PSA: How Much Drivetrain Damage can happen from pushing the wrong Button ?

[BroncoB]

Was wondering if anyone else’s Bronco behaves like mine. If I change the goat mode to say sand mode, it does it’s thing and goes into 4h and turns on the rear lockers. If I leave it in sand mode and turn the vehicle off, the dash asks me if I want to stay in sand mode when restarted and is defaulted to yes. If I do nothing or select no, it goes into normal mode but 4h and rear locker stays on and I have to manually turn those off or they stay on. The manual makes it seem like 4h and rear lockers should turn off when reverting back to normal on startup. Does anyones turn off 4h snd the lockers when reverting to normal on startup?
A couple times I’ve found myself with 4h on and don’t know how or when it went into 4h.

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[cbrenthus]

Its a Ford - damage can be sustained anytime after pressing the ignition button

 

[BroncoT]

That’s a great write-up and probably deserves it’s own dedicated thread. Well done!

I can do that in a few weeks. Wouldn’t mind some feedback, recommendations to ensure it’s ready, accurate, and as helpful as possible.

 

[sledboy]

Maybe because someone would want to disconnect the sway bar even by accident while traveling at 90 mph through the hills of WV on I79 or I70 west of Golden, CO. Or Colorado state roads 13 and 139. Or out of Steamboat Springs over Rabbit Ears Pass. You definitely do NOT want the sway bar disconnected on some of these 55-65 mph posted hairpins.

There is a time and place to disconnect

The sway bar can only be disconnected at speeds under 20 mph. I'm not suggesting removing that. I'm just suggesting being able to disconnect it in 4A and 2H. Once we go over 20 mph, it would reconnect.

 

[sledboy]

4b). Wear. Staying in 4L and driving highway speeds requires more time in top gear (10th for the auto).

Just one correction... In 4L, the auto transmission is limited to gears 1-7. It will not shift into 8-10.

 

[Jdc]

Owner's Manual over 550 pages - have people read it

True or False ?
. . driving regular streets can cause major damage if,

A) . . select the wrong G.O.A.T. Mode ?

B) . . push the wrong 4WD button ?

C) . . dash buttons Front or Rear Lockers ?

D) . . dash button Trail Turn Assist ?


Answer
- all True
- these easy mistakes can damage the transmission drivetrain

A) GOAT Modes ' Sand ', ' Mud/Ruts ', ' Rock Crawl ', and ' Baja ' default to mechanically locked 4WD - and ' Slippery ' also w Part-Time 4x4
- these Modes are not made for regular dry pavement

- dry pavement advisable GOAT Modes are ' Normal ', ' Eco ', & ' Sport '

B) Four-wheel High ( 4H ) and Four-wheel Low ( 4L ) use mechanically locked 4WD
- these are not made for dry pavement

C) the Front & Rear ' Lockers ' mechanically lock your differentials. These prevent the normal differential slip when making turns - these are not for dry pavement

D) Trail Turn Assist requires 4H or 4L 4WD
- this is not for dry pavement


A driver could be new to 4x4's - not familiar w 4-wheel drive
- maybe your 17-year-old wants to take the Bronco for burgers & fries. Can they really resist all those neat buttons & fancy lights ?

Reading the manual has some surprises. For example the various GOAT Mode defaults. These also depend which transmission you have. Wanted to document some of these drivetrain features/variations as a reminder -
Bronco has fantastic 4x4 technology and deserves a driver who knows how to use it
- some highlighted pages

Funny story, so I finally got THE email yesterday that my bronco had arrived. I went to the dealership, and hopped in to the bronco for a test drive and immediately started playing with goat modes(I haven't driven one since the off-roadeo last September). While I'm playing with the goat modes, the sales guy shows up with my license (he made a copy) and I take off. After turning on to the main road I'm thinking hmmm this thing is accelerating ok but something is off.... I left it in slippery mode.

 

[BAUS67]

I have been keeping up on this thread but have not chimed in because I grew up on "sticks" not "buttons". But it is still the same principle. If you go on the trails, you should know the basics of how your rig works. All though I have not a build date yet I did get a chance tear up the trails at my local wheeling spot in an OBX non Squatch. Long story short, I was too busy talking to the guide and ended up a bit over half way through before I finally got a BANG, ..... screeeeech, tire spin. The guide looked up and hit the rear locker and I looked down and said, "I guess I should put it in 4WD....... oh, and get out of normal mode" I put it in sport and 4H continued on. IMO the GOAT modes are just an aid to help the novice. Instead of, as the guide and I did, "manually" selected what we wanted the GOAT will automatically do the same. My advice for those novices just use sport and push the 4H or if no sport then mud and ruts would be the closest guess until you get a handle on how it all works.

Now keeping all this in mind I can say this, I was VERY impress how far I went through as if it were driving on the street. Now we were not riding on black rated trails either, but it was still impressive. I even made a washout crossing in normal 2WD. As I came up to it, I started up towards the high side to get the proper angle to cross the washout and the guide looked over and said, " You've have done this before huh??" ...... to which I replied, "For many years."

Enough of my random, rambling thoughts ............... for now.

