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

[Lucchese]

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

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[NC_Pinz]

Thanks for publishing for folks to consider and discuss.

One item that makes no sense is the slippery mode and 4A. It says driveline issues can occur on dry pavement. That is flat wrong. The 4A allows for slippage between the front and rear drivelines. Heck Sport mode uses 4A on dry pavement.

 

[Coldsmoke]

Hence, the importance to RTFM.

 

[Lucchese]

Thanks for publishing for folks to consider and discuss.

One item that makes no sense is the slippery mode and 4A. It says driveline issues can occur on dry pavement. That is flat wrong. The 4A allows for slippage between the front and rear drivelines. Heck Sport mode uses 4A on dry pavement.

yes, I wondered if Ford just lazily copied that from the Part-Time 4x4 section, or if there's some other reason - if the build has Advanced 4x4 you would think ' Slippery ' would be okay since using 4A Mode

 

[zuke]

The reason for not using slippery mode on dry pavement probably has more to do with the throttle, braking, and shift programming differences between sport and slippery.

Slippery definitely cuts throttle response, while sport increases it. Sport Stiffens the steering, not sure if Slippery does anything to it. Both probably have entirely different shift points and brake modulation too.

 

[BlazinGTO]

As for the comments regarding slippery mode and dry pavement using 4A.

I can't say that is a mistake for sure. If you use 4A in normal mode, the drive train will switch to 4wd and 2wd as needed. In slippery mode, 4wd never deactivates. I can't say what happens in sport mode. Maybe someone can chime in.

I realize how 4A is suppose to work regarding the clutch to allow slippage, but I'm just pointing out something I've noticed using slippery mode vs normal when in 4A.

You can watch you power output to each wheel under the offroad road and then power distribution on the dash.

 

[BroncoAZ]

In Baja mode I can then select 2 high and drive it on the street without binding. I just did that on the way home from an appointment, it drove great and the front camera stays on.

 

[Deleted member 9490]

Haha in other words, a 4 wheel drive vehicle with lockers takes common sense to operate.

 

[jsteph262]

Haha in other words, a 4 wheel drive vehicle with lockers takes common sense to operate.

Common sense is in short supply these days, especially when it comes to the operation of vehicles.

 

[blsbikes2]

If in 4wd by accident, you will 'feel' it and hear it while driving and trying to turn the vehicle. It will fight you and sometimes make some funky noises. If you keep pushing it then yes you will break something, but there is usually plenty of warning. I never experienced it but I assume a similar behavior from dry driving with the lockers on. Bottom line you should have plenty of warning before something breaks.

 

[BroncoAZ]

If in 4wd by accident, you will 'feel' it and hear it while driving and trying to turn the vehicle. It will fight you and sometimes make some funky noises. If you keep pushing it then yes you will break something, but there is usually plenty of warning. I never experienced it but I assume a similar behavior from dry driving with the lockers on. Bottom line you should have plenty of warning before something breaks.

My 87 Bronco with dual ARB lockers would make one hell of a racket doing a tight u turn in first gear with both lockers engaged. I usually saved that spectacle for high end retail parking lots in Tucson when I was young and dumber. La Encantata on North Tucson has a traffic circle between the restaurants that was a favorite target. Everything was beefed up and I never broke anything, just more tire wear.

 

[Lil Red Broncette]

Seems like pretty standard stuff to me. 4WD as compared to AWD usually doesn't allow slip between the front and rear drive shaft so even with unlocked diff on each if the rear doesn't exactly match the front there will be tension wound up in the drive train which will cause hopping both of which can cause damage. Stuff in turning will be noticed as well.

Lockers just prevent differential from allowing slip which compounds the issue.

The mystery for me is that at Off Rodeo they had us go into 4WD while on pavement, and even drive some distance and around turns, on pavement. I noted that there was no tightness in steering nor skipping nor binding in drive train. That led me to conclude, that at least with the advanced trac transfer case that it had the equivalent of a differential between the front and rear axles or some sort of limited slip there. My non advance trac clearly does get tight and skip if I have it in 4WD on dry pavement and try to turn as I accidently did it once.

It sort of bothers me that the advance trac in 4WD seemed to allow slip between front and rear. In 4A yes I would want that, but not 4WD since if the transfer case allows front/rear slip when in 4WD one slipping wheel could get you stuck. Lockers can help that tho.

 

[gryphon1231]

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

Yes, you should obviously RTFM. but all kind of obvious if you've ever driven a 4wd vehicle.

 

[ATLBronco75]

Somebody doesn't have 4A.

 

[mpeugeot]

In Baja mode I can then select 2 high and drive it on the street without binding. I just did that on the way home from an appointment, it drove great and the front camera stays on.

Exactly. You just can't go into 4A.

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