5.0 awd problems in the snow

[jar2187]

I have a 96 limited 5.0 awd, just got the first snow of the season and I had a difficult time. The tires break traction very easily if the rpms are brought up above 1500, it fish tails untill you let off the gas completly. Then once its stops fishtailing if you slowly increase the gas it will regain traction and drive forward. If you were to stay on the gas while it was fishtailing the truck will spin right around like a top. I do have newer tires on, Yokohama Geolandars, with less then 4000 miles on them. I had bridgestones on the truck before and it performed worse. Maybe I just dont know how to drive in the snow with this truck, but something just doesnt seem right. Here is a little history, the truck was bought at auction rear diff pinon seal blew so the truck was yard driven on with just the front axle connected. The truck shortly stopped moving. Please help me figure this out, or teach me how to drive in the snow!

 

[Dan Whitaker]

The AWD t-case is a 60/40 split. 60% power goes to the rear 40% to the front. You can't hammer the throttle from a dead stop. You need to slowly accelerate. The deeper the snow the worse it's going to fish tail.

 

[Electrohacker]

actually the thinner and more icey the more it will fishtail, it will actually get decent traction in deeper snows

 

[Mikeri]

A decade of OTR driving in a big rig is behind this observation. Just as many SUVs go off the road as 2wd cars. You have to drive an AWD or 4wd with the same caution on ice like any vehicle. Yes, 4wd can help. But, too many see it as a "magic thang" that will prevent the vehicle from sliding. Way wrong attitude.

 

[99SportX]

Driving without a REAR driveshaft is not recommended. I am not even sure how or if it works. If while doing this the truck no longer began to move, the transfer case was probably damaged.

I assume the rear axle has been repaired and you now have both driveshafts in place. It may be that you are effectively getting only 2wd rear now if the transfer case got messed up.

Considering your tires are new, it should be working better than you describe. I have crappy tires on my V8 AWD explorer and I was able to get around just fine and it handled better than the auto 4x4 in snow.

 

[storlied]

I hope that tcase isn't damaged... get yourself some A/T's and be done with it... I can near floor it and it'll slide the rear a bit and then the front catches and I'm one my way. This AWD does it's best in snow I believe.

 

[n2epv]

I agree with storlied - all-terrain tires are the only way to go in the snow. I have Yokohama's on an RWD Lincoln and they are awesome tires - but that car sits in the yard all winter.

Like Mikeri said - you will see as many SUV's off the road in the winter as 2WD cars. Keep in mind that AWD/4WD mainly helps you accelerate on bad roads, it doesn't do much for stopping or cornering. On the other hand, there's a lot of SUV's running around with "all season" tires at near the max tire pressure. That's good for freeway driving, but for slogging around in the snow and ice, drop the pressure. That lets more of the rubber grip.

 

[storlied]

Yup, you're right n2epv. But I have to disagree on one thing... last winter I went a few months without a front drive shaft.. got into quite a few messes and accidents... having power to the front I do believe helps cornering traction a Lot.

 

[my pos mounty]

You seriously fishtail in the snow?? It sounds to me that your fronts are not working or not working properly. I hammer my AWD mounty in the snow down the highway (rte. 95) to 65mph in the left lane, this bad boy stays straight as an arrow. Have someone stand beside your truck at a safe distance, hammer it from a dead stop, ask them if your fronts break loose... I bet they dont

 

[410Fortune]

does this truck have a front driveshaft?

I have a 1988 BII 4x4 I have been driving in Colorado winters for 15 years

I have a 96 5.0L AWD explorer that I have been driving in the Colorado winters for 5 years

the 60/40 split of the 5.0L AWD system is NOT 4x4, not even close

4x4 hi puts 50% power up front at all times, this makes the BII amazing in the snow, I can floor it on ice and she will move forward, she may get sideways a bit (read powerslide) but with 4x4 it is control-able for the most part.

the 4x4 will also pull you through a corner that would otherwise result in sideways... instead of locking up the brakes, sometimes the gas pedal will get you back on the road

The explorer 60/40 split is NOT THE SAME, the rear tires are getting most of the power, so the vehicle handles like a rwd truck, if you punch it
using the gas pedal to pull you out of a slide, also will not work, it acts just like a RWD truck, more gas = more problems

Now for nice non aggressive driving in the snow the 60/40 split is great, just dont mash the go pedal, pretend you are driving a rwd pickup, finesse, like there is an egg on your gas pedal you dont want to break.. and you will keep up with other awd's and 4x4's just fine

I think you may want to have a look at your explorer, hopefully driving around with a front d shaft only witht eh AWD truck did not burn up the T case....

