Hi ya'll! A few weeks ago I was offroad west of here in Bull Creek wildlife mgmt. area (Florida). It's a VERY modest OHV area but it's pretty close to home. The area is mostly real fine sugar sand and I figured I'd get some seat time getting aquainted with my new rig. 4 wheel drive was probably not required but I used 4hi anyway. When I'd make fairly tight turns (foreward or reverse) it'd stall. I figured it was operator errror and restarted it. Today, on paved roads around home, I put it in 4hi just for the heck of it (maybe 35MPH tops). To my suprise when I'd take a corner or, more dramaticlly make a u-turn it would stall (or I'd have to increase the slip on the clutch to prevent that). Ok so let's try an experiment. Go to an empty school parking lot, 2hi, wheel lock left turn, 2 (maybe) MPH. No issues. Still moving, shift to 4hi and it's like throwing out an anchor! It appears (feels like) the outside (right) tire is actually skidding along the pavement. Go to 4lo, lock both front and rear, same result. Unlock both, still does it. Back to 4hi, same result. Back to 2 hi and, suprisingly, as long as I'm turning in this tight circle it still does it! If I drive straight for a very short distance then return to the left turn wheel lock everything is OK again. This tells me that the front axle lock is fully engaged in a situation where, says DC, that it can't be. Comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

This is regarding the "Front Diff axle lock" I posted earlier. When I was talliking about the modest conditions in Bull Creek WMA (sugar sand) I said that 4hi was probably not needed but was used anyway. That sentence says that the stall issue (in 4hi, turning, etc.) WAS NOT a front lock issue but rather one of ignorance on my part. Obviously ya can't simulate slippery conditions or poor traction conditions on a dry Florida sidestreet. What do they say...there's no such thing as a stupid question...only stupid people that ask questions. My bad.

 

We've all been there.

One the bright side, based on the times of your posts it took you less than an hour to figure it out. That's quicker than many.

 

That is exactly what it is doing... And no, your diffs aren't locked. You are not supposed to use 4wd on dry / non-slick surfaces. It is not your diff lock that is engaged, it is your transfer case that is locked, spinning your front & rear diff at exactly the same speed, so when you turn, your front axle needs to spin faster then the rear to cover the turning radius, since it is locked to turn the same speed as the rear, the front wheels skid, or try to, because they are only turning at the speed of your slower rear wheels, which could cause you to stall, or worse, break the drive shaft, so I would stop doing that.

It's even worse when you are in 4-lo and actually engage the diff locks, now not only do your front and rear axels turn at the same rate, but all 4 wheels want to turn at the same rate, instead of just 1 front and 1 rear when the diffs are open, which means even more stress on the drive train when turning. Only use 4wd on slippery surfaces, and only use your diff locks when one of your wheels might have less traction than the other on the same axel (like when one is off the ground, or in uneven mud pits)