04 Grinding Noise in 4 Wheel Drive

[UrOnline]

Hi. I just purchased an 04 Explorer XLT with 90,000 miles. I'm new to the SUV world.

When in 4 wheel drive and turning (in either direction) the front end makes a terrible grinding noise. I've searched the forum and have found many replies to this topic. The general answer seems to be that it's a big no-no to use 4 wheel drive on dry ground. I found this problem while backing in to my driveway. Since the driveway was icy and the street was dry, I put it in to 4 Wheel before I started to turn in to my driveway (thus the turn was on dry ground).

My question is: It seems that this a definitely a problem with older Explorers. Is this a problem with newer ones as well? And will I have the same problem on snow? (It just seems hard to believe that it works so horrible on dry ground, and will work good on snow or ice.)

Thanks.

 

[Blee1099]

You don't wanna use 4wd in dry pavement. Try it in 2wd and see if the sound persist. If it doesn't, its probably your tires gripping the pavement or your outside tire spinning faster than your inside tire when your turning.

 

[EMG7895]

The problem on dry ground is that there is too much traction and it causes binding, which makes grinding noises. 4wd is not awd, and any 4wd would do this on dry pavement. Looses surfaces allow slip with allow the wheels to turn at slightly different speeds, instead of binding up and grinding.

 

[UrOnline]

Thanks for the reply. In 2 wheel Drive it's fine. I hope I won't have the problem when I'm in 4 wheel in the snow. After all I'm still under the 3 month dealer waranty (and who knows when it will snow next). I've never wanted snow so much until I got an SUV.

 

[trucku]

Just leave it in auto and you will be fine. My truck is great in the snow. Never had to ever use 4x4 hi or low. Auto engages 4x4 on demand and works great ( well after I changed out my defective module...lol). 4x4 in heavy snow or very loose ground. In 4x4 the truck will attempt to turn all the wheels the same revolutions. When turning The inside wheel has less distance to travel and wants to turn slower so you get that binding and front end jump in some cases as the axle stresses on that wheel to keep it at speed.

 

[daprez1963]

are you serious?

90,000 on a '04?

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omg....where in the world did the previous owner drive to in 2 years. That like over a 120 miles a day for 2 years str8. Good luck with it in the future.

 

[FordLover]

my 02 has 15K miles, and I just got back from a 2K mile round trip Houston to Orlando.
Yeah, I'd say leave it in auto, when the wheels slip, it will automatically go 4wd until the demand isn't needed.

I used 4x4 low on dry pavement when I bought it to make sure the 4x4 worked, and it made some terrible grinding, poping and other pretty scary noises, with the wheels cut all the way. But it works great, no issues if I leave it in auto, and only use 4x4 off road.