mcapuano

My rear differential went bad (195K miles) and had to get it replaced. Not cheap. One thing that was interesting to me though was that when my car was raised up (all wheels in the air) and the transfer case was in 4H only the back wheels were spinning. I thought the power distribution in this mode was 60 rear / 40 front and when the center diff button is engaged 50/50? So I engaged the center diff by pressing the button and all 4 wheels spin. Unlock center diff button and only the rear wheels spin. Is that expected behavior?

IanB2

When all 3 diffs are open (AWD), the power will be routed to the wheel(s) with the least amount of resistance/traction. In theory, if you were to have grabbed and stopped the spinning tire, a different tire would start spinning. You say both rear tires were spinning, so if you had a buddy and you both stopped a rear wheel, one or both of the front wheels would start spinning as the AWD system routed power to the next path of least resistance.

When you lock the CDL, you are then in 4x4, and power will be routed evenly to the front and rear diffs.