" surface? Many times (depending on how "wet" the snow is and other factors) I've seen powder let my tires get down to the pavement and actually grip pretty good. Other times it's packed and more slippery.

 

What everyone is saying is absolutly true. I had a 92 for a number of years, so I know about the slow speed 4wd turing issues. The way I got around it was to only turn the wheel about 3/4 of the way to full lock.... just before the point of binding, and just made more manuvers. It didn't matter what the surfaces were like... if I tried to turn all the way to full lock it would fight me.