Turning with a 4x4

[mfurrh55]

It didnt prevent it , but it wasnt as worse when i was in 4WD. , I dont know except as long s i was in 4WD it didnt shake as often as in 2WD

 

[Ozymandias]

It didnt prevent it , but it wasnt as worse when i was in 4WD. , I dont know except as long s i was in 4WD it didnt shake as often as in 2WD

I can follow that, with the wheel bound together it sure tracks better.

 

[Crank]

2 pumpkins. One in front and one in back turning 4 shafts to the tires trying to travel the same distance while the steering is cranked. Hoppity hop goes the front tires.

 

[RVTRKN]

Thats what GM has, and to me, is a negative. The strait axle has better advantages as to stability and supporting weight, especially the CTD weight.

 

[Ozymandias]

A center differential will not make wheel hop go away. CV joints will. I had an old 4 wheel drive Subaru that could be manually shifted in and out of 4 wheel drive. There was no center differential and you could feel the strain on the drivetrain in sharp turns when traction was good, but since it had CV joints on all drive axles there was no wheel hop. A center differential would have made the strain on the drivetrain go away.

I would like to see CV joints on our front axles, but I don't think it will happen soon. They would have to be very heavy duty (which means costly) to handle the torque of the diesel compounded with the torque multiplication of a low range transfer case.

- John

You can buy CV Joints for our front axles already.

But that doesn't make the hop go away, my Jeep GC has CV Joints there but it hops anyway, because that comes from the binding front to rear axles, and if the tension is high enough the wheel with the least traction will unload that tension with a short wheel spin and that is the hop.

That Subaru you mention must be very old because i know them since 30 years, very popular brand here in Switzerland, all of them had Fulltime 4x4, even the first 1800. But what Subaru has on some Vehicles is a Low Range gear, but that doesn't lock the Center Differential.

 

[petersonj]

@Ozymandias wrote: You can buy CV Joints for our front axles already.

But that doesn't make the hop go away, my Jeep GC has CV Joints there but it hops anyway, because that comes from the binding front to rear axles, and if the tension is high enough the wheel with the least traction will unload that tension with a short wheel spin and that is the hop.

Curiosity got the best of me today. My neighbor has two Ford Explorers - one a 1993 model 4x4 with front axle u-joints just like our Dodge trucks. The other is around a 2005 year model with CV joints on the front axle. The gal that owns both of them went with me for a test drive in each of them today - she wanted to learn a little about the four wheel features and I wanted to do some testing to back up what I have been saying.

On both trips I used the same route and the road surface was dry pavement.

The 1993 Explorer with one u-joint in each front drive axle: In four wheel drive, hard right and left turns were accompanied with heavy lurching of the front end, strong tugging back and forth on the steering wheel, and the front of the vehicle raising up and down from side to side - what I call wheel hop. This wheel hop was so severe that it overrode any feel of the minor difference of the two propeller shaft speeds (front and rear axle) during the turn.

The mid 2000's Explorer with CV joints in each front drive axle: In four wheel drive, hard right and left turns were accompanied with smooth movement of the front tires - no lurching, no tugging back and forth on the steering wheel, no raising of the front of the vehicle side to side - what I define as no wheel hop. Because of the absence of wheel hop, what I could feel was the tension of the minor difference of the two propeller shaft speeds (front and rear axle) and hear or feel the occasional loss of traction of a rear tire because of the lighter weight of the rear of the vehicle.

It is possible that we each have a different definition of wheel hop, or maybe we just have different experiences and we may just have to agree to disagree. I have read many of your posts and have learned from some of them and I imagine that I will continue to do so.

By the way, the Subaru was a 1973 with a 1600 cc engine, just before center differential became standard.

- John

 

[Ozymandias]

Gosh, you had Subaru that early, we were 10 years later.


To the hop, yes I think we do not mean the same.
Sure if we go full lock with the steering then there is a bind in the U-joints that can be felt in the steering wheel.
And that bind destroys the U-joints as well if the driver dont take care for.

The fun is, at the jeep forums they recommend to install the U-joints instead of the CV's that are known to grenade when used at an angle.

And i remember the name of the company that makes the CVs for our trucks, its RCV.
https://www.rcvperformance.com/ultimate-aam-925-cv-axle-set-for-dodge-ram-2500-3500-03-and-085.html

 

[DonFitzwater]

Even the mention of Subaru............

 

[Crank]

Hop and a bobby socker. The back wheels are what is important. Either a one wheel wonder of just burning tread. The bottom gear is always stubborn to shift into.

 

[Matt42]

I'm glad there are folks on here who know what they are talking about. I learned the correct terms for our trucks drive components.

Thanks,

Ron

In Sugar Magnolia, Jerry Garcia described the feeling of this exact motion extremely well:

She can dance a Cajun rhythm, just like a Willys in four wheel drive.