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="" />
hey, man, i hate to keep bustin your balls, but you got this all the fk wrong. the Sportage t-case is 50/50, not 40/60. in fact, the only t-cases that allow any slipage between front and rear are full-time 4wd, all wheel drive and some Mitzu Montero cases where they thought that was a good idea. also, some Nissan Pathfinder cases have a viscous coupler, but i don't know if that is prior to the case or at the front out put. either way, the vast, vast majority of t-cases in 4WD rigs (not counting AWD) are 50/50 old skool tech. as it should be.
as far as what i'd rather have driving me in ice, snow and mud? here is my list:
mud- all 4 same time, same speed, period.
snow- on road, wouldn't know, off-road- same as mud
ice- well, if i can help it, i just wouldn't leave the house that day, but if not, i'd just drive very carefully in 2wd and coast a lot, slowing down way before intersections and curves, generally being careful. i guess the same would go for snow on the road, being that it turns to slush and ice. driving on ice is taking you life in your hands no matter what tires, no matter what drivetrain and no matter what experience you may have.
high water crossings- on road, rear wheel drive, off-road- all 4, same time, same speed.
generally, off-road, i want the rear pushing for the above mentioned arguments and i just think it has a better chance of getting me up that dust covered rock ledge without breaking. now, since it's 50/50, they are both moving, but when the front end is pointed at the sky, all the weight is on the rear, the front just spins while the rear climbs.
my t-case is never, ever engaged on pavement. however, as soon as i leave the pavement, it gets shifted into 4-lo. period, no compromises. i'd say that's about 40% of it's driven time, these days, miles will prolly put it at around 10%, but who's counting miles when it takes you 3 hours to go 1.5 of them?
in a front axle, especially and straight axle, you still have plenty of ability to steer if you break a front axle shaft. you can do 3 things to make it so- UNLOCK THE HUB, no steering problems because the broken axle is not moving, or remove the front shaft in unit bearing or full-time 4wd vehicles.
and ps- it's very different from driving your vehicle backwards, if you take into account the ring and pinion gears being directionally cut, weight differences and suspension travel differences between front and rear and the fact you only get one reverse gear in most consumer vehicle transmissions.
to reiterate: front axles are inherently weaker axles due to the steering joints, lopsided axle shaft lengths, locking parts and most being driven on the coast side of an R&P set. they should never take the grunt abuse usually reserved for a rear axle.