 

[Thiskers]

So i drove around in BAJA 2H today and hated it. It felt like i was raping the engine with how high it kept the RPM's. I dont know much about cars , and know its an off road mode , but it really seemed like the car was fighting this mode. Is it bad for the car? It felt like every time it shifted it was completely wrong , like i could do better with the manual switch on the gear shift.

I am sort of addicted to the sound and acceleration so i was wondering if anybody had any suggestions. Do they sell plug in sport mode modules? I really like this "all out" mode for driving around its tons of fun , however I dunno if baja in 2h is good for the tranny or engine with those RPM's like that

You can pickup forscan and one of the recommended devices. With forscan you can add sport mode and make other changes you can't via the settings.

There are also some devices that are sold that change the accelerator curve...but sport mode changes a bit more than just the accelerator curve.

 

[Snowdogyyz]

So i drove around in BAJA 2H today and hated it. It felt like i was raping the engine with how high it kept the RPM's. I dont know much about cars , and know its an off road mode , but it really seemed like the car was fighting this mode. Is it bad for the car? It felt like every time it shifted it was completely wrong , like i could do better with the manual switch on the gear shift.

I am sort of addicted to the sound and acceleration so i was wondering if anybody had any suggestions. Do they sell plug in sport mode modules? I really like this "all out" mode for driving around its tons of fun , however I dunno if baja in 2h is good for the tranny or engine with those RPM's like that

Read up on FORSCAN.

 

[greenmachine343]

Read up on FORSCAN.

doesnt that void the warranty?

I would love sport mode itself , but not if it voids warranty.

 

[Snowdogyyz]

doesnt that void the warranty?

I would love sport mode itself , but not if it voids warranty.

There’s isn’t a 100% answer on it. Many say the mode is already there and just gets “unlocked” so there is no warranty issue. Others say it’s not as purchased and could void it. Really up to how YOU feel about worth the risk or not!

 

[greenmachine343]

There’s isn’t a 100% answer on it. Many say the mode is already there and just gets “unlocked” so there is no warranty issue. Others say it’s not as purchased and could void it. Really up to how YOU feel about worth the risk or not!

if you use forscan and disable it before work is done on the vehicle , is it detectable?

 

[JohnnyBronco]

The sway bar can only be disconnected at speeds under 20 mph. I'm not suggesting removing that. I'm just suggesting being able to disconnect it in 4A and 2H. Once we go over 20 mph, it would reconnect.

Sway bars are a modern invention/convenience. Solid front axle 1939 Fords did not need nor would have much benefitted from. Twin I beam F 150s, probably not so much either. Found their way from race and performance vehicles onto passenger vehicles only as options in the 60s and 70s. I'm talking both front and rear. N

 

[JohnnyBronco]

It's pretty easy to spot the old school off-roaders from the new-tech folks when I come off the beach at the dune crossing.
When I drive my 1974 and most other older rigs, you have to back up some to take the torque-bind off the drivetrain to shift out of 4wd. The new-tech folks will pull up close right behind you and wonder what you are doing.
The old school folks know to give you some room.

Preach on bro! First 4wd i had that you could shift on the fly was an S10. Or was itva Cherokee. Anyway those you had to shift only under 50 mph or so. Our Broncos can be shifted in and out at any speed.

Also. If they had to drive a car without 1st gear synchro they would destroy it in a minute. Double-clutching can become a habit

 

[BroncoBuckaroo]

a minor Note
- I did not presume to post this thread as ' PSA '

this morning my thread Title was :
' QUIZ - How Much Damage can happen from pushing the wrong Button ? '

then about 20-minutes later the Mods changed it to the present thread Title
' PSA: Transmission drivetrain damage can . . . '

which is okay by me - prob should be PSA

Good to know because the word “transmission” in the title is mostly incorrect.

unless you have catastrophic failure, the transmission health will be mostly unaffected by locker or GOAT mode mis use. What will be affected is your “transfer case”, differentials, axles and other misc drivetrain components. To be more simplistic you are trying to prevent BINDING. A transmission (auto or manual ) will not cause binding In most cases. The reason they tell you to use neutral vs parking mode when engaging the transfer case is because the (prawl) mechanism is not engaged in neutral while it is in park. This allows the the transmission internals to have free movement while the Bronco is running and thus better interact with the transfer case engagement. The binding in most cases is caused by the 4x4 system not being able to adjust ea wheel because it’s on dry pavement and all wheels are hooking up at once. In shops that do transfer case, axle, clutch and transmission work ..it’s usually the transfer case and axles that need work from improper 4x4 use.

in the days before push button GOAT modes, you still had these same modes to some extent, but it was the driver that created them via off roading skills.

what components did you have back in the day Let’s say a 1972 Bronco :

manual 2H, 4H and 4L transfer case
rear limited slip (maybe changed to full time after market locker)
dana 44 with Warn free wheeling hubs
an automatic or 3 speed manual on the column.
Maybe 31“or 33“ tires and small lift

so if you wanted to go off roading you would in essence create your own limited GOAT modes by yourself Using combos of the following.

speed control via gas pedal
what speed transfer case was in
using brake and gas pedal same time depending on conditions
go out and manual lock the front hubs if needed
and the lovely manual 3 speed column shifter

it Was a lot of fun

so you learned how not to bind up your drivetrain from other off-roaders and by trial and error.

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