Turning wheel all the way while in 4WD

[BT911]

Have never owned a 4WD before so I don’t know if this is normal. Today I had the gladiator in 4H on a snow covered road went to make a U turn and had to turn the wheel all the way and the truck started to I guess the best way to describe it was bucking until I started to straighten the wheel. I am running 33’s on stock Sport S wheel if that matters. Is this normal or is there a trip to the dealer in my future ?

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[KurtP]

Have never owned a 4WD before so I don’t know if this is normal. Today I had the gladiator in 4H on a snow covered road went to make a U turn and had to turn the wheel all the way and the truck started to I guess the best way to describe it was bucking until I started to straighten the wheel. I am running 33’s on stock Sport S wheel if that matters. Is this normal or is there a trip to the dealer in my future ?

your center diff is locked, and a u turn requires that the front and rear wheels be able to turn at different rates and you bound them up. Itll be fine just dont keep doing it.

when in 4wd, 3 points, not u’s.

 

[ThatStinging_Jeep]

Have never owned a 4WD before so I don’t know if this is normal. Today I had the gladiator in 4H on a snow covered road went to make a U turn and had to turn the wheel all the way and the truck started to I guess the best way to describe it was bucking until I started to straighten the wheel. I am running 33’s on stock Sport S wheel if that matters. Is this normal or is there a trip to the dealer in my future ?

Hey i man i just wanted to let you know that what your experiencing is completely "normal",Why? its because you got u joints in the front like all of us and that bucking/crow hop you got is them getting binding,but if you had some cv shafts from rcv for the front that would eliminate that and its a awesome upgrade if you wheel alot,but yeah man i hope i cleared any confusion

 

[TrainMan]

Sounds normal. Remember all wheels are turning in 4wd, so the wheels want to keep going straight, making a turn is going to cause some resistance.

 

[KurtP]

Hey i man i just wanted to let you know that what your experiencing is completely "normal",Why? its because you got u joints in the front like all of us and that bucking/crow hop you got is them getting binding,but if you had some cv shafts from rcv for the front that would eliminate that and its a awesome upgrade if you wheel alot,but yeah man i hope i cleared any confusion

well, im certainly up to learn something.

-if its that, why doesnt it do it on 2wd? The front diff isnt locked in 4wd...

-why did a previous truck with cv joints not do it while the center diff was open it would uturn but not when the center diff was locked?

 

[ThatStinging_Jeep]

well, im certainly up to learn something.

-if its that, why doesnt it do it on 2wd? The front diff isnt locked in 4wd...

-why did a previous truck with cv joints not do it while the center diff was open it would uturn but not when the center diff was locked?

it doesnt do it in 2wd cause there really isnt no pressure on the u joints compared to it being in 4wd and the axle shaft having to spin with all that weight and then thats kinda how the u joints get binded up,but yeah in 2wd they just freely spin especially with the front axle disco. that we all love and hate

2. for the 2nd question,it could be that you had lockers engaged and thats why it would do it........................yeah my little 16 year old mind cannot really answer that question (and yes im 16,with knowledge of course)

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hey i man i just wanted to let you know that what your experiencing is completely "normal",Why? its because you got u joints in the front like all of us and that bucking/crow hop you got is them getting binding,but if you had some cv shafts from rcv for the front that would eliminate that and its a awesome upgrade if you wheel alot,but yeah man i hope i cleared any confusion

Oh man you can turn on a DIME with the CV joints, that's for sure. Gottem in my car and I can turn that thing sharper than any Jeep or truck with standard joints. (well, the car came with them standard)

 

[KurtP]

it doesnt do it in 2wd cause there really isnt no pressure on the u joints compared to it being in 4wd and the axle shaft having to spin with all that weight and then thats kinda how the u joints get binded up,but yeah in 2wd they just freely spin especially with the front axle disco. that we all love and hate

