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Old 11-05-2011, 10:41 AM   #11
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Re: Recommended max speed in 4WD High?....

2horse is right. And Saline's post is one reason why.

In 4wd tires must slip or you will get severe windup somewhere in the drivetrain. In Saline's case the front driveshaft seems to have given away from the stress. In the other case, tires are slipping, I will be going slower than normal.

Mike

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Old 11-05-2011, 10:50 AM   #12
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Re: Recommended max speed in 4WD High?....

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2horsegarage
Just a thought... Not SMB owner, but plenty of 4WD experience. If you can go 100 mph or 75 for that matter, why would u need to be in 4WD???
We drive gravel roads all the time at speeds in those ranges in 4WD. Not in the SMB mind you, don't do much over 80 on the Highway in good conditions in it. My wife and I were in Baja last week marking the Baja 1000 course in our Jeep Cherokee and did many high speed miles in 4WD.

A few years back I was racing a Ford F150 Class 8 in the Baja 2000 (can you guess what year it was). It had a Borg Warner 1356 in it with a widened Dana 44 Twin Traction Beam with 20 inches of travel. We raced all ~1750 miles with the hubs locked - that addresses the question: "Can I leave my hubs locked...".

We only used 4WD High Range and only on the better roads and in Silt Beds. Front steering U-joints wouldn't hold up to torque loading of running in the whoops. On the better roads we saw speeds of up to 120 Mph for extended distance all in 4WD. The truck was running 9th Overall with only 400 miles to go when cross threaded lug nuts caused a rear hub failure - fixed and finished 3rd in Class.

The point of this rant:
1) You can leave your front hubs locked all the time as long as the front differential differentiates.
2) You can drive as fast as you want to in 4WD in low traction situations.
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Old 11-05-2011, 11:12 AM   #13
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Re: Recommended max speed in 4WD High?....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350
In 4wd tires must slip or you will get severe windup somewhere in the drivetrain.
I bought a 4X4 Suburban one time from a Survey Company for pennies on the dollar because it would not move in their parking lot. They assumed something was badly broken. Returned that evening to get it with a Floor Jack; and when I jacked up one corner, it unwound the drive train like a wind-up rubber band airplane. Drove it for years with no repairs needed.

4WD should only be used in low traction conditions, like packed snow, gravel roads...

You can use 4WD for short distances in straight lines, like boat ramps, or stump pulling ...

The problem comes from turning; inside and outside wheels travel different distances during the turn, thus the need for differentials in the axles. The front and rear axles also travel different distances during the turn, but without a differential in the transfer case, the system winds up and binds - or breaks.
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Old 11-05-2011, 10:38 PM   #14
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Re: Recommended max speed in 4WD High?....

Little slow on the ball, but this is a classic:

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Old 11-07-2011, 01:33 AM   #15
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Re: Recommended max speed in 4WD High?....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350
But nothing says you can't go over 100mph in 4wd, does it?

Mike
Well, unless you have a tuner with governor over-ride, the vans are electronically limited to 100 MPH. I think the diesels may be limited to even less.
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Old 11-07-2011, 10:25 AM   #16
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Re: Recommended max speed in 4WD High?....

I think the bottom line here is this:

You will exceed the limits of common sense and the law long before
you reach a mechanical speed limit in either 2WD or 4WD.
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