owned my 2007 Wrangler for a few months and never put it in 4wd so this morning I Was out today and found a muddy dirt field and figured what the hell, i drove in and put it in 4wd to check it out all was good till i turned, i didnt turn it sharp only to turn around and the steering wheel started jerking awful when i lessoned the turn it stopped so i tried it the other way and got the same thing, this cant be normal...any thoughts?
jerky turning
- Thread starter mrmagooo
- Start date
fairly firm and muddy
Dawgvet06
New member
mrmagooo said:
That's most likely normal in 4wd. When you turn, and the front wheels are not engaged in 4wd, the wheel to the inside of the turning radius is turning more rapidly, and the wheel to the outside is turning more slowly (larger turning radius than the inner). When 4wd is engaged, the front wheels are forced to turn at the same speed, and when you turn, the inner wheel wants to go faster, thanks to physics, but can't, and this results in some slipping or skipping of the inside wheel as you turn, which jerks the steering wheel. Bottom line, you can't turn in as tight a radius when in 4wd without this happening.
Someone correct me if I got which wheel turns faster wrong, it's been a little while since I had any physics.
