Dave,

Answer me this. Would you rather be driving a rear wheel drive car or a front wheel drive car when traction is limited such as snow/ice or mud/dirt?

A front wheel drive car. This is why having the front end turn slightly faster in a 4wd setup is better.

Having a bigger rear end makes perfect sense because 80-90% of every day use is done with the rear end only. How often do you have your t-case engaged? 10%-20% of the time? And this is probably only when traction is limited enough that youÆre getting slipping on the rear end.


In your analogy I would rather blow up the rear end instead of the front end. If I blow up the rear end I still have the ability to drive and steer. If I blow up the front end there is a MUCH greater chance there could be steering failure too rendering me completely stranded.

Having the front end pulling by a small fraction such as 4.11/4.10 is not like using grade 2 bolts to hold your winch on in a 6000 lb pull. It isn't any different than driving your vehicle backwards in 4wd.

Most t-cases split power 40-60 front to rear. Try this. Put your vehicle in 4wd low range and romp the gas on a loose dirt road. You'll notice it'll start to get a little sideways if you hold the steering wheel straight. Now do the same thing, but in reverse. You'll notice it stays nice and straight. This is because the rear is getting more power (turning faster) than the front because of the 40-60 split. Thus pushing the car when going in forward and pulling the car when going in reverse.

ThatÆs why a slightly faster spinning front end would be better because it will put the split back closer to 50-50.

Logansportage <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />