My 2016 Ford F-150 4X4 when i shift it into 4WH it is almost like I am appling the brakes and when i turn it seems the front end is out of time with the rear end. my tires even seem to be sliding a little. Ford said the worst thing i can do is put the truck in four will drive on dry pavement any suggestions???
If you are using the 4 wheel function on pavement as I suspect then stop that . Plus you should still be under warranty.
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Yes, never ever engage 4 wheel drive on dry pavement nor engage the rear end e-locker.
When engaging the 4 wheel drive it may take a few moments for the transfer case to fully engage.
I only do this because it has been a few months cense the last time I used it ,and only did it in front of my house at a dead stop then tried to
pull forward and it was like I had the break on.
Well of course it did. If you feel the need to use the 4 wheel drive find a dirt road or see if a farmer will let you tear up his turf.
That’s not right. If you’re in 4WD, you should be able to drive straight on dry pavement and not even notice the fact that you’re in 4WD. Turning on dry pavement is another story. Did it drive ok on dry pavement when you did it a few months ago or were you on gravel/snow? Have you owned this vehicle long? Are the tire sizes the same front and back? Any front or rear differential work done to this vehicle? I bought a beat up Suburban a long time ago and forgot to check the 4WD when I bought it. This first time I put it into 4WD, it did the same thing you’re describing. It turned out that the front and rear differential ring gears didn’t match.
I have a much older 4WD Ford truck, and it has never behaved like this. It can feel a little balky in 4WD mode, and even more so when turning on hard pavement in 4WD mode, but not like it has the brakes on. I think OP’s truck has something else going on. Suggest to check the fluid levels in the transfer case and both front and rear differentials as a start. This truck is still equipped with all four original tires it came with from Ford, right? I expect some shop time will be needed to address this.
It is normal to feel drag with 4 wheel drive engaged with a part time 4WD truck driving on dry pavement, don’t try to fix that. I switch off the 4WD on trails when I don’t need it because of the drag.
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Note: OP said “when I turn it”. You have four wheels all rotating at slightly different speeds. If OP has and e-locking rear diff and engaging that too, only makes the situation worse.
Second observation, yes there is addition drag with 4 wheel drive engaged but with my 2013 F150 I do not notice it.
That reads to me like he has binding when he shifts into 4WH and, then, when he turns he gets the usual binding. He also states
"did it in front of my house at a dead stop then tried to pull forward and it was like I had the break on.:
Sounds to me like this is happening when the vehicle is moving in a straight line. OP??
That is correct. In a true 4 wheel drive system there is no center differential to allow driveline slippage between the front an rear axles like you would find on an All Wheel Drive system. Instead you just get a transfer case with a hard 50/50 split between the front and rear axles. When the you’re driving straight ahead everything will seem normal because both axles are turning the same speed without any resistance. When to try to turn on surfaces without any “give” the axles are forced to turn at the same speed even though the distances they cover will be different (the inside wheels have a short distance to travel than the outside wheels), this creates driveline binding and it’s a good way to break something. When you’re using 4WD in the appropriate conditions (mud/sand/snow/dirt) , the ground you’re driving on, has alot of give to it (it’s much more slippery than pavement) so you don’t get the binding that you do on pavement and everything is fine.
Don’t use four wheel drive on dry pavement.
Everything is stock just like it came off the showroom floor.
I have had a 4X4 for most of my driving time I am 60.
never had this problem have had rear ends and transmissions fail,
but never one that has given me this problem. I am very much aware of the turning diameter
of the inside and outside radius of the tires front and rear.
the only time I use the four wheel drive on dry pavement is to make sure everything is working be for I go off road for the week end.
I do want to thank all of you for your input, and look forward to picking your brains for later problems.
thanks
Dennis
I’m not trying to nitpick, but that’s not exactly right. I agree with 95% of what you said but the difference in distance covered by the inside and outside wheels is taken care of by the front and rear differentials, the binding comes from the difference in rotational speed of the front and rear driveshafts which isn’t as straightforward. That’s why you can drive around in 4WD on dry pavement and hardly notice until you take a relatively sharp turn. Where I live, we have really long winters and there are a ton of 4WD pickups that people drive around in 4H essentially all winter and their trucks last many, many miles. I don’t agree with it and I have only owned one truck with 4WD (part-time) and will never own another. The main roads are usually dry pavement and side roads are a combination of snow and ice so people just leave them in 4H. It’s not as hard on the transfer case as, say, a locked rear differential because the difference in rotational speed of the inside and outside wheels is more significant than the difference in speed of the front and rear driveshafts. It’s still a terrible idea to drive around in 4WD in dry pavement of course.