my son ran in 4wd on dry pavement... now what?

brett-jackson-sr@sbcglobal · February 20, 2007

I passed my 1996 4wd Tahoe to my son, a new driver. He comes home from work today and says the truck is handling funny. I back her out of the driveway and it's tough to turn. I check.... yep, it's in 4wd.

He drove it about 5 miles, complete with turns (about a dozen maybe?) and parking. (sigh).

What whould I be looking for in terms of damage? If he hurt the truck, how obvious would it be? Listening carefully, it seems to make extra noises sometimes when turning - some clunking sounds. Have we bent something up front in the steering area?

How do I know if the transfer case is damaged - will it just go to pieces at 50mph somewhere down the road?

I've run in a straightline in 2wd, 4hi & 4lo and no pieces fell out.....

The good news is he knew something was wrong. The bad news? Well, I'm waiting for your replies....

Thanks for you help.

thecraft · February 20, 2007

Shouldn't have hurt it, I know some people who driven it in 4wd on accident for longer than that with no damage.

s-ten · February 20, 2007

Normally running them for only 5 miles won't hurt anything. My dad accidently ran his '94 3500 dually in 4HI for about 20 miles once before he realized it, and nothing was ever damaged. As far as bending something in the steering area, if there is something bent you would probably feel it in the steering but I doubt anything was bent.

carneyman · February 20, 2007

Well, my dad accidentally ran his '02 2500 hd in 4wd for about 10 miles at about 70...a few days later the front end locked up...thats how we found out it was messed up. It locked up, brought us to a stop, then drove normally in 2wd...4wd didnt work anymore. Luckily it was under warrenty, so they fixed it. still, it sucked. But that is the easiest way to find out if something is messed up. What they said happened was all the oil burned out and it was running dry, things got hot and broke.

Zane · February 20, 2007

Having driven my ZR2 on miles of dry roads by accident and on purpose... It shouldn't have really hurt it, I don't believe at least.

btw: welcome to the site!

Cool Zr2 · February 21, 2007

Nothing is going to happen to it.

I have a question, how come people get so worked up about running in 4wd? I put my trucks in 4wd at the beginning on winter and they stay there untill all the snow is gone, ice, snow, or bare tar, it works fine for many miles every year. In fact, I would bet I put way more miles on the truck in 4wd than not. Late october to about mid april on average for my 4wd season.

carneyman · February 21, 2007

Nothing is going to happen to it.

I have a question, how come people get so worked up about running in 4wd? I put my trucks in 4wd at the beginning on winter and they stay there untill all the snow is gone, ice, snow, or bare tar, it works fine for many miles every year. In fact, I would bet I put way more miles on the truck in 4wd than not. Late october to about mid april on average for my 4wd season.

Not true. You have moving parts in there. Moving parts create friction. Friction creates heat. Heat destroys things when it gets too high for too long. Running in 4wd at high speeds for long periods of time creates unneeded stress and heat, causing parts to break. You heat up the oil in there enough and it will either find a way out or do damage in some way or another. Its like a transmission, you get it too hot and it will break.

Cool Zr2 · February 21, 2007

Nothing is going to happen to it.

I have a question, how come people get so worked up about running in 4wd? I put my trucks in 4wd at the beginning on winter and they stay there untill all the snow is gone, ice, snow, or bare tar, it works fine for many miles every year. In fact, I would bet I put way more miles on the truck in 4wd than not. Late october to about mid april on average for my 4wd season.

Not true. You have moving parts in there. Moving parts create friction. Friction creates heat. Heat destroys things when it gets too high for too long. Running in 4wd at high speeds for long periods of time creates unneeded stress and heat, causing parts to break. You heat up the oil in there enough and it will either find a way out or do damage in some way or another. Its like a transmission, you get it too hot and it will break.

Your exactly right, but what was your point? How are my front end components receiving unneeded stress? If the gear ratio and the tire size the same than where is the stress? Everything should be in sync.

HuntingEd · February 21, 2007

Your exactly right, but what was your point? How are my front end components receiving unneeded stress? If the gear ratio and the tire size the same than where is the stress? Everything should be in sync.

From what I understand the biggest problem w/ running in 4wd is turning, when you turn your inside wheels turn slower than the outside, and the front wheels dont have a differential to account for this, so either your tires will slip on the pavement or something mechanical will slip (ie break). If your lucky enough to have your tires slip then all your doing is putting excessive wear on your transfer case... They just arnt designed to be run on dry pavement.

jpic · February 21, 2007

When it's snowing, I put my truck in 4wd and drive to work. I take the highway, drive about 50mph for about 10 miles. Someone told me I shouldn't go over 35 in 4wd or I could ruin my truck. I didn't believe them, but what's the truth? Thanks.

AcetyleneDreams · February 21, 2007

Well, here are my two cents (which are worth almost nothing in other currencies):

I NEVER drive mine in 4WD except when I'm off road. Call me a sissy, but when you make sharp turns in 4W hi, that front axle just whines and spools up even at low speeds (10 - 15 mph). I tried to turn in mine once and it just locked up. I.e., I'm in 4W hi, I start turning (doing about 5 mph) and all of a sudden, I come to a complete halt. I push the gas, and i get a Ford truck response: nothing. Put it back in 2WD, and (surprise) linear motion once again.

I doubt this guy tore anything up because afterall, why did we buy the best truck on the market? Because it's bulletproof. If you did tear it up, it would probably lock up on you or be leaking somewhere. But I must say, I don't use mine except of road, and I always drive slowly and avoid sharp turns. i paid too much for the Z71 decals to tear up my ride.

Cool Zr2 · February 22, 2007

Your right, it will bind up on bare pavement, but in the winter time, when you find bare tar at intersections, the tar is covered with sand so the sand lets your tires slip. Even then, a tire is going to take the abuse over the driveline components because the tires will give and wear easier than the metal components, and on top of that, a turn at a intersection isn't even that sharp of a turn. Do a u turn on bare tar and then you might hop around and bind up real bad, and if you do that on purpose you need to be beat with a noodle.

Draenor · February 22, 2007

I understand if the vehicle is in 4X4 all the time; more parts are in use and more wear and tear occur, plus the heat issue. What about the AWD vehicles like the SS? Do they use a different transfer case or different internals? And what about the front end components? What is the difference in design that they can be full time but a 4X4 is part time?

Im done hijacking.

ThorsHD · February 22, 2007

as long as the axel ratio and tire size are the same. your fine. I drove mine 240 miles at 75 to 80 pulling our 33 ft fiver in 4 hi. duhhhh

had to add a little fluid. that was a few tears ago. no probs so far..

Cool Zr2 · February 22, 2007

as long as the axel ratio and tire size are the same. your fine.

Exactly. I don't understand why people think running in 4wd is bad? Do they think the gear ratios are different? It dosen't make any sense, I can see the tight turning stand point but besides that its tom foolery.