I just bought a 96 F-250 and I noticed a slight problem. When I lock the hubs and put into 4H it runs fine for about 5 miles or so. After that, every time I take a somewhat tight turn at speeds of 10mph or less, it feels as if it sticks and shimmies real bad. Enough to bring the truck to a stop. It is fine in a straight line. when I unlock the hubs and put it into 2WD it does it for about a minute, then it is all fine. What gives? Thanks for any help.
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 10:01:27 -0800, jna2kgt rearranged some electrons to form:
Windup in the driveline is causing your problem. Stop using 4WD on dry pavement and you'll be fine.
Ahhh, thanks! So your saying this would happen. :)
Pretty much.. I had a transfer case on a 4Runner let go at about 60 mph. No, I wasn't in 4WD and the front hubs weren't locked. Output bearing failed, turned red-hot, melted and then seized. Peeled the back of the xfer case off, dropping the front yoke of the driveshaft onto the pavement.
The rear of the truck jumped (according to the guy driving behind me) about 4' in the air and the driveshaft disintegrated and flung chunks of metal all over the place. Biggest piece I found was the front yoke and about 3" of shaft twisted into a cone off the back of that.
Transfer case oil caught fire and luckily I had a water bottle with me to put it out. Destroyed the ring gear in the rear diff as well.
Since you say you lock your hubs I'm assuming they are manual. I back up a little even with manual hubs to make sure they are disengaged. When I first installed them and rotated the wheels it felt like they were still engaged after unlocking them until I rotated the wheel about 2/3s of a turn.
That or busted driveshafts & U-joints. Part time 4wd is not intended for street use.
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