Hello!

I have an '01 F250 V10 4x4. SB/SC, Auto LS 3.73 w/only 5K miles.

After getting 2 feet of snow yesterday, I was out in it and had no problems whatsoever with traction with the stock 235/85R16 Grabber's (quite good in the snow, I was suprised).

The only problem was that if I went into more than 2 feet of snow, I would get this horrendous wheel-hop/vibration. Tried 4x4LOW, same thing. Kept it in 2nd, same thing. If I babied it, I could slowly move but eventually it would start doing it again.
I never got stuck, just didn't want the tranny to come up through the floor. In reverse, it was NOT THERE!

To me, it feels like axle wrap-up. Or, the transfer case is hopping up and down. Or, if it wasn't such a low-mileage truck, a motor/tranny mount was ripped apart. Either way, it's so bad that it's going to break something real fast.

My '74 F250 never did this, but it has a remote transfer case that's not on the rear of the tranny and springs that are so stiff the axles will never wrap-up.

If anyone has had this problem and solved it, please let me know. I'm glad I didn't go to Upstate NY like I planned on back in December. Getting to the camp site would have required going through more than 2 feet of snow and I'm glad I was in a parking lot when I found this out.

thanks! BTW: if it helps, I have "T" front springs (heavy service suspension package). Oh, and the dreaded ESOF that has (so far) been flawless.

Also, if anyone has ever ripped off the air dam going into deep snow, let me know, I was worried about that too.

art k.

 

Yesterday was the first day I got to drive my 350 through the deep snow. It's a 2002 F-350 Crew Cab 4x4 w/ V-10. I was really happy with how well it drove through the snow. I also noticed the wheel hop you mentioned, but only when I was fooling around and stomping on the gas, trying to spin out the truck on purpose. Under normal acceleration there was no axle hop at all. I was running through at least 2 feet of snow at times with no problem, the snow was up to the front bumper even. And I was only running the stock Firestones, not even the all-terrain ones, but the standard all-season stock ones. I noticed the Firestones slipped a bit but I was never in danger of ever getting stuck and never had to use 4x4 low. Anyway, like I said, no wheel hop unless I floored it from a dead stop.
-Rich

 

My 02' did the same thing but it happened in the sand. Driving along the sandy beach decided to get froggy when all of sudden my truck felt like it was gonna rip apart:-staun . Never had a problem when going slow just when i hammered it. Ol' man says its because it is geared low and not made for the excessive acceleration. But if anyone has a fix for please let me know.

 

Check your leaf springs for cracks after an encounter with deep snow wheelhops. If you don't get off the gas fast you can break a leaf easily. Been there, done that! Skydan

 

Put some weight in your truck beds. Try 300-500 lbs. of sand bags over the top of the rear axle on each side. It should calm down your hopping

 

The problem is, why did it do it to begin with? I seriously doubt other SD's are this bad. Unloaded, only 6 cinder blocks over the rear wheels (helps to keep the rear from skipping around in the snow). Can't be normal.

I did get off the throttle real fast. The more I think about it, I feel like it's the tranny/transfer case mount being too soft or just plain ripped apart by an over-zealous dealer employee.

I know axle-wrapup from my '74 F250 when the rear springs were totally wiped. While the springs on my '01 seem a little soft, I doubt they cause this horrendous slamming.

Now that I think about it, I do have a drive-line vibration (NOT the well-known flutter!) from take off that could be a tranny/transfer case mount giving too much. Checked the drive-shaft and it's not causing the vibration.

Until I check this out further in some parking lot with a lot of snow, I welcome all suggestions!

art k.

 

That makes sense because that thick helper spring under the spring pack will be doing more to stop axle wrap. If that's what this is. It sounded like something banging right under the cab, around where the transfer case sits.

I've got six cinder blocks over the axle right now. That's what, 300 lbs? I have a cab-height cap too, not sure how much it weighs, but it did make the back go down a little when they put it on. I'll experiment by putting a 55 gallon drum filled with water in it.

art k.

 

Krewat,

I don't think your problem is as severe as you think. I certainly don't think you have a faulty transmission or transfer case. I've experience this situation myself, and IMHO, it's pretty normal under the conditions you described given the type of 4X4 system that is used on the SD.

