Noisy turning 4 wheel drive

.....and it's better at higher speeds because he's hopefully making wider turns than he would while backing and turning out of a parking space or driveway.

Are you on hard pavement when trying this? The solid axle systems do not respond well to four wheel drive on hard, dry pavement. You will feel resistance in the steering and complaining from the chassis and driveline. Don't do it.

Even so, my truck still complains at 30 mph. The steering is snappish and the groaning is unbearable.

That's why you're not supposed to use it on dry pavement. :-) It's also the reason why there are too many 4WD vehicles sold, without the customer being informed of their limitations.

It is also why the trend is for full time 4-wheel drive. Idiot proof with a big service bill when things go wrong. I will stick with my older Toyota instead of trading up to the always turning front axles.

-- Jarhead

- Bearings ceased?

- Bearings too tight?

- Anything else ceased in the front axle/diff

- Different gears rear / front (doesnt match the problem but still ;)

Aside from that on PAVEMENT or grippy surfaces that grinding in turns and steering resistance is 100% normal and a result of the 4WD system with no center diff (which grinds a little tiny bit too).

For that reason one MUST NOT put the truck in 4WD on pavement and drive turns. Driving 100% straight is ok.

By the way ... a 4WD system should be operated in 4WD for about 30 km a month or every so often to prevent parts from ceasing/drying up and to help splash oil in the diff around.

If you have manual hubs this is real easy to do and if you dont, you can do that when going 100% straight in lets say a big parking lot.

Matt

I don't. However, I was able to use it on my Jeep CJ-5 on wet pavement. It was great for traction. My Toyota won't even let me use 4x4 on wet pavement without griping.

Amen, preach it brother!

Are your tires much different than the ones on the Jeep? And, when you say "wet pavement", are you talking about driving on days when the road's intermittently "just wet", but still icy in some areas?

Here's my ten cents: On wet roads (and I don't mean flooded, just wet), there's no reason to be using 4WD. If your tires don't handle wet roads nicely, you need better tires.

Well, we rarely have ice here in Houston. When we do, I stay off the roads because nobody here knows how to drive on ice. When I say wet, I mean from damp to flooding, but not alternatively dry and wet. Even the Jeep would hop on dry paving. The tires I had on the Jeep were National 11x33/R15 bias type tires and I have BFG 235/75R15 All Terrain's on the Toy. I've learned to live with the difference. When it was a rainy day, I would lock the hubs and drive all over the place in 4wl-hi at speeds up to 50. I never had a problem with gripe, but it was noisy. I could power around corners with no fear of do-nuting or sliding. On wet, rainy surfaces in the Toy, it's like wrestling a bear, even with power steering. The Jeep was a neat off road vehicle, but it was cramped and I couldn't haul anything with it. I had planned to buy a Scrambler, but I was disappointed with the build quality in

1984 and had to look elsewhere. I ended up on the Toy because of the quality of craftsmanship that I saw. The Nationals were very stable and greatly increased the handling and stopping safety of that extremely short wheel base CJ-5. In short, they were sticky tires on dry pavement, and therefore must have been sticky on wet. The only thing left is the difference in drive-line construction between the Jeep and the Toyota. Both vehicles were plain jane and no auto slippage devices. I don't know what the difference is, but I wish that could drive the Toy the same as the Jeep on wet surfaces. I'm preparing to do some major suspension changes and all the other linkage upgrades that go along with that and am wondering, myself, if there is a way to correct this problem.

I also learned some time back, that the Mud-Terrain's were no good for that truck because there wasn't enough rubber meeting the road. The truck would fishtail violently when braking at freeway speeds. When I applied the All-Terrain's the handling improved tremendously. In fact, I don't experience any fishtail, unless the paving is worn and slick.

Well there's my ten cents.

NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, especially on pavement, wet or dry.

4WD on your truck is designed ONLY for offroad travel, or driving on a heavy layer of snow. If you can see the pavement, then you shouldn't be using 4WD.

If you look at the axles, you will see large bulb-shaped structures in the middle. These are differential gears, where the driveshaft spins the pinion gear, which in turn turns the ring gear. As you go around corners, the left and right side tires turn at different speeds -- the differential makes this possible.

Now, consider that in 4WD, not only do the left and right side tires turn at different speeds, the front and rear tires ALSO turn at different speeds. The transfer case connects the front and rear drive lines, but the tcase has no differential capabilities, so any stress that develops by the different speeds of the tires is released through the tires slipping on the ground. If the tires can get a grip on the ground, they won't slip, and the stress will be transmitted back through the steering wheel as a wobble.

If you can hear the complaints, prepare your checkbook for transfer case service. This would be a good time to start thinking about a 4:1 Kit for the tcase if you are into any sort of serious offroading.

By your answer you must think I am a complete damn idiot. Well you can take your advice, snotty attitude and yelling and shove it. I've been successfully driving on and off road for 35 years and I know how the axles and drivetrain work. Why do you think they make all wheel drive cars for better handling? I had great traction with the Jeep in 4WD Hi on wet pavement and NEVER damaged the driveline. However, the Toyota won't do it, so I DON"T DO IT! Go be snotty to someone else jack ass.

Jeff was replying to the OP who may have needed that amount of detail

Matt

I think one or two people in this discussion are pretending not to know that millions of good drivers have survived just fine on wet roads*, using two wheel drive and good quality, properly inflated tires.

*Wet roads: Not flooded, just wet.

According to the way the thread reads, he was posting to the original poster, not you.

-- Jarhead

Brad Taylor wrote:

Sure looked like he was responding to me. The thread had my comments below.

Okay maybe he was.

I was replying to the OP, if that was you on a different computer, then you certainly do need the explanation, or you would not drive your truck in 4WD on pavement, then complain of the noise that is generated.

AWD and 4WD are not the same. An AWD system has a differential in the transfer case that the 4WD system hasn't got. Jeeps don't have it either, witht he exceptin of the high end models -- Grand Cherokee -- and some of the others that offer it as an available option at substantial extra cost, that most original purchasers opt not to buy.

I wasn't being snotty. But you are ...