4WD Lock or 4WD Auto?

[Sir John]

Well, I guess the Ram I bought does everything I would ever need it to do. Obviously, for some of you it does not. I agree that I would like a different TC and a electronic locking rear (like my 2013 F150 had), but since I'll never go off road with it, neither is necessary for me. I only got 4WD for the snow and it works awesome in it. I won't waste anymore space in this thread because I do not have anything else to add.

 

[SyN]

John I appreciate you sharing your experiences and advice in this thread! I as well will never take my Ram off-roading in 4WD unless for emergency. Only interstate/highway/in town driving in Snow be it 20" or 3" as well as Ice. So I really have no need for a Serious 4WD Truck!

Though time will tell if I am stuck and yelling and cursing this 4WD System...

I don't really know how well these so called Anti-Slip rear ends work in these Rams! This is my First Go with Them... But I know the one in my F250 4x4 worked pretty dang good-->Though I changed the gear oil every 40K miles! And did proper maintenance on the unit! If our winters keep getting worse I just might look into doing something to the front differential to help with more traction...

I know every one of us have different needs and wants for our 4WD Systems... Some Owners have alot more demanding needs for their 4WD systems then others... I understand that 100%!

I know now by all of Your Comments this TC is Far from Perfect... But Please Respect others thoughts and experiences...

Thanks to all of You for sharing your Thoughts! I had NO idea there were some what issues with the design of this TC until now...

 

[smiley]

Well put respect and is great for the conversation. A lot of valid points made and I for one just love hearing from people out there about the Ram.

 

[Hemi395]

This does seem to be a somewhat spotty problem. Sir John isnt having a problem with the 44-44 as well as several other people. There's a video of a truck in 4low at idle spinning the front wheel. Then there's the video of my truck. Same tcase but they behave totally different.

At any rate I'm really hoping all the responses on this thread, the other one on here, and several other threads on other forums will eventually get the attention of Ram. Hopefully it will prompt them to update the software to make the clutch engage and stay engaged while in 4lock and 4low.

 

[Crazy4info]

We will see how long mine lasts. Read lots of posts saying "use it like a truck, and see how it does". These are funny. You guys must take your $40k trucks and pound them on mud trails all day, every day I guess. Mine will see the frozen lake, and has already done logging roads with lots of snow. Don't mind the ugly mug, but the truck back when it was stock still did just fine. Hard to see but well over a foot of snow. I do have the lsd and think that helped a lot. Like I said, I'll see how long it lasts before it goes.

 

[PostalTwo]

I have a 14 sport. I bought it in January and after finding out about the " problems " decided to do a test of my own. Took a buddy with me that has a lifted jeep Cherokee just in case. Drove my truck through about 18" of snow on a construction site and up a 45 degree incline. That was good enough for me. Then I tried to get it stuck, it took a lot basically had to put it in a deep drift and sink it.

Then I took it out to an empty parking lot and tested the 4 lock and auto. What I found was auto let's much more rear wheel spin then 4 lock.

In the end I concluded for me it's all the 4x4 I will ever need. Actually I think it preforms great

 

[parttimer]

Got mine back from service and getting 2 tires on. They told me the auto setting didn't like i had 2 old tires and 2 new tires. I had ripped a sidewall out back in February so I put a pair of tires on to replace the one I tore. So 10k miles later I got my other replacement pair and now have 4 Cooper tires on the truck, Auto still sucks. They said again because of the wear difference. I can't believe 10-12k miles on set of 55k tires makes that big of a difference. And what if someone gets a hole in one tire, they are forced to buy 3 new just because the system can't compensate?

 

[Selcher]

Got mine back from service and getting 2 tires on. They told me the auto setting didn't like i had 2 old tires and 2 new tires. I had ripped a sidewall out back in February so I put a pair of tires on to replace the one I tore. So 10k miles later I got my other replacement pair and now have 4 Cooper tires on the truck, Auto still sucks. They said again because of the wear difference. I can't believe 10-12k miles on set of 55k tires makes that big of a difference. And what if someone gets a hole in one tire, they are forced to buy 3 new just because the system can't compensate?

Yeah, that's ******* ridiculous... Like really? The auto system detects when tires aren't the exact same age? DAFUQ?

 

[parttimer]

That's what I said! One blow out costs you a grand in tires. I can't believe it's that precise.

 

[smiley]

Auto 4WD probably uses some of the same principals and sensors namely the ABS sensors to help identify slip so it can engage. Having tires that are wore differently possible in excess of 4/32nds certainly could make a difference. You would have to check them with tread depth tool as age alone would not matter but tread depth certainly could.

 

[PostalTwo]

Got mine back from service and getting 2 tires on. They told me the auto setting didn't like i had 2 old tires and 2 new tires. I had ripped a sidewall out back in February so I put a pair of tires on to replace the one I tore. So 10k miles later I got my other replacement pair and now have 4 Cooper tires on the truck, Auto still sucks. They said again because of the wear difference. I can't believe 10-12k miles on set of 55k tires makes that big of a difference. And what if someone gets a hole in one tire, they are forced to buy 3 new just because the system can't compensate?

10 k miles? Sounds like there full Of crap. I have that on mine now and I've burned 1/32 of tread and haven't rotated my truck is perfect 0 prob with the 4x4. Obviously u have a real problem there and it's not the minuscule different in tire tread.

 

[smiley]

10k is about 1/4 of the tread on many brands.

 

[loveracing1988]

10k is about 1/4 of the tread on many brands.

Or in the case of the Transforce tires they put on the 2500's that is 90% of the tread.

 

[NYCruiser]

Ha ha! Must be the tires fault because the dealer doesn't warrantee them.

 

[PostalTwo]

OK so I was talking to a friend of mine, he has a 2011 sport and he says that he def has a 44-44 case he looked when he did his tcase oil change. Now he say that in 4 lock it binds and doesn't steer well. So I don't think the issue of not being locked is the tcase but something else. What do u guys think? Front. Axle disconnect maybe?

 

[Hemi395]

OK so I was talking to a friend of mine, he has a 2011 sport and he says that he def has a 44-44 case he looked when he did his tcase oil change. Now he say that in 4 lock it binds and doesn't steer well. So I don't think the issue of not being locked is the tcase but something else. What do u guys think?

From what I understand this is a 13+ tcase only. The 09-12s had the NV246 tcase which does lock/bind so that makes sense on his 11.

Is there a tag on it specifically saying its a 44-44? Mine has a tag right on it that says "Borgwarner 44-44 Torque On-Demand".

 

[NYCruiser]

The 44-44 cases were noticed to not lock the way the NV cases did even back in 2011 when they started using them. Its become more of a problem in the newer trucks because of the advanced EVIC's that now get overheat alarms while monitoring the output shaft clutches. I think the older trucks would just cook 'em without throwing codes.

Here's an old thread about it:

http://www.ramforum.com/f40/bw44-44_transfer_case-8168/

 

[Hemi395]

So the 44-44s have been in these trucks since the 2011?

 

[NYCruiser]

Apparently so. It became worse in the '13+ trucks though because the EVIC will disable 4WD now when the clutches heat up (limp mode) and give you an EVIC message. That's real convenient out in the woods. The older 4th gens would just let you beat the crap out of them without the limp mode, I think.

Makes me glad I cheaped out and got an express. LOL I had an appointment with my dealer to trade for a higher trim truck and I cancelled it because I couldn't get one without the AWD xfer case. I guess I'll be special ordering my next truck.

 

[Hemi395]

Somehow I missed that through all these threads about this. I almost bought a leftover 12 when I got my truck and up until now I've been kicking myself for not getting it figuring it had the NV246.