After driving my BII for 13 years in Colorado winters I got behind the wheel of a 96 AWD 5.0L I bought for $500...same road I take to work everyday, a little bit of freezing rain on the road, sun going down, and it resulted in this:

I was unaware of the 60/40 split at that time, I was treating it like a 4x4hi vehicle and when I tried to pass a slow vehicle I lost the rear end, got sideways, corrected, corrected again and then BLAMO straight into a conctrete barrier, straight up int eh air and down on its side.....I blame myself for this of course, but I swear if I was in the BII I have made that same move 1000 times without any rear end traction issues

I have since built myself another 96 5.0L explorer, except this time the AWD t case went in the trash.......I converted it to a 4406 manual t case (thanks to this forum) and now I couldnt BE HAPPIER, the 4x4 V8 Explorer is a MONSTER in the snow, jsut reach down, grab the handle and BLAMO a true 50/50 4x4hi
the explorer went from grocery getter to boat launching, trail doing, snow bashing, awesomeness with that conversion, it is a truck now for real, it continues to impress me in the snow, since its about 2000# heavier then my BII the explorer will go anywhere... I have 33" at's on it, open diffs (factory limited slip I am sure is toast 190K miles) and it is A MONSTER in the snow compared to AWD, just FYI

and no 4x4 does not help you stop on ice LOL but lower tire pressure and lots of gas pedal finesse will keep you moving forward

 

[jar2187]

update : We got a ton of snow almost 18 inches. My sisters driveway was not plowed at all I got in with no problem but backing out was a joke. If i barely touched the gas pedal the rear tires just spun, no front wheel spin at all. Tried going forward again and just rear tire spin, front tires would not spin. I finally got out with a little push and more gas... any ideas?

 

[storlied]

Your tcase may be damaged and not putting power to the front, or the front driveshaft cv joint is toast and it's just spinning inside itself.

 

[99SportX]

Time for a trip to the salvage yard to pick up another AWD t-case.

I would do some investigating on your own before jumping right to this conclusion though.

 

[antwonvp10]

dude u must not know how to drive then, i have a 97 mountaineer AWD 5.0. it gets really icey where i live and it handles like a champ. i had to disable the ABS because the speed sensors are out, so now i have a permenant 60/40 split. if your ABS is working correctly the power can transfer its self where there is wheel slip, so u can smash on the gas in the snow and ice and still grip.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

dude u must not know how to drive then, i have a 97 mountaineer AWD 5.0. it gets really icey where i live and it handles like a champ. i had to disable the ABS because the speed sensors are out, so now i have a permenant 60/40 split. if your ABS is working correctly the power can transfer its self where there is wheel slip, so u can smash on the gas in the snow and ice and still grip.

ABS has nothing to do with traction on our trucks. It is for stopping purpose only.

 

[antwonvp10]

yes it does, if there is a problem with the abs then it will not transfer the power. so it will stay at a 60/40 split. and since my sensors are not being correctly i had to disable one.

 

[my pos mounty]

update : We got a ton of snow almost 18 inches. My sisters driveway was not plowed at all I got in with no problem but backing out was a joke. If i barely touched the gas pedal the rear tires just spun, no front wheel spin at all. Tried going forward again and just rear tire spin, front tires would not spin. I finally got out with a little push and more gas... any ideas?

You mentioned before that this truck was driven "around the yard" for some time before. Around YOUR yard or the junkyard? When they repaired the problem that made it neccessary to disable the rear, did they remove the front driveshaft?
Have you heard weird noises coming from the front? Creaks, groans, scrapes, metallic ringing, grinding, snapping, whistling?

Could be:
1: Front driveshaft is not installed on vehicle.
2: Front differential is toast.
3: AWD Transfer case is toast.
4: CV axles are junk (Both would have to be junk and this is not likely)

 

[my pos mounty]

ABS has nothing to do with traction on our trucks. It is for stopping purpose only.

ANTWONVP10:

Listen to Dan, because he is correct. ABS is, as its full name suggests "Anti-lock Braking System". Keyword, BRAKING. Your truck does not read the wheel sensors to determine where to send power, AWD is ALWAYS on and ALWAYS a 60/40 split. The sensors are read by the braking system only to deteremine if the wheel (or in the case of the rear, the entire axle) is in a "locked-up" condition.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

yes it does, if there is a problem with the abs then it will not transfer the power. so it will stay at a 60/40 split. and since my sensors are not being correctly i had to disable one.

We do not have traction control and as far as I know it was never an option on Explorers or Mountaineers. Only when you have traction control does the braking system apply braking to one wheel to aid in traction.

The transfer case it what does the power splitting. There is a viscous coupling inside the t-case and it splits the power constant. The only way that the original poster is not getting power to the front wheels is either the t-case is bad or the front diff is bad.

 

[storlied]

Dan is correct, he's not an idiot. Listen to him. The 2nd gen's are not as advanced as you think. The AWD tcase works completely on it's own, there is no external control or any sensors to it.. it's purely a mechanical device. I suggest you fix your ABS, most of the time when your ABS light comes on it's a sign that on of your Hub Assemblies are failing.