4wd

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Ken226

Senior Member
Military
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Posts
525
Reaction score
508
Location
Washington State
Ram Year
2013
Engine
Hemi
I had a short chance to use my 44-44 in 4-Auto without traction control engaged. There is a ramp to a parking garage where I work, the ramp itself was not plowed and had about 1" of snow on it. The lane you drive on to turn onto the ramp WAS clear. So I attempted to back up the ramp a few times.

I started off in 4-Auto on purpose (in case the snow cleared off from fishtailing in 2WD). Engaged 4-Auto while the front wheels were on clear pavement and the rears were going up the ramp. Didnt HAMMER the throttle, but did give it enough that I knew it should break traction. With traction control off, the fronts pushed the truck up the ramp no problem. Maybe a slight delay in engagement but overall did quite well.

As a control, I rolled back down the ramp, put the truck back in 2WD and attempted the same test. Truck got about 1 foot up the ramp before it started fishtailing and traction control kicked in.

Overall I am happy in this specific case. I think the key to living with the 44-44 is to disable traction control (which, apparently, can be done in any 4WD mode). Just hold the traction control off button for about 10 seconds and the EVIC will say when it is disabled.


Pretty much, exactly.

Knowing its weaknesses and taking steps to mitigate them will give you years of use with little trouble.

Problems occur when the driver doesn't understand those limitations or how to mitigate them.
 
Last edited:

fivestar

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Posts
128
Reaction score
60
Location
Ohio
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7L Hemi
Not trying to be stupid, so I apologize.....what does turning traction control off do to help mitigate this "issue" with the transfer case?

Its funny, as on the Sunday of the winter storm Harper I took the Ram out to my parents with my snowblower in the bed. Here in NE Ohio we had gotten somewhere around 6-8 inches of snow. Turning out in my road, in 2wd I was obviously stuck. Didnt expect any less, but I was just playing around. I immediately put it into 4 hi (loc) and noticed a delay in moving forward. It was exactly as described here....the rear had to spin before I felt the front engage. Very odd, and unfortunately I hadn't researched my Ram purchase very well. Never knew that was a thing. Its expected from the 4auto, but I honestly thought that 4loc would be the normal 4wd high range. The thought of turning the traction control off never occurred to me. Again, I had no issue at all in driving around....the Ram did fine in all the snow. But this was a definite surprise.
 

chrisbh17

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Posts
6,691
Reaction score
7,473
Ram Year
2017
Engine
Hemi 5.7
There are a few videos showing the front wheels slipping, pulling, slipping, pulling, etc over and over again. All the while the truck goes nowhere. It doesn't happen often but it seems there are cases where the xfer case looks like it doesn't know what to do

My theory is that traction control interferes because the fronts need rear wheel slip for them to get power, while traction control uses the rear brakes to keep the rears from slipping. So the truck gets into a situation where the rears are getting traction, slipping,, over and over again which causes the xfer case to apply, release, apply, release, etc.

Fully (in any 4wd mode, press and hold the traction control button until you see the evic message) disabling tc seems to make the system work better at least in my limited testing.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

fivestar

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2019
Posts
128
Reaction score
60
Location
Ohio
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7L Hemi
I see. Thanks for the explanation.
 
Top