AWD newbie question

[rpholz]

so you might have seen that i got a new xt 89 fulltime awd 4eat n/a 29,508miles

 

so i got it running and driving, but i noticed when i make a hard left turn something seems to bind(like low speed, u-turn) now i did notice there is a considerable amount of grease that has left the DOJ(?) on the passenger side axle, do you think this is causing it or something binding in the trans?

 

i'm completely new to awd but not subes, so i was wondering if there might be another cause? trans fluid still looks brand new. is there another dip stick for the front diff?

[94Loyale]

Normally the axle will end up making a clicking sound, or a vibration at speed. Your problem sounds like torque bind. Do a search on that, there are a ton of threads about it. Most are in the New Gen forum, but the problem is still the same with your trans.

And yes, there is a second dipstick for the front diff. Take a look on the passenger side of the trans.

[TheLoyale]

With the AWD you will feel a drag/bind when turning full lock (U-turn) at low speeds, one way to see if this is what you are feeling is to feed a little gas while turning, this will make the bind go away.

 

A bad DOJ or a dry DOJ will not cause a binding feeling as its basically a u-joint that pivits up and down unlike the CVJ. So I think what you are feeling is normal.

 

Let us know how it goes

 

-Tom

[rpholz]

i was thinking of just cramming more grease and re clamping the boot. since it doesnt look torn.

 

and really? i was avoiding giving it gas because that usually causes more issues. but ill try it.

 

 

and i must confess i lied, i did have a Range Rover which was awd, so i'm not a complete noob to awd:grin: i just forget these things cause i owned so many cars

[heartless]

sounds like classic torque bind to me.

 

First - are all tires the same brand, style, wear and all inflated the same? if not, get them that way! AWD is very fussy about tire diameters - they all need to be as close to the same as possible.

 

Do the XT's have the FWD fuse holder like the Legacy's do? (fuse holder on the Lego is under the hood by the passenger strut tower) If so, try putting a fuse in there (10 amp works fine) and see if the problem goes away or not.

 

lots of info on torque bind in the new gen forums - sometimes an easy fix, sometimes not.

[idosubaru]

i was thinking of just cramming more grease and re clamping the boot. since it doesnt look torn.

that should work fine. i've even rebooted clicking and clacking CV's and they quieted right up. tried it last year on my daily driver XT6 and they're working great now. cv clamps are totally annoying, i've always wanted to buy a bunch of really thin screw type c clamps. i even posted a thread about it on here but never got around to buying anything or finding the right fit.

[TomRhere]

Zip-ties work great for boot clamps....

[TheLoyale]

Zip-ties work great for boot clamps....

 

+1 to that! Big Zip-ties work great (Just pull them really tight)