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why does 4x4 feel like a locking diff?

1353 Views 7 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Clint
Yesterday on pavement , with it raining cats and dogs out I put it in 4x4 when leaving a parking lot, when reversing out of a parking spot turning the wheel the truck pretty much stops and doesnt want to go, its as if I had front and rear locking diffs as if the tires were stuck spinning the same speed.

Can someone explain this for me? I mean just because I put it in 4x4 shouldn't mean I lose limited slip, right?
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Because you have a locking center transfer case. Parking maneuvers are the worst. Back up and turning your front outside tire vs your back inside tires are spinning at dramatically different speeds. Since the front and rear axles are locked to each other the inside rear tire need to slip otherwise it will bind. It is like the binding from a locked diff but even worse due to the greater size of the arc causing a larger difference in tire speeds.

Most including the manual will tell you never to do this. I and most others at ski resorts do this all the time. Parking spot is icy and on a slight slope, need 4wd to get out, yet drive isle is bare sometime dry pavement. Tires chirp all the time.
Almost all true 4wds (transfer case, hi/low) will lock the center T-case. AWDs and car type 4wds have open transfer cases or center difffs.
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