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4-Wheel Drive Cycle

SkW3rL

SkW3rL

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I apologize if this is in the wrong spot for this question. I did a search, but didn't come up with an answer.

So.. I have only had my truck for roughly 3 weeks and am also new to diesel/4-wheel drive. A few years ago a buddy of mine and I were on our way to work and needed to shift into 4 wheel drive. During the night, the area we were in had received quite a bit of snow and made the gravel road difficult to navigate that morning. It was a push button type, but in a Ford Super Duty, and would not engage. We ended up getting to work with out 4x4 that morning and took it by a dealership in the afternoon to figure out what had happened and why it wouldn't engage. The dealer stated there was nothing wrong with the switch or gears and showed us it was indeed working as intended. The dealer asked if my buddy drove in 4 wheel drive on a flat grade every so often to engage the gear and get the lubrication moving around. He never had a problem with his 4x after that day.

Long, boring story aside, do you guys do anything like that? Run the 4x for no reason, if only to get the juices flowing? I couldn't find anything in the manual, but to be honest, I didn't look real hard either. I just don't want to be stuck in the same boat as my bud... Well, I was in the same boat, I just didn't own the boat then, haha!
 
The vacuum hubs sometimes got stuck on my Ford if you didn't cycle it every so often. The T_case was always rock solid and never had an issue with it.
 
SkW3rL said:
I apologize if this is in the wrong spot for this question. I did a search, but didn't come up with an answer.

So.. I have only had my truck for roughly 3 weeks and am also new to diesel/4-wheel drive. A few years ago a buddy of mine and I were on our way to work and needed to shift into 4 wheel drive. During the night, the area we were in had received quite a bit of snow and made the gravel road difficult to navigate that morning. It was a push button type, but in a Ford Super Duty, and would not engage. We ended up getting to work with out 4x4 that morning and took it by a dealership in the afternoon to figure out what had happened and why it wouldn't engage. The dealer stated there was nothing wrong with the switch or gears and showed us it was indeed working as intended. The dealer asked if my buddy drove in 4 wheel drive on a flat grade every so often to engage the gear and get the lubrication moving around. He never had a problem with his 4x after that day.

Long, boring story aside, do you guys do anything like that? Run the 4x for no reason, if only to get the juices flowing? I couldn't find anything in the manual, but to be honest, I didn't look real hard either. I just don't want to be stuck in the same boat as my bud... Well, I was in the same boat, I just didn't own the boat then, haha!
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that. I have not cycled my 4x4 regularly on my new Ram (only 5k miles), but I will start. It couldn't hurt. I appreciate the tip!
 
My FJ Cruiser had similar requirement in that you were supposed to shift in/out of 4x4 every so often as the sensors that detected that everything was engaged would become dirty and not work. I can find nothing similar for the HDs in the manual or anywhere else I've looked.
 
I would guess with the ford the hubs were not locked in or were not working.

The RAM does not have hubs to turn in or out, but does have the CAD in the front. It is now electric over the vacuum it used to be.

The transfer case actually makes the shift, the CAD slides over a collar to connect the axles.

You wouldn't have to cycle the 4x4, but I always use mine so that keeps it ready.

If you live where you never have to...you probably should shift it every so often.

I always engage mine in November to make sure it is ready for the snow storms that will be coming till March.

But then I try to use mine every weekend.20190530_173158.jpg
 
DevilDodge said:
I would guess with the ford the hubs were not locked in or were not working.

The RAM does not have hubs to turn in or out, but does have the CAD in the front. It is now electric over the vacuum it used to be.

The transfer case actually makes the shift, the CAD slides over a collar to connect the axles.

You wouldn't have to cycle the 4x4, but I always use mine so that keeps it ready.

If you live where you never have to...you probably should shift it every so often.

I always engage mine in November to make sure it is ready for the snow storms that will be coming till March.

But then I try to use mine every weekend.View attachment 1519
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I am in a place where I will not use it very often (Houston). I always regretted not having 4x on my 08 Ram, so I made sure to get this one with it. When the incident happened we were in Wyoming, and there was quite a bit of snow that had come down. I think I will cycle every few months or so, just to keep it moving, even if to verify nothing throws a code.

Thanks for the input everyone!
 
DevilDodge said:
I would guess with the ford the hubs were not locked in or were not working.

The RAM does not have hubs to turn in or out, but does have the CAD in the front. It is now electric over the vacuum it used to be.

The transfer case actually makes the shift, the CAD slides over a collar to connect the axles.

You wouldn't have to cycle the 4x4, but I always use mine so that keeps it ready.

If you live where you never have to...you probably should shift it every so often.

I always engage mine in November to make sure it is ready for the snow storms that will be coming till March.

But then I try to use mine every weekend.View attachment 1519
Click to expand...
Great photo!
 
snowmiser68 said:
Great photo!
Click to expand...
Back story on the photo. 9 years ago a skidder drove right in that very spot and did not sink. Fast forward till 2017. Pennsylvania has had so much rain. My land is on a natural spring and water not only comes down the hill but is coming out of the ground. So for the last 2 years it has just been saturated.

That night I was cutting down dead trees as I have had so many live ones come up by their roots. And yes, it was pouring.

I drove my truck back so far got out dropped the trees and looked back at the truck. It had sunk. 20190530_171549.jpg

It sure did make for easy loading. It was kinda on a slope also so the bed side was right at my thighs, instead of at my shoulders as usual20190530_171510.jpg20190530_171401.jpg

I looked under the truck and the running boards and the pumpkins were in the mud.

I drove in in 2wd. Thought, well let's just go 4lo. Pushed the lever blipped the throttle and it idles right out. Drove back in for the second load. Got out lost my boot in the muck. Thank goodness for vinyl interiors
 
DevilDodge said:
Back story on the photo. 9 years ago a skidder drove right in that very spot and did not sink. Fast forward till 2017. Pennsylvania has had so much rain. My land is on a natural spring and water not only comes down the hill but is coming out of the ground. So for the last 2 years it has just been saturated.

That night I was cutting down dead trees as I have had so many live ones come up by their roots. And yes, it was pouring.

I drove my truck back so far got out dropped the trees and looked back at the truck. It had sunk. View attachment 1526

It sure did make for easy loading. It was kinda on a slope also so the bed side was right at my thighs, instead of at my shoulders as usualView attachment 1527View attachment 1528

I looked under the truck and the running boards and the pumpkins were in the mud.

I drove in in 2wd. Thought, well let's just go 4lo. Pushed the lever blipped the throttle and it idles right out. Drove back in for the second load. Got out lost my boot in the muck. Thank goodness for vinyl interiors
Click to expand...

That's a cool story. My one regret about my new truck is that I couldn't find one a Tradesman with the vinyl interior but all the other goodies I wanted as well (integrated brake controller, 4.10 gears, chrome appearance group, etc.). Thanks for sharing!
 
OP when engaging 4WD be careful if you are on a hard surface you don't want to turn the wheels to sharp as it won't allow the wheels to slip. You can tear up either the rear end or transfer case. Its better to engage on a slippery surface off of the hard road surface. If you do engage it on a paved or concrete surface don't leave it in very long and I wouldn't turn the wheels any more than you have to. It is a good idea to engage it every so often so it keeps the fluids circulating (even if only for short distances) so when you do need it everything will work properly. It isn't very often that the Rams have a problem with the system they are very reliable. Hope this makes sense and it helps.
 
Yep, photoshopped. I am that good.

I did not spin to put any mud on it...look at the tires. That was the hard part. Photoshopping the mud onto the tires.

Damn you figured me out.

It was raining so hard it wouldn't have stuck anyways.
 
It gets mud on it often though20190922_150814.jpg

And 4wd working on a washout
20190922_141618.jpg

I managed to go through mud to get to the hill with only getting mud in the front tire...damn I am good at photoshoping.

When you don't spin or splash...the mud stays put. But when I got back to the main road the mud came out of the tread...still got mud stains on my bed cover...and I haven't cleaned the engine bay yet
 
Mud on the tires - you sneaky bugger :rolleyes:

Im not usually a fan of white trucks but that one sure looks good in the forest.
 
I really hate white trucks...but I have grown to like the way this one looks in the woods.

But the price and options were right on this one. Color be damned
 
Cummins0867 said:
OP when engaging 4WD be careful if you are on a hard surface you don't want to turn the wheels to sharp as it won't allow the wheels to slip. You can tear up either the rear end or transfer case. Its better to engage on a slippery surface off of the hard road surface. If you do engage it on a paved or concrete surface don't leave it in very long and I wouldn't turn the wheels any more than you have to. It is a good idea to engage it every so often so it keeps the fluids circulating (even if only for short distances) so when you do need it everything will work properly. It isn't very often that the Rams have a problem with the system they are very reliable. Hope this makes sense and it helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight. By this do you mean to be on a straight path when engaging 4h on a hard surface? Like, if I did it on a straight highway for a mile, is that too long? Not an appropriate place to be ran?

DevilDodge said:
I really hate white trucks...but I have grown to like the way this one looks in the woods.
Click to expand...

I don't like white trucks either, but when packaged out right, they look really good. My only problem with a plain white truck is they look like a fleet truck and impersonal.
 
The HD trucks do not have 4wd auto like the 1500s.

You should not engage 4wd on dry pavement.

You can engage on wet pavement. And drive as much as you want. There just has to be some slippage.

But, yes, what he was saying was if you have no other option engage 4wd on pavement but do not make turns. Atleast not sharp ones.
 
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