2. for the 2nd question,it could be that you had lockers engaged and thats why it would do it........................yeah my little 16 year old mind cannot really answer that question (and yes im 16,with knowledge of course)

no. Center locker on/off was the only difference. If the ujoints bind on a turn, because of the turn, then id expect them to bind at every turn......when the center diff is locked and you crank the wheel the front wheels have to rotate many more times than the rear wheels. This will bind the center diff up because it wants the front and rear driveshafts turning at the same rate...which they cannot do with the wheel cranked.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The front wheels don't rotate 'many times' more than the rear wheels - they follow similar tracks. If it were a tractor, then maybe as you'd be pivoting on the inside rear tire while the fronts walked around it but these don't turn sharp enough to "pivot". They are too long.

Yes, it is going to bind some on extreme turns on roads where the wheels can't slip. There is some difference in rotation if cranked really hard to the stop.

But here's a clue in the OP's first post -
snow-covered road.
There shouldn't be binding in that case as either the rear tires or the front tires, or both, could slip on a snow-covered road. He said "u-turn on snow covered road". So that should alleviate binding in the transfer case.

The front tires on my Chevy used to squeal on the blacktop on a hot day when I made sharp turns in parking lots - in 2wd.
4x4s will bind a bit in sharp turns. Dealer said "normal", don't worry about it.

 

[CerOf]

The u-joints aren’t binding. That’s bad info right there.

even when on a snow covered road you can have good enough traction to cause the “bucking “.

do the same turn in 2wd and you’ll get nothing.

same thing can and does happen on dirt, grass, or any surface if there becomes enough traction.

 

[LostWoods]

Just throwing this out there but this is the greatest f&*#ing differential video in the history of mankind and it's over 80 years old at this point. Good part starts around 3:00 but it gives an excellent base of knowledge as to why 4WD binds.

4WD locks your differentials together that the pinion (input) gear spins at the same rate front and rear all the time. If you watch the above video, you'll see that on any given axle, the faster of the two wheels always spins with the pinion gear (and therefore the rest of the upstream powertrain) at the rate determined by the gearing.

So when you lock 4WD, that means there are one front tire and one rear tire that must spin at the same rate. Since your rear tires track straight and your front are able to turn, the rate of rotation is different between all 4 wheels through a turn. The sharper you turn, the larger the difference between wheel speed is.

But since one front and one rear have to spin together, there is conflict because when both have grip, they both want to spin at different rates. So, you get binding and hop as the one with less friction breaks free to match the one with more friction.

In 2wd, the front differential isn't engaged and will freewheel so there's only one rear tire that needs to spin at the same rate as the powertrain.


For OP's issue, I tend to agree with @ShadowsPapa that it's most likely u-joint binding if OP truly went full lock and was actually driving on snow. Snow itself isn't grippy enough to cause 4wd binding but "snow covered road" doesn't really differentiate between a dusting or a foot so it could be either. With light snow there's still more than enough traction to cause binding with good tires.

 

[CerOf]

I’d love to have the op replicate the uturn in 2wd and report back.

 

[redrider]

I may be wrong but the Sport S does not have a locker in the front. It is an open type. The wheels should easily compensate for the speed/grip disparity. Seems it is down to the basic design of a u joint vs. CV. The Cherokee has been doing this since 92. (Still chugging along at 29 years old)

 

[Mac]

It has nothing to do with U-joint or CV joints, it is the front wheels are turning at a different rate when you make a sharp low speed u-turn in 4wd, the front and rear axles are locked together from the transfer case.

 

[Kevin_D]

I may be wrong but the Sport S does not have a locker in the front. It is an open type. The wheels should easily compensate for the speed/grip disparity. Seems it is down to the basic design of a u joint vs. CV. The Cherokee has been doing this since 92. (Still chugging along at 29 years old)

It has nothing to do with locking axle differentials in this case. It’s the fact that the front & rear driveshafts must turn at the same speed.

Kevin

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