I noticed something today when trying out my 4wd which I haven't done in a long time. If I'm driving in 4wd and let off the gas it slows down the vehicle considerable fast! I've never dealt with 4wd before so its beyond me as to what could be going on, any ideas?

normal, especially if you are turning at all.

 

Ah ok. Yeah I'm not used to 4wd, but good to know!

oh yea. most 4x4 are rear wheel primary drive. so they ALWAYS suffer the drag/friction/parasitic losses of both differentials, the transfer case, and the weight of the driveshaft itself.

 

whereas, soobs, on the otherhand, use the FRONT wheels only, 90% of the time. and the driveshaft and rear axle is only engaged, and creating resistance, when you engage the 4wd.

 

if you really stop and think about it for a minute, even on a BRAND NEW, showroom floor vehicle, with new oil, new grease, shiny new bearings, thats still a lot of extra metal to be pushing/spinning/ rubbing together/ stopping, starting, stopping, starting.

 

if your vehicle REALLY seems to slow down a lot when you drop it into 4th, my advice is, change out the oil in your rearend, and your tranny, and regrease all the grease-points in your chassis, and also have a buddy ride in the rear and listen carefully to the hubs, its possible your bearings are dry or a bit "chewed-up".

im not the biggest expert on soobs on this board, not by a LONG shot. but i HAVE used and abused a lot of cheap, 80s 1/4 ton pickups over the years. s10s, rangers, yotas, mazdas, etc.....

an s10 isnt exactly IDENTICAL to a brat, but the principle is the same. bearings and differentials etc are pretty similiar between hyundais and rolls royces.

oh, and also, be aware that a soob hi-lo 4wd is built to engage while driving, if needed, but that doesnt mean you gotta treat it like you stole it.

30mph is one thing, 50 is a different story. i try to never engage 4wd, or switch from hi to lo, over about 25mph, unless its an emergency.

same goes for actually USING any 4wd faster than around 35-40mph. it will take it for awhile, maybe a year or two, IF youre lucky. but honestly, better not to push your luck.

Its actually working just as described. It doesn't really slow down too much going straight, but turning it slows down a bit, and I was a idiot driving it on the road by my house, only doing 10-20mph but I read some stuff and now I know. This thing is fun as hell off road though