4WD Lock and Low

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Traveling Man

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It snowed like crazy today. The roads froze over and another layer of snow landed on top. So naturally, I put my truck into 4WD before leaving. This seemed to be a horrible idea.

I just bought this truck a few weeks ago and haven’t tried the 4WD until now. When I put it in “4WD Lock” my entire truck jars and shakes HARD, so hard it’s audible and everything bounces around inside. This happens at 20mph and up. When I put it in “4WD Low” the same happens but at 10mph and up. When I got off the snowy road and tried again, it was fine.

As far as I’m aware. There’s no other issues with the vehicle. It’s ran fine since I got it. Any suggestions? Tips?
Thanks everyone!

2012 RAM 1500 Outdoorsman
5.7L HEMI
2” lift to level
85,000 Miles
Mid Grade Fuel is what I use


Thanks everyone!
 

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Lyle Longboat

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I don’t know what’s happening if you get off the snowy road and it’s fine. Go back on the snowy road and try again and see if something was hung up or just needed to be in 4WD a few times. I wonder how long it went without the 4WD being on before you got it. That is weird though.
 

Lyle Longboat

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Oh, you should move this question to the 4th Gen section as you would get more assistance faster there as this is a 2012.
 

crazykid1994

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If you are not driving in a straight line on hard road you do not want 4wd on or it’ll bind and buck and can break things. Any turning will bind the drivetrain if you have traction. Even off-road with traction will still cause binding in 4wd. 4wd is only designed to be used in low traction scenarios. If you had 4wd auto you would have been fine. Only other thing I could think of would be a bad cv binding and popping but you should be able to feel a vibration from that under normal everyday driving and I wouldn’t expect it to bounce the truck around. Also what leveling kit was used. Please share pictures of the front struts and at the top where the strut mounts.
 

rule18

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Oh, you should move this question to the 4th Gen section as you would get more assistance faster there as this is a 2012.
Just came across this thread and moved it.
 

Mister Luck

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I have 4WD in my 2016/1500 and it doesn't have 4WD auto it has the 44/45 borg warner transfer case.
It’s a little tight when parking I’ve got 33’s on 17 inch rims with a 2 inch lift so it’s kind of forgiving.

If you have lower profile tires your going to feel more road through the steering wheel.

What you should look for is a metal counter weight under the passenger side of the truck tucked up next to the inside frame rail about the size of a large grapefruit small football ,
some people remove this thinking they’re saving extra weight that’s not needed and they’ll get better gas mileage.
but it’s to counter vibration when the transfer case is engaged.
 

MontanaHandyman

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When I put mine into 4wd Hi, I prefer to do it in park or else moving real slow with steering straight ahead. Going into 4 Lo, you should not be moving with the tranny in neutral.
 

Jeepwalker

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Could you tell if it was indeed in 4x4 as it was bucking around?

In snow, yer going to get a lot more traction and stability in locked 4x4 than in the 4x4 auto mode, esp on the highway. Unless you are getting on dry roads on curves. Even then it shouldn't act as you say. I'm basing that on years of commuting in snow/ice in Jeeps and trucks.

Where you would run into problems would be in town when you're making sharp turns onto adjacent roads and the tires get onto dry patches of road. If there is a good blanket of snow on roads, then even making rt turns won't be a problem.

Sounds like something is going on. You might want to raise the front wheels off the ground and wiggle your tks front driveshaft and front axles. Probably isn't those, but, could be a worn driveshaft...
 

62Blazer

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What do you mean when you say "get off the snowy road and tried again". What surface and speeds did you try when it was "ok".

In regards to some other comments, you really shouldn't notice much difference between 2wd and 4wd when cruising down the road even if it's dry pavement unless something is wrong. You do get some binding and tight steering in 4wd at slow speeds....but it's not going to randomly break parts. I did automotive durability testing for years that involved running trucks in 4wd at highway speeds on paved roads, turning, accelerations, etc... and it was rare we ever saw a failure directly related to doing that. I've also been into off-roading and rock crawling since I was kid and always got a chuckle out of people saying a truck would explode and kill a bus full of nuns if you ran 4wd on the pavement....but it was alright to put it in 4 low with the throttle to the floor and go bashing and bouncing over rocks and through mud.
 

Burla

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You need to post way more info then this, especially on how the truck drives in different conditions, surfaces, turning, moving straight, etc etc. Put down as much as you can think of, any noises acs with it?
 
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