4wd - 2 wheels spinning

J

jimmyjames

New Member
Hi all,

I'm new here, new to Ranger ownership having just bought an UK '09 Ranger Thunder extracab - please be gentle with me...

So, this may seem like a really basic question to some of you but on my first trip to the woods, i'm parked up on a gentle slope, both left wheels on mud, right wheels on a hardpack gravel track... Switched to 4wd and the left hand wheels are spinning in the mud and i'm going no where. This happens in both hi and lo.

It starts off with 4wd light on, starts to spin and RFW light comes on - still not going anywhere.

I've been reading up on different 4wd systems and have looked for more info but not having much luck with finding out the specifics of what mine has. I've read of vacum switches possibly being involved but would appreciate it if anyone could shed any light on the situation or post a picture of what to look for.

I live in the UK if that makes any difference to the vehicle specs...?

Many thanks!

Jimmy
 
Jim, you may be experiencing what my son refers to as "one wheel wonder". His 1999 XLT 4x4 does the same thing. The tire with the least amount of traction will spin. Only way to fix that is to replace both differentials with limited slip units... rather expensive to do.
 
Hi,
Thanks for the reply mhoward, sounds disappointing, could it be anything to do with the vacum and solenoids do you think? The grip seems pathetic if i'm honest, no better than my old discovery which only operated in 2wd. If so, any chance of a picture from anyone as to where i can find said items?
 
Jim, I don't know much about the 4x4 other than what I mentioned above (my truck is 2wd). There may be things you can do to improve the function. Hopefully, someone else will chime in here to help. :)
 
I follow Ranger-Forums.com and FordRangerForum.com as well as this one. Can't have too much Ranger information! :)
 
my own thinking,and owner of a jeep cj7 years ago -your trying to compare ''all wheel drive to 4 wheel drive'' I do believe without a possi trac differential which drives all axles differently than a regular type differential that will cause the wheel with less traction to spin
 
Thanks for your response Henry, i've been doing some more digging about and was wondering if it might be anything to do with the clutch plates in the rear diff? I was watching a video from a guy with a mustang who was finding that one wheel was spinning, he replaced the plates and solved the problem. I can feel some sort of vague difference in how the vehicle handles when in 4wd so i think it is working, just not very well.
From what i gather the clutch plates can wear causing the limited slip diff to act more like an open diff - does this sound likely?

Cheers!

James
 
@henryford: Agreed. I just don't understand producing and selling a 4x4 truck without a limited slip differential. I can get around on snow and ice just as good with my 4x2 as my son can with his 4x4. So then, what good is 4x4?
 
nice to hear from you both -james -mhoward= I owned a cj7 1976 with standard trans -so- my differentials were not "posi trac" so ,one wheel would spin on either end in 4 wheel drive =the auto trans was powered with Quadr Trac this made ,,to my understanding ,, that the wheel that(spins) needs drive power.. so Quadra Trac compensated for this effect.
they say'''' 4x4 pulls and also pushes the vehicle at same time ,so I always thought 4x4 is better than 2x4 drive
thanks for your in-put
 
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