Finally getting 4.88 gears, but how do you go about breaking in the front diff?

[dcmdon]

Do you have 4hi auto as an option?? If not then DO NOT run in 4 hi on pavement or you WILL FUCK SHIT UP!! If you HAVE 4 auto then there is no reason not to use 4hi Auto to spin the pinion and ring to aid in brake in. Your other option is to run it off road as much as possible and or run it in the snow belt in winter ??

I don't see any reason not to run 4Hi on the highway for a few minutes at a time. The tires are the same size, you are going straight. No center differential needed. There wouldn't be any opportunity for it to bind.

In fact, there really isn't any reason to limit it to a few minutes at a time.

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[Glad_he_ate]

I just read this aloud near my tuck and I heard my transfer case cry a little….

 

[WILDHOBO]

I just read this aloud near my tuck and I heard my transfer case cry a little….

Seriously. I didn’t want to reply, since it will just be a fight, but thanks for the party invite.

OP, and everyone else, please don’t run 4H Part Time on dry pavement. Please. So many are concerned about warranty voiding. Doing that should take care of voiding the transfer case and maybe both axle assemblies.

 

[Rusty PW]

I've put the transfer case in 4Hi on dry pavement. Do about once a month for a few miles on a straight section of road. I figure it throws some lube around inside the diff housing. Keeps the bearings wet. I've been doing this since 1975.

 

[CerOf]

Do you have 4hi auto as an option?? If not then DO NOT run in 4 hi on pavement or you WILL FUCK SHIT UP!! If you HAVE 4 auto then there is no reason not to use 4hi Auto to spin the pinion and ring to aid in brake in. Your other option is to run it off road as much as possible and or run it in the snow belt in winter ??

This is wrong. 4-hi in a straight line is fine. It’s only an issue when turning that binding happens.

 

[CerOf]

I've put the transfer case in 4Hi on dry pavement. Do about once a month for a few miles on a straight section of road. I figure it throws some lube around inside the diff housing. Keeps the bearings wet. I've been doing this since 1975.

Me too. Straight line is perfectly ok.

 

[WILDHOBO]

This is wrong. 4-hi in a straight line is fine. It’s only an issue when turning that binding happens.

True, but it would need to be completely straight. If you want some occasional 4hi miles, dirt roads or snow are a safer option.

 

[Rusty PW]

This is wrong. 4-hi in a straight line is fine. It’s only an issue when turning that binding happens.

Turning around in a parking lot is a no no.

 

[Rusty PW]

True, but it would need to be completely straight. If you want some occasional 4hi miles, dirt roads or snow are a safer option.

If your section of road has a kink in it. No problem.

 

[Glad_he_ate]

Hey you guys do what ya want per your manual and common sense I will not place my jt in 4hi on dry pavement. You may not feel the binding in a straight line but it’s happening regardless.. even steering corrections will cause each tire to spin at a slightly different speed and cause some binding in the transfer case. But as I said you do you. If extra ware is your thing then enjoy.

 

[AustinL911]

Ok, genuinely curious here. But I'm failing to see how you're putting the Tcase in a bind by driving on relatively straight roads in 4H. Pending you don't have the locker turned on, is there not some differentialing still happening?

What about the folks that put it in 4H for mildly snowy conditions where the road has patches of dry pavement? That seems to be pretty commonplace and I don't hear many stories of shattered Tcases in this instance. I guess I'm struggling to see how spinning it a little every once in awhile is so detrimental.

Someone explain this to me.

Or, just do this on rainy days to mitigate it as best you can?

 

[Rusty PW]

Hey you guys do what ya want per your manual and common sense I will not place my jt in 4hi on dry pavement. You may not feel the binding in a straight line but it’s happening regardless.. even steering corrections will cause each tire to spin at a slightly different speed and cause some binding in the transfer case. But as I said you do you. If extra ware is your thing then enjoy.

Had a 76 Chevy with 38" Gumbo Mudders. The guy before me never rotated the tires. Had one tire that was 4" smaller in circumference than the rest of the tires. Didn't know this until later. First time 4wheeling with it. Lock the hubs in (remember those?), put it in 4Lo and had a grand old time. Time to hit the pavement. Go to take it out of 4Lo. Shifter won't move at all. Go to unlock the hubs. Even with pliers, the hubs won't unlock. Get the jack out and jack up the LF. Soon as the tire lifted off the ground. It released the drivetrain bind. The tire must have jerked a good inch. Once that happened. I could unlock the hubs and put it into 2Hi. Went home and measured the circumference. That's when I found out.

 

[CerOf]

Ok, genuinely curious here. But I'm failing to see how you're putting the Tcase in a bind by driving on relatively straight roads in 4H. Pending you don't have the locker turned on, is there not some differentialing still happening?

What about the folks that put it in 4H for mildly snowy conditions where the road has patches of dry pavement? That seems to be pretty commonplace and I don't hear many stories of shattered Tcases in this instance. I guess I'm struggling to see how spinning it a little every once in awhile is so detrimental.

Someone explain this to me.

Or, just do this on rainy days to mitigate it as best you can?

The issue is fhe front and rear driveshafts locked together. There is no differentiation.

changing lanes will not cause any bind on drive shafts on dry pavement or roads that go snow, bare, snow, bare. If you are turning beyond a normal highway curve, on dry road, you should be back in 2wd.

as to what someone said to “you do you”, I will.

I’ve been doing me for over 400,000 miles in Jeeps or other 4wd vehicles with part-time systems.
Not one single issue.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Ok, genuinely curious here. But I'm failing to see how you're putting the Tcase in a bind by driving on relatively straight roads in 4H. Pending you don't have the locker turned on, is there not some differentialing still happening?

What about the folks that put it in 4H for mildly snowy conditions where the road has patches of dry pavement? That seems to be pretty commonplace and I don't hear many stories of shattered Tcases in this instance. I guess I'm struggling to see how spinning it a little every once in awhile is so detrimental.

Someone explain this to me.

Or, just do this on rainy days to mitigate it as best you can?

Quick explanation. This is what 4hi auto is for. 4hi part time is not designed for the conditions you describe.

 

[dcmdon]

Seriously. I didn’t want to reply, since it will just be a fight, but thanks for the party invite.

OP, and everyone else, please don’t run 4H Part Time on dry pavement. Please. So many are concerned about warranty voiding. Doing that should take care of voiding the transfer case and maybe both axle assemblies.

Can you please explain how this will subject the transfer case to any more than a nominal amount of stress?

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