You're getting a lot of wheel hop for a couple of reasons. First, SD's have a massive weight imbalance, the front axle is heavily loaded while the rear is very light. This causes really poor traction at the rear wheels. If the wheels can't push the front end forward, where can they go? The answer is up, there's less resistance to movement that way. They hop up off the ground, then when they land they have traction again but no where to go. This process causes weight transfer front to back, and is continually repeated, creating a vicious circle that leads to excessive wheel hop. It's aggravated by excessive power being applied to the axle.

The other factor is that SD's are very stiffly sprung and softly dampened. In other words you have very stiff springs combined with very soft, aka crappy, shocks. This inevitably leads to bouncing because the shocks are incapable of dampening the spring action. A good set of shocks will do wonders to eliminate your wheel hop.

The other answer is adding weight to the bed as Outpost22 mentioned, it improves traction and and helps take the "stiffness" out of the springs. In my experience it takes a bare minimum 500lbs to have any effect on the SD suspension.

Waxy

 

I didn't mean the tranny/transfer case were "bad" I meant the MOUNT was bad.

I know wheel hop - believe me, I know. I also know axle wrap-up. I also know what a bad rear tranny mount feels like, and this felt like the tranny mount (or transfer case). On top of that, I have a driveline vibration from take-off (not the driveshaft, already checked) and it feels like the tranny mount is too soft.

I can deal with wheel hop. I can't deal with the horrendous sound this made, like the transfer case was going to come up through the floor.

I'm going to beat the crap out of it today in the snow and see what's going on. I'll keep you posted.

thanks!

art k.

 

Mine did the same thing. It went great in 2ft of snow but when I stopped on a steep snow covered hill and tried to start I started spinning and got the wheel hop. I notoiced while I was driving in other less steep areas that if I hit the gas hard it started hopping but if I feathered it the truck would start off fine. Once you get it moving no problems at all.

I agree with what Waxy said basically. These trucks are so front heavy and the suspesion is so stiff it makes sense. It never occured to me that anything was wrong and I still don't think there is.

Overall it did great. I drove all day on paved roads with 20" on uncut snow on them and never had any traction problems. I was also driving down a hill near my house and noone had been on this road yet Monday morning. The snow was drifted so deep I had it rolling over the hood and onto the windshield and the SD never missed a beat. I couldn't make it up that same hill, though. That's the one I got the wheel hop on-I guess it was just asking too much for it too push that much snow uphill. The tires rode up on packed snow and just wouldn't bite.


I can't get too upset given the conditions. How often do you have to drive around in 2 feet of snow? 80% of all the other vehicles are rendered totally useless in those condiditons. Saw a ton of AWD cars/suvs and even a few 4wd mini-pickups abandoned. At least with a Superduty you have the weight and clearance to cut through it even though I agree the traction isn't always great. My wife has a Chevy Tracker and it gets great traction but will get bogged down a little in deeper snow say over 12".

For the most part, I had fun driving in it!! Could have done without the shoveling!

 

Mine did the same thing in deep snow from dead stop. Seems like mis matched axle ratio's but what was said makes sense about the weight ratio. I have the same problem with the take off vibration on dry pavement(2wd of course) and was wondering if anyone has had any luck on getting this issue resolved. Also, how noisy is your front end while driving in 4wd on snowy roads.


2002 F-250 SuperCab 5.4 4wd

 

Mine did it in soft sand this summer as well, so I would think this situation is "normal". I've got a 2002 4x4 SC PSD which I just had weighed. This is for an empty truck with 2 people inside and an aluminum tool box that weighs about 200lbs loaded. Front 4700# rear 3300#. Which is pretty amazing considering that the front axle is rated for about 5000# These trucks are just plain heavy but they handle great in the snow (to my surprise) they just have awesome traction even with the stock "street" tires as many have mentioned.

 

Went out again yesterday and tried it again. I can control it, but I have to REALLY feather the gas, which is hard with all the torque the V10 puts out.

I looked in the rear-view mirrors and there was no "wheel hop" per se. Feels like too much wrap-up in the drive-train.

I don't think it should be there at all. Either ladder bars, if it's the rear axle wrap-up, or stiffer motor mounts/tranny mounts would take care of it, I think.

I have to get a friend to power-brake on dry pavement and see if the rear of the tranny/transfer case move at all.

Thanks for all the comments! I'll keep you posted on this more if I find anything.

BTW: I found out that snow up to the front bumper did NOT rip off the air dam


art k.