fastskier Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 (edited) I was out on the weekend in deep snow and I have some questions for you guys. Here's what happened: 12" of fresh snow My Pathfinder has 215K km's on it with older 31" tires (read - not great in snow). We couldn't go any further so I put some new chains on that I bought on the front. The chains are a heavy duty Vbar style. I got them pretty tight as they have cams to get them tighter than normal. Once I tried to go I found that I was spinning the rear wheels like mad and the fronts were just bearly turning. I also noticed that when I turned the wheels a certain amount the chains would start to contact the fender I believe - there's not that much clearance! I also had to turn around and in doing so when I would put it in reverse sometimes I would get a loud bang when I started to move (like the hubs were engaging under load). I thought the hubs stayed engaged untill it is taken out of 4wd? Based on this experience I am definitely going to put the chains on the rear wheels next time. This is not what my friends do with their pickups because then your steering is not great but since it seemed like it put so much load on my Pathfinder I'm not doing that again. So - Is something wrong with my transfer case? Why were my front tires not turning as fast as my rears? Edited March 28, 2005 by fastskier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 The bang was your hubs, typical noise, nothing wrong. They disengage and re-engage when you switch directions. As for the spinning/ wheel speed difference between front and back, that doesn't sound right. Are you sure your passenger front wasn't spinning like the rear? With the open differentials you can spin one side with the other side sitting still . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastskier Posted March 29, 2005 Author Share Posted March 29, 2005 pretty sure my front passenger wasn't spinning. With those chains on it is pretty hard to spin the wheels as they are very aggressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainman Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 On my 02, the manual says to use chains only on the rear (this is in bold). I have used chains on full sized 3/4 ton 4WD p/u's and always on the rear. I need to get the Type S chains for the 02 as my ice chains will rip out brake lines and assorted body parts . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastskier Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 Ya I would say that its rear wheels only for sure - what about 4 wheels - that can't be too bad can it? I can see why guys put different front hubs on though - that engaging and disengaging is fine while you are going in one direction but once you get stuck or have to turn around they suck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastskier Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 Does anyone know the exact reason for chaining up the rear only? I read a Ford 2003 F150 4X4 manual and it said if only putting on 2 chains to put them on the rear tires. I assumed that was because of the problem of the rear end wanting to pass the front end when going down hill (been in a truck doing that - its an exciting ride down when you constantly have to gas it to keep it straight). Perhaps though these directions were due to issues with the drive train. Anyone have more insight on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Well Fastskier, the more clever of us engage the 4x4 before we become stuck, hence often not getting stuck... Of course, I have done a few 9 point turns... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastskier Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 oh trust me - 4wd was engaged when I got stuck. When you get stuck going up a hill the easiest thing to do is back down but when there's tons of snow you have to give a fair amount of power to get things moving. That's when the hubs go bang because they have to engage again because you are changing direction. You must not have been stuck before I take it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I have not experienced the BANG thing yet, and no, I have not been stuck where I could not get myself out by using my head and any tricks available... Maybe I just jinxed myself B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 If its the same bang I've had, its Nissan's scary way of letting you know everything is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Night_Ryda* Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 As long as we're on the topic of transfer cases here, I may as well explain the problem with mine. As you may or may not know yet I've just recently picked up a wrecked 1990 XE. Anyway I haven’t had a look at it yet but my transfer case is REALLY hard to shift, it’s stuck something awful. As far as I can tell there was no damage done to any of the drive components just some body damage, and when I drove the pathy briefly there were no unusual sounds from the transfer case. So I am wondering why is it so stuck? I know it sat around for nearly 2 years now. Could this have something to do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red-finder Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 I've got a question about that banging for you guys with manual hubs. I was doing some wheeling this past weekend up a real tight trail. I had the 4 wheel drive engaged going forward then I had to back up to turn around. I had to back up a hill to get it turned around. When I had to give it some real gas to back up the hill I had the loud bang. I got out to check because I thought I broke something, but couldn't find anything. I know the hubs were engaged going forward. So with the manual hubs you don't get any more of that banging back and forth? I was planning on manual hubs anyway, but I am for sure now! -bounce- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Hey NR, crawl under the truck on the drivers side and look at the linkage and pivot for the 4x4 shifter. Odds are it is crapped up and rusted with small mammals homesteading there. Clean everything up, and oil things while working them back and forth... I'll bet it will free up some... red-finder, yes... With the manual hubs any loud banging you hear probably will be something broken (not necessarily with the hubs)... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastskier Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 no one else has any ideas on why chains on the front might be harmful to the transfer case/driveline? I did some searching on the net and all I came up with is the oversteer problems. I'll have to check but I believe the manual says to put ONLY 2 chains and only on the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailChaser Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 As long as we're on the topic of transfer cases here, I may as well explain the problem with mine. As you may or may not know yet I've just recently picked up a wrecked 1990 XE. Anyway I haven’t had a look at it yet but my transfer case is REALLY hard to shift, it’s stuck something awful. As far as I can tell there was no damage done to any of the drive components just some body damage, and when I drove the pathy briefly there were no unusual sounds from the transfer case. So I am wondering why is it so stuck? I know it sat around for nearly 2 years now. Could this have something to do with it? This may sound kinda dumb to some people, but... Where you pushing down while trying to shift into N or 4L? The first time I used 4L I thought my 4WD was messed up... Then I started looking around in the manual, but before I could find anything useful my wife noticed the instructions on the back of the visor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Night_Ryda* Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 Yep, I was pushing down. Is that a bad thing? I can't check the Manuel because I don't have one and I would go and check the visor myself right now except for the fact that my pathy is over in buddy’s garage. Would you mind telling me what it says? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainman Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 As I work in the woods and have had to use chains on a regular basis I can offer the following thoughts (I live in Canada eh, it always snows here ): With chains on the front, you could get the chains caught on suspension parts, brake lines, etc as the wheels turn from side to side, especially as they reach their limits (not to mention body damage :sniff: ). Also, on braking, more likely to swap ends (or have the rear swing around a lot) as the fronts will have the way superior traction. Only good thing with chains on the front is the traction to pull instead of push, like a front drive car. I know quite few guys who will put chains on, then run the vehicle in 2WD and only put in 4WD when they need the extra traction for steering. Helps to keep the transfer case form binding up. Do not forget that putting chains on makes the actual tire circumference larger at that end then the other. Of course, we are talking about driving long distances with chains on (10-20 km) to get to our work sites, not using them for short distances to get unstuck. Then sometimes the front is the only option . Goes without saying, just use care and common sense. Try the chains dry, in your driveway and see what clearance issues you may have. Oh, chains work well in mud too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilman Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 no one else has any ideas on why chains on the front might be harmful to the transfer case/driveline? I did some searching on the net and all I came up with is the oversteer problems. I'll have to check but I believe the manual says to put ONLY 2 chains and only on the rear. I use chains on my 2wd p/u in the winter sometimes. just like studed tires you can run chains on the rear or all four. and here is the reason. chains add ALOT of rolling resistance, so if you have them in the back, they will keep the truck straight, but if they are in the front only, the back will want to go past the front, and the only way for that to happen is sideways. but off road would be a different story, cause you'll never be going fast enough to spin out (I hope) as for the t case, I bet the problem is in your hubs, the added resistance of the front chains caused to hubs to malfunction. and if ytour running 31s with chains off road I would expect some custom body work real fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastskier Posted August 1, 2007 Author Share Posted August 1, 2007 Tried running the chains on the rear tires a couple times. It was much better - no banging and I could go when it was so deep that I was pushing snow with my bumper. However with my chains (heavy duty V style), there was some interference issues that caused me not to be able to go over 15km/hr otherwise I thought I was going to rip something off due to the metal on metal sound. And yes my chains were very tight as they have the three cams on the side plus I use heavy duty bungees. At first I noticed that they were chewing into my fender flare on both sides in the wheel well. I carved the interefering part off with a knife (you can't tell that I did anything) and tried it again. The next time I couldn't figure out what it was hitting on but I think it was the rear sway bar mount. Suffice to say I don't think my chains are meant for my pathfinder. They are still great though for emergencies when you get to the top of the road and ski all day to find 2 feet of new snow on your truck at the end of the day. Going 10 km/hr is way better than getting stuck on some desolate logging road in the middle of winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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