javadoody

never had this happen before. need opinions.
running up to the hi country to get into some deep colorado powder yesterday. traffic backed up, moving along around 20mph on snow packed in 4wd (mt, manual hubs). been moving along this way for 30-45 minutes. all of a sudden the truck runs along at about a 45 degree angle to the road. no noise being made. no amount of steering (hard left), on or off the gas (to try to spin it around) makes any difference--i'm taking up 1 1/2 lanes and i'm looking out the driver's side corner of the windshield. but i'm still moving along. i'm not just slipping on ice, i've got some traction. i manage to get to the shoulder, still sitting at 45 degrees or so. i'm alone so i can't have someone spot the problem as i continue. i switch to 4 lo, go forward and it's straightens out immediately. back into 4 hi and i'm fine the rest of the ride up and back. (i pulled off at the next exit and both hubs were solidly locked in.)
is it possible the shifter hadn't fully engaged? it was as if the right front wheel locked up and i'm turning left as hard as i can and can't straighten it back out (could have been the back right as well i guess). i can't imagine why a wheel would lock up, if that's what happened.
i'd appreciate any ideas. never had anything like this ever happen in any 4wd vehicle.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Might have a CV joint that is on it's way out. The CV can bind up when it gets hot and pull like that. Had it happen on my FWD VW, coming around a turn on a gravel road, the passenger front locked up on me and turned me into the ditch. When I tried to back out the CV grenaded.

Try turning the CV shafts by hand and see if you can feel any tightness or excessive looseness and they turn.

Or it could be that the rear end was sliding down the crown of the road. I used to get this happening when I ran a rear Detroit locker. Everytime I would start out, the rear end wanted to head towards the low side of the road while the front would pull straight.

rngrchad

How long have you had the truck? If you bought it second hand, maybe the previous owner put a rear locker, or a tight limited slip in the rear diff, which would cause your rear end to drastically slide to the low side of the road. Just a thought.

javadoody

it's a possibility i guess, but i bought it 5 years ago from a retired guy that drove it to his favorite fishing spot, for a total of about 12,000 miles in 6 years. can't imagine he did anything--it was bone stock, or looked it anyway. didn't have a scratch on it either.

and i've been getting up that same road 20-30 times a winter season for years, never had this problem before.

i'll stick my head up underneath and see what's stamped on the case.