4WD a nightmare at slow speeds

[got3fords]

Here is an example on Maple Lane, a notorious bad intersection in Big Bear, CA. Many of the vehicles are AWD or 4WD.

Now that's good TV!

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[Trustable]

So, as most of you suspected, the culprit was my ignorance. My knowledgeable service manager, who drives an F150 and knows 4WD quite well, took the truck out and said what I was experiencing was definitely in the realm of "normal" in terms of bucking and lurching. When I asked why it wasn't quick to shift in to 2H when I wanted to turn into a parking spot, he said to make sure that there is no torque being applied either way (acceleration or braking); this allows the components to disengage and to turn easily into the space. He even suggested to shift into neutral briefly if it is safe to do so. He also said to head to Menard's and get some 70 lb. sandbags!

Thanks for the help, everyone. Not too late to teach an old goat something new!

Glad you got it figured out. If you don’t use 4wd very often in snowy conditions there is really no way you would know how it behaves until you try it. Not sure if this will help you but when turning into parking lots or out of a driveway instead of hitting the gas I just let the truck idle onto the road that way it won’t lose traction if you press the pedal a bit to much.

 

[Cmar]

Fortunately for us there's YouTube and we can watch all these boat ramp fails.

Excellent, we also have a place called Fraser Island not far away from where I live, it's a VERY popular 4x4 spot, - there are no roads on Fraser (also called 'Gari) just sand tracks, but some people can't even make if off the beach to the barge which takes you over from Inskip point. 4x4 doesn't help much on sand if you don't know how to use it.

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