Originally Posted by
wagoo
I tend to agree with Tebone.
One scenario where I find constant 4wd a PITA is when exiting a lane or driveway onto a busy road. You have a bit of left hand lock wound on,One or both front wheels are in the gutter, you see a short break in the traffic and give it some berries to accellerate into the traffic stream and all you get is massive front axle tramp with the possibility of breaking a front diff, halfshaft, CV joint, or all of the above because the centre diff,together with the front diff sends power to the wheel (left front) with the least resistance.Due to the 2:1 step up ratio of differential action multiplied by both the centre and front diffs, that spinning hopping wheel is spinning at 4 times the speed it would if all 4 wheels had equal traction.You can imagine the shockloading on that wheel drive components once the other wheels get a bit of drive.
For Australian conditions where the majority of the populace do not live in the snow belt, constant 4wd is an unnecessary complication IMO. A competent 4 wheel driver knows when to engage the front axle to improve vehicle control on loose slippery surfaces.
A decent strong diff in the bum and selective 4wd is all that is needed IMO, but LandRover steadfastly refuse to provide the former with later models
I knew a bloke many years ago who was a dead set Hoon who used to try to impress everyone by doing burnouts in his 400 cu inch Chev powered Rangey. He broke virtually everything on that vehicle untill he made a spool for the centre diff to allow selective 2wd/4wd and slapped a built 9'' diff in the bum.Very few problems after that despite remaining a hoon.
Bill.