Whiplash Willy

I recently bought a 93 4x4 pickup, and noticed something weird when I put it in 4H. When I take low speed turns, the truck slows down, like I have the e-brake on. Also sometimes during low speed turns, the front tires skip/chirp, like I have a welded diff in the front. This only happens when I am in 4H/4L, how can I tell for sure if it is welded or not?

Also, I know for sure, the rear diff is open, as I get one tire fire in 2H in the wet. If it is welded in front, and open in the rear, how would this setup do in the snow/ice, as winter is coming soon?

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Put front on jackstands so tires can move freely. Put in 4WD and lock hubs if required. Spin tires. If they spin together, locked, oppsosite no.

Repeat for rear.

What kind of locker will require a visual or contact PO.

stagger_lee

^^ Make sure you get all 4 wheels off the ground to test that way, sounds stupid, but I have seen someone drive off the jacks trying to test 4x because rear end wasn't jacked up too, lol ^^

Could just be a locker up front like wabbit said. If you are hearing it chip I assume you are on asphalt? Running it in 4H or 4L on dry surface is not good for it. Slowing down could be happening because its doing its job, but straining the drive train, because there is no loss of traction on the hard surface. Just some thoughts. Cheers!

dbcx

If you are doing it on pavement thats about how it will act. It will not want to turn on pavement it will feel like it in a bind and lurching and pulling. Get off on some soft ground and see what it does

GSGALLANT

Yep. Totally normal for a part time 4x4. If you had a center differential like my 2002 does, you could drive around on dry pavement in 4x4 all you want. With no center differential... that's a no-no. You could eventually break something if you keep it up, because in a turn, your front tires follow a longer path than your rear tires. The sharper the turn... the more difference in path length.

The difference in path length between front and rear, combined with the average # of turns of both front tires needing to be equal to the average # of turns of both rear tires for any given distance driven, leads to chirping tires or breaking parts.

jason191918

If you had a welded front and open rear on ice it would be spin city.

stagger_lee

Well said!

Toyotero

That's what's happening with yours... my '88 is exactly the same...

like someone else said, don't drive it on the road like that unless there is snow or something... it binds up your drivelines..

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

i would think that with a welded front dif, it would make it damn near impossible to turn on pavement without breaking something at all, let alone just turning in general...

forget trying to make corners or get into parking spaces...
prolly just open, but maybe its his firts toyota P/U of this vintage and he just dont know what its like...

dbcx

There was a similar post on another forum recently.
Why is everyone driving around in 4 wheel drive on pavement?

stagger_lee

I think its the first thing you want to do when you buy a 4x especially if its your first one. Instead of going to a dirt lot you just lock it up right there in the driveway. I know I did it. Live and learn.

grant526

I think what the Wabbit means is to jack up the front of the truck, lock the hubs (if necessary) and try to turn one wheel by hand. Not by putting it in gear and "driving it." Doing it by hand this way will allow the differential to differentiate and thus turn the other wheel the opposite direction of the first, assuming it is actually open! If you do this and the driveline turns, put the truck in 4wheel drive and try it again. this will keep the front drive-shaft stopped and force the diff to work.
If in fact it is welded, you won't be able to turn the wheel(s) more than a degree or two.

But as everyone said, you're binding parts and forcing the tires to "hop" and "chirp." If you make the same turn on loose dirt, you will notice a difference. But you will probably still feel it wanting to do this.

I have a Weld Rear, and it is definitely more difficult to park or make smooth turns around tight corners.
I can't imagine how bad it would be with a Welded Diff in the front!! Or why anyone would be stupid enough to put a welded diff in the front!

Keep playing with it and exploring! Your on the right Path! And it's good that your asking questions about things you don't understand. This will help you better understand how the whole truck works in the long run!

Grant

Whiplash Willy

Thanks for all of the good info guys.

I am used to driving RWD cars, and have driven one with a welded diff, which is what the chirping reminded me of during slow turns. This is my first 4x4 truck, and I was just trying out the 4H/4L to see how/if it worked. I am glad I asked, because now I know to not drive around in 4wd on pavement! I am going to check if the front is locked or not like you guys said, but from looking at the rest of the truck, I doubt the previous owners did any modifications to it.

Assuming the truck has open diffs on the front and rear, if I lose traction in 4wd, is the front and rear wheel that looses traction going to just spin as all of the power will go to the wheels with no traction? I am wondering if I should take this truck out this year when it snows, or not.

Does anyone know of any good resources where I can get more information on how this 4wd system works?

stagger_lee

You better take her out in the snow! Deep snow you might see that happen, but the system is pretty good about transferring power. You will be pleased. Toyota knows what they are doing when it comes to 4WD.

As far as the 4WD system, you can check the FSM the link below for detailed mechanical info, but I'm sure you can find some helpful layman responses on here by searches or asking questions. I cant understand half the techy jargon in the FSM.

FSM:
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/index.html

91Toyota

You don't need 4wd for pavement silly

Matt16

x2

You're more likely though to shred your tires than bust your driveline I think.

grant526

Search Howstuffworks.com You can find out about a lot of things. Including how your differential works too.

91Toyota

How about women???

stagger_lee

You'll never figure that one out.

Matt16

Actually, they have that too!

http://people.howstuffworks.com/women.htm