4wd Question???

[Old Dave]

My wife backed out of the driveway Sat. afternoon and started down the street, pulled into the neighbor's driveway, turned around and came back home and said something there is problem with the Suburban. She said it felt like the right front tire was flat but it wasn't. I backed it out and started down the street and turned around in the same driveway and it felt like the steering was very, very stiff. I had cleaned the dash earlier and I noticed that the 4WD light on the dash was on. This is on a 97 GMC Suburban. Appartently I had hit the switch (it has the electronic transfer switches on the dash) when I was wiping the dash trying to get the dust out of the cracks and put it into 4 High. As long as you were going straight it was fine, but when you try to turn either direction going forward or backward it was like it had manual steering. This is the first time I have ever had it in 4WD since we've owned it. I put it back in 2WD and it's fine. Pavement was dry as a bone. Just wondering it this is normal???

[phxman]

Yep, normal. Mine does the same thing. I try to run the 4wd at least once a month to keep everything moving. I do the same thing, drive it up and down the street, hard to steer on the pavement.

[lovemychevy]

it is your front tires grabbing because in 4x4 there is power going to the front wheels as well as the back therefore they are grabbing some traction should feel kinda jerky

[1998 YUKON SLT]

This is why they should have put a light in the dash next to the gages that lights up 4HI 4LOW etc. The little button lights are useless.

I did the same thing once and beat myself up over it, not good for drivetrain.

What happens in a turn in 4wd is you tires are rotating at different speeds, inside tires are turning slower than outside tires. This is being accomplished trying to use the same axleshaft and driveshaft rotations. On dry pavement this hurts but on loose traction applications its fun

[RodeRash]

Don't use 4WD unless you are driving in snow and ice, or a dirt road. Your truck feels like it's binding because it is. Your tires need to turn at different speeds when you go around a corner, but when you are in 4wd, they turn at the same speed. Your differentials will all different wheel speeds side to side, but there is nothing to allow different speeds front to rear. On slippery pavement, the tires slip and everything is ok, but on dry pavement, you get binding.

[99-2door]

Originally Posted by phxman

Yep, normal. Mine does the same thing. I try to run the 4wd at least once a month to keep everything moving. I do the same thing, drive it up and down the street, hard to steer on the pavement.

No need to do that on late model trucks.