Just from sitting in my driveway on pure ice and in ruts I'm going to say even in 4lock you are getting zero transfer at all. I can have the tires spinning in gear and front tires have no torque to them whatsoever backs are locked and turning in unison. I don't seem to get any front wheel assist of any sort until 10-15% throttle. I do alot of deep snow driving (Usually over a foot) and I sometimes when I get rammy with the throttle I can actually feel it hook up and sometimes it'll pull the steering wheel. So the answer to your question this is my honest opinion is no the transfer case isn't putting anything to the wheels at low speeds, my voltage reading on the transfer case clutch packs also comfirms that at zero volts while idling in drive so they're not engaging. Almost any other truck with wheels turned full left or right will give you a feed back that you have torque transfer, these trucks give you nothing. Essentially it's a glorified awd setup only gives you torque when demanded.
Pretty $hitty system if you ask me. I miss the days of a t case shift lever and a light in the dash that only worked half the time lol!
I like all the work you are trying on our transfer cases.
That said I'm afraid you may be ******* into a hurricane with what you are trying.
From what I have gathered over the the last few years and from what I have observed.
1) the programing to the BCM for the transfer case is dismal.
a) when in lock mode the computer sends power to the clutch when the rear wheels slip
b) when in auto mode the computer sends power to the clutch when it detects rear wheel slippage
1) not much difference
2) when the transmission is in neutral or park the clutch is disengaged regardless of the transfer case mode
a) park on a slippery icy hill, leave it in 4 hi or lo release the brake and start sliding backwards in 2wd
3) when going downhill on ice in lo4 and first gear the rear will slowly turn and start sliding the fronts will not hold back
4) reguardless of the 4wd mode selected you will almost never feel any front wheel bind or pull
5) in any and all 4wd modes the rear tires have to slip to engage the fronts, it is my understanding fromreading and viewing various parts breakdowns that there is a ball and cam at the input to the electric clutch, the cam is on the clutch and the ball is powered by the rear shaft.
When the rears exceed the speed of the front when in 4wd the ball is forced into the cam ramp by the torque applied to the rear wheels which in turn tightens the clutch pack to pass the torque thru to the front.
That is why in low traction, low throttle situations the front end will not pull or just kind of shudder.
Without sufficient traction for the rear wheels to develop any torque the ball is not clamping the clutch pack together, which results in slipping of the clutch and shuddering in the front axle.
6) what I haven't tried yet when I'm in a low traction situtation and the front is not pulling is to gently apply the emergency brake to try and give the rear a false traction and torque to engage the ball and cam for the front axle. This years mild winter has not gotten me in a situation of being in a very low traction situation and not getting 4wd and having to walk, which so far has happened at least once a year with this fancy RAM and its almost worthless transfer case.
7) with that said there are a few times when I like this transfer case, when I'm pulling loads out of a hay or corn field or even an empty wagon into a field it works good because I have some what decent rear traction which enables the same from the front axle.
8) to sum it up I do not believe that the electrical activation of the clutch pack can handle any more then a minuscule amount of torque
without the assist from the rear.
It is a shame because it has the potential to be an excellent transfer case, in my opinion it is built backwards it should have a spring pack to keep it firmly engaged untill electrically/hydraulically disengaged.
Lou
