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2011 Avalanche driving in Automatic 4wd


Service1956

Question

When driving in Auto 4wd on hard wer or dry roads, I notice no difference going straight, or into turns. It performs the same as if it was in 2wd. Are there mechanical components "Ingaged" that will wear over time when driving in this type of condition?

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It's handy when your seeing widely varying road conditions, or aren't sure of the presence of ice. Sometimes early in the morning certain roads haven't been salted yet, and it's nice to have auto kick in when the rear starts to break loose on hills. Some roads will be a mix of bare pavement, slush, and packed snow, with some ice thrown in for good measure. Not goot to leave in 4x4 when you hit the occasional bare spot. Auto is perfect for this.

 

Also comes in handy when you need to blow the doors off the guy next to you at a light in the rain. :lol:

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The way I understand it is, everything from the front driveshaft forward is engaged in auto - when 4x4 is required, it will engage a clutch in the transfer case, providing power to the front wheels. If you were to leave it on, I'd imagine fuel mileage wouldn't be the best with all that additional & unnecessary rotating mass. Probably wear out the U-joints a little faster than normal too, since it would be spinning with the front wheels - engaged or not in auto.

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The transfer case is in "ready" mode in case it senses a rear wheel slip. However the most you'll see is possibly a slight loss of MPGs. Provided the transfer case is set up correctly internally, there will not be any additional wear/tear on the transfer case. If it's not set up correctly, you will know it because it will make noise.

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Your front axles spin no matter what so there's no harm there. The only difference is the front axle is engaged, so the front driveshaft spins. I doubt you have to worry about wearing out the u-joints considering that's what they're designed to do. It might actually help the u-joints by keeping them lubricated. As far as gas mileage it's hardly noticeable.

 

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

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Your front axles spin no matter what so there's no harm there. The only difference is the front axle is engaged, so the front driveshaft spins. I doubt you have to worry about wearing out the u-joints considering that's what they're designed to do. It might actually help the u-joints by keeping them lubricated. As far as gas mileage it's hardly noticeable.

 

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

 

Ya, but there's a difference between free spinning and having TQ and power going to them which then is having to work to help spin the front. I guess you could test your theory and just drive around in 4hi 24/7 and tell us how it goes. Again a 4x4 system is designed different than an AWD system. 4x4 systems aren't made to drive in 4x4 on dry or even wet pavement or concrete. There's absolutely no need to drive around in even auto 4x4 unless it's snow and/or ice on the road or off-road that's a loose surface.

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I see 0 need to have it in 4x4 auto unless it's snow, ice or off-road. Normal driving on asphalt just have it in 2wd. There's really no need for 4x4 auto even in wet conditions since the 4x4 system (even 4hi) isn't designed for asphalt. I haven't got to try 4x4 auto in my '14 yet but I don't think you'll really feel the truck itself change since it's going back and forth between 2hi and 4hi.

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I was under the impression that there was only torque when one of the rears started slipping. Otherwise it wouldn't be auto it would just be 4x4.

 

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What you first said was that you think just because it's free spinning means it wouldn't hurt anything to have it in auto anytime even with power going to it. It would be bad to do that because I've heard of auto sometimes kick in when it's just raining. That's why I responded.

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I was referring to it being in auto during non-slip conditions where there is no power going to the front axle. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't recommend running auto year round, but I also don't believe there's much harm in running it occasionally when the road conditions vary or are unknown.

 

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I was referring to it being in auto during non-slip conditions where there is no power going to the front axle. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't recommend running auto year round, but I also don't believe there's much harm in running it occasionally when the road conditions vary or are unknown.

 

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

 

I guess you worded it wrong or I took it wrong or something. The only time I would and will put mine in auto is with snow and/or ice on the roads, especially if it's just some bad spots with normal dry/wet asphalt or off-road. I'm just saying that it's not good for the system to just drive around in auto in normal or even wet conditions because it's not needed and I've heard of auto kicking in on just a wet road which isn't slippery enough to really need 4x4. It's just not GMs though, I've also heard of Fords doing that also. Maybe the auto system is better and not as sensitive by now, but I don't want to find out. I say just keep it in 2 unless you have to drive on snow, ice or off-road then auto is fine.

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