very very balky 4wd steering

[pmh076]

I noticed this over the weekend as well as i was towing a Cherokee home to use as a donor for my Comanche project. Had to cut a sharpish turn on wet grass and had it in 4wd, but noticed the binding right away (I attributed to it not being that slick/i was towing). I'll definitely be kepeing an eye on

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[MaximusDecimusMeridius]

Considering i was fish tailing in 2hi and my traction control was going haywire i know it was slick enough to warrant 4x4. I am running 37s though

 

[kd1yt]

I've been noticing that my JT has better traction in 2wd than I'd expect for a RWD pickup (and I still have stock size all season tires on it, I have winters but don't yet have them mounted). Perhaps that's why I'm getting the balkiness, because the wheels are grabbing more than I expected in situations in which I thought I needed to have it in 4wd (again, when I had it in 4wd it was in snow, no bare surfaces).

 

[HAL4341]

I'll preface this question by saying that I am not at all new to 4wd vehicles, and also not new to 4wd vehicles with sold front axles and cardan/cross u-joints in the solid front axle (about 10 year ago my daily driver for several years was a 1989 Ford F350 with a Dana 60 front axle). In fact I like the rugged simplicity of this particular design axle.

I haven't had much reason to run my Gladiator in 4wd until a snowstorm that came the other day, and I am surprised by the intensity with which the front end seems to have a rythmic, powerful bind-lurch-bind-lurch-bind-lurch-bind-lurch feel as soon as you steer at any significant angle away from straight ahead. Again, this is on surface with snow on top of unfrozen unpaved road and driveway, not a high traction surface.

Is this normal for a JT/JL? Maybe the sheer mass and length of the F350 soaked up some of the bucking from the u-joints. I'm just really surprised how intense it is in my Gladiator. If this is normal I'd think it would be really awkward in off-roading. I can get used to it (but it is very clumsy with the manual transmission, as the bind part of the "rythm" can stall the engine when operating at very mild throttle), I just want to make sure that something isn't out of whack.

Yes, same thing. I have had my Gladiator 5 days. It made it very awkward to drive slow. I popped it back into 2H because I didn't really need it. I haven't had time to play with it since but hopefully it isn't an issue.

 

[Bravo Foxtrot]

4 Hi should have some amount of differential action in the t case, (although I am not familiar with this case specifically). Slight turns should not be to much for it to handle. Then again a longer wheel base exaggerates the differential action that is needed and this t-case might have been designed for a 2 door wrangler. Hopefully it’s something that just needs to break in, and is not broken, or a design flaw.

 

[Elwenil]

4 Hi should have some amount of differential action in the t case, (although I am not familiar with this case specifically). Slight turns should not be to much for it to handle. Then again a longer wheel base exaggerates the differential action that is needed and this t-case might have been designed for a 2 door wrangler. Hopefully it’s something that just needs to break in, and is not broken, or a design flaw.

There is no differential in either of the two transfer cases available in the Gladiator. They are both part time 4WD, direct drive transfer cases. No clutches, differentials or electronics, just gears and a chain directly driving the output shafts.

 

[hjdca]

I have been 4 wheeling 2 days this weekend with my Gladiator Rubicon Manual. I did not like traction control at all in 4WH... Spirited wheeling in 4WH with traction control OFF was very predictable and inspiring. I recommend you try 4WH with traction control off.

 

[Rocksalt]

I am gonna keep an eye on this.. The snow here is now gone so I havent tried to do a slow maneuver from a stop with my wheels turned in 4 hi.
It definitely seemed like it was binding, not the esc kinda thing.

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