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Posted by Tannon on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 21:40:07 :
In Reply to: The front 'crow hops' on pavement in unloc too. posted by chriscase on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 19:30:33 :
Well, it doesn't have manual locking hubs. I found that my '78 factory book supplement (still would like to have the normal book) described the NP203 to a T, and having read up on some of the conversions I don't think that this truck has them. When I got there the truck was in regular Hi, not in Hi-Loc, so even though I don't remember particularly seeing if it has a front driveshaft or not, if it didn't then it wouldn't move properly in Hi, so I can assume that it's there.
I've worked with several Mopar cars and vans, but not much with the trucks. I did some thinking though, and in particular, limited slip differentials that are particular effectively would cause problems with the entire system evening out torque and wheelspin appropriately, as if the two rear wheels were somewhat locked together then they wouldn't balance against the front axle necessarily right. It'd be much worse for the front axle I'd think, while still manageable in the back.
I haven't yet decided if I'm going to try to buy the truck or not. I do remember that there was a fairly even coating of black oil on the transfer case, which would mean that its seals (as opposed to the transmission) need replacing. I've done plenty of RWD-only Torqueflites but I haven't worked with transfer cases, so I'd have to play it by ear.
A friend of mine spoke of his Ramcharger to me today, which had this same setup, and in our conversation I think I figured out why front tires wear faster than rears- When you leave from a stop, the weight shifts to the back end, leaving the front end lighter. As the normal operating mode is with an open-type differential front to back, the reduced weight on the front end introduces just the slightest amount of non-traction wheelspin, not enough to fully break traction, but enough to where distortion of the tires causes excessive wear, similar to the hint of tire slippage in a regular RWD open differential vehicle where one tire gets a tad more spin than the other. I could be wrong though.
If I buy it I'll be getting it because of driving in snowy, inclement weather. I think that I can sell my wife on full-time 4wd in that manner. If I find that regular "Loc" 4wd isn't quite adequate enough (like opposite corner wheels spinning) then I'll just have to look into electrically controlled differential lockers for each axle, such that when they're off and the transfer case is in regular high or low the differential lockers are also disengaged allowing for regular open function, but where they can be selectively engaged for things like attempting to tow in worse weather or bad traction situatiosns (locking the rear) or where going true offroading (locking both, with transfer case lock). I may also see if CV type axle shafts for the front are available to make cornering better.
We'll have to see what happens.