Using 4wd in the snow

[Grim_reaper]

Woke up to lots of snow this morning and took the Mrs into work . I had a few slippy moments till i came to a standstill and engaged 4wd then hey presto it was awesome
Question is , although there was a lot of general snow on the road there was some stretches where there was very little ....Is it a judgement call on leaving it in 4wd in bad conditions to avoid the drive train winding up ?

It wouldn,t be so bad if 2 or 4wd could be engaged while the truck is moving slowly as on other 4x4,s then it could be engaged easier according to the road surface as opposed to stopping and engaging .

It was very nice to out accelerate from standstill the cars that have little patience for the 2.0's warp speed in the dry

[country_Est]

Just press the button on the dash at speeds up to 40 MPH, slips straight into and out of 4 wheel drive not Problems

Oh dear just noticed you have an OLD A Series

Trev, the values of the new switch 4x4 on the fly on a B Series.

[Drift]

Contary to popuar beliefe you can change on the fly with the A series, but you have to be careful not to crunch it, its a knack.
Ive done it up to about 15-20 mph.

Try to keep it out of 4wd on dry unslippy sections.

Those with mannual hubs can keep them locked in anticipation, it wont harm your drive train

[BadBoy]

Having been out myself this morning to recover a stuck car, I choose only to use it on snow covered roads. Swapping between 2 & 4wd as required.
Not being able to swap while driving is a small problem, but read the road your on. If it becomes snow covered, stop select 4wd then carry on. When the snow goes, or you have good grip, stop and select 2wd.
If traveling at low speeds you should be ok to leave the autolocks on, but at the first chance you should reverese to disengage them.

Hope this helps a bit

[Drift]

You wont have any problems leaving your auto lock hubs locked, Ive driven hundreds of miles in one go after forgetting to unlock them

[4x4 bobby]

I allways used to forget to unlock my auto hubs, never did any harm!!

[woodwizzard]

As drifty says, once the hubs are locked its no problem shifting in and out of 4wd as the conditions change. Who needs this change on the fly guff

[rik220]

Is using 4wd for a long time bad? Mine is never out of 4wd low box, in through fields and up hills...

[Drift]

No Rik, no time limit you can use 4wd for just the type of terrain you are travelling on limits it, hard non slippy terrain is not good slippy terrain..perfect

Some good advice on our Wiki pages below

http://www.fronteraowners.co.uk/wiki/in ... _FAQ/Guide

[gregster]

Yet another plus point for manual hubs on an A series...can shift into 4x4 on the fly at quicker speeds...

With auto lockers the front prop, diff, and shafts are stationary when in 2wd...and when shifting into 4x4 they suddenly have to meet the speed of the rear drive... which can cause a crunch or 2...shifting is best accomplished in the same way as you would change gear without using the clutch...try and shift when not under power or over-run...catch it when the drive train is in limbo between and I find it works better...but limit speed to very slow...
Try not to let the auto hubs unlock between use of 4x4, and you will then find then it will go in and out much easier...

With manual lockers, assuming they are already locked up, your front diff, prop and shafts are turning at the same speed as the rear already, so gently selecting 4x4 is very easy...mine shifts fine at 40-50mph... (but I wouldnt necessarily recommend anyone tries it!)

With regards to driving in 4x4 on the road...dont be overscared about a bit of bind-up...
It can cause drivetrain damage, but you would have to do a tight 3 point turn on a dry grippy surface with grippy tyres to do this...
Normally you feel it binding long before damage occurs...the car feels edgey and has resistance to move, not disimilar to having left the handbrake on, and you can then either back up to unwind it, or take it out of 4wd (very occasionally you may need to unwind it, by reversing the line you just drove a foot or so before it will disengage 4wd..I used to find this shunting trailers in a concrete yard, where I used low4 to save the clutch a bit...but I never broke anything)
However if you feel this bind up and try and drive through the resistance, by applying more throttle, then you are really stupid and deserve to spend a few hours in the cold with tools fixing the car to learn not to be such a twit!!

If the road is wet, greasy,icy, snowey, gritty,etc etc...you really stand very very little chance of causing damage as it is so easy for a tyre to slip slightly should it need to...in fact I would argue that you stand far more chance of damaging your car because you crash as its in 2wd, than you would of damaging it by using 4wd on an un-snowy bit where you might come accross a patch of ice...

Consider also that when driving in a straight line bind-up isnt an issue assuming your tyre sizes are the same front and rear...so it only when you come to corners that the front and rear travel different distances..

Given the fact that our roads at the moment are either icy, snowy, slushly wet or gritty then I would say using 4x4 all the time probably wont hurt anything, just think a bit when turning tightly if the surface clear and dry, and place a couple of tyres on the slushy stuff if a really tight manoeuvre...

Putting things into context, I drove a MK2 escort with a cossie engine in it with a welded rear diff, with grippy yokohama A008 tyres on dry tarmac all the time, yes the tyres chirped now and again, and I only bust the half shafts when giving it stupid abuse (260bhp!) never on "bind up"...granted the scort is lighter, but its tyres were wider, and gripped tarmac a lot better than A/t's or M/t's would on a fronty...and the 1/2 shafts in the scort where much smaller diameter than the fronty ones...

What I am trying to say is, so long as you dont try using 4x4 in high traction conditions where you are doing tight turns, then you shouldnt break anything, but you will be far less likely to crash or get stuck in the patchy stuff...

Hope this helps...

[cheekychick]

as ever Gregster Very concise

[Drift]

I have to say with wind up it will be first the front diff that will go or the transfer case, drives shaft will shear the hubs circlips then, I am surprised there is no built in weakness to stop and serious damage.
It would be handy if something in the hubs went before the Tcase or Diff, but then that wouldnt bode well for more serious off road use and we would find a way of getting around it

[Grim_reaper]

Thanks for the good info everyone , particularly Greg for the great write up .... As i thought , common sense comes into play . I now understand the excitement over manual locking hubs !

It's my first winter with a 4x4 and i'm amazed at how much safer they are on the road .... the daft thing is that the Runaway drift tyres that are rubbish in damp conditions were brilliant in the snow

Must remember to unlock the front hubs tho ,how long do you have to reverse for ... till you hear them click out ?

[john (smifffy)]

i usually go back about ten yards to be safe

[horses45]

with being new to this here 4x4 thing great post peeps very precise gregster made it easy for an idiot like me to follow now WHERE IS MY SNOW!!!!!

[Drift]

Two yards will do it (on full wheel rotation)

[timetraveler]

[timetraveler]

OOPS sorry just read the rest of this thread sorry

[Drift]

[MrWolf]

Good points!

I just wanted to add another great thing about manual hubs...
When in "free" you can use 4wd low as much as you want!! For instance I use it for reversing with trailers and when the cue in town goes really slow Saves me a lot of clutch.