4x4 question

[04 xlt 4x4]

When in 4low or 4 high and if I go through a small dip and on wheel comes off the ground that wheel just spins. I this supposed to happen or are a 4 wheels supposed to keep turning? Thanks for the help

 

[DeRocha]

Welcome to the site... You have discovered the biggest misconception about how 4x4 vehicles work. Most 4x4 vehicles come with open differentials. Open diffs work well on road, but will send all power to the wheel with the least amount of traction (in your case the wheel in the air has zero traction so it gets all the power, while the wheel on solid ground gets nothing). For serious off-road ability people will install locking differentials, spools, or limited slips that will force both wheels to rotate when one loses traction. New features like traction controll use the vehicles brake system to apply the brake to the wheel with lower traction (in your case the one in the air) until the other wheels begins to rotate..

Search the web for "how 4x4 works" and you'll gets lots of info..

Check out the following animations on how 4x4 works:
4x4 with open differentials
4x4 with locking differentials