Slippery mode in 2H for rain?

[Beach_Bum]

You’re right I did make assumptions based on his question and then I looked at what he was driving and understood why he was asking. I don’t mean to offend anybody. I just understood the question and why he was asking it based on what what him and I both drive.

What year? I didn’t know it was an option on a non-sas BD. It wasn’t the first couple years anyway.

For MY'21 and MY'22, the 4A transfer case was an option on the BD without Sasquatch package. Part-time transfer case was standard. For MY'23, Ford dropped the stand-alone option (Sasquatch package always gets 4A) on the BD.

And yes, you are correct that it is fine to drive in 4H on wet, slippery, hard surfaces. Others alluded to pavement conditions differing in various regions.

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[Fordified1]

Not all, Black Diamond with the Sasquatch package has 4.70.

However, yes, all black diamonds came with the rear locker at a minimum. The standard tranfer case ones have that incredible FAD, and the advanced transfer case Black Diamonds don't.

Not necessarily true. Mine doesn’t have FAD. Tyler’s BD did so they had to do some swapping parts to make his front diff work in my truck. Tyler says they haven’t figured out why some have FAD and some don’t.
Mine is a 2024 Tyler’s is a ‘23 or ‘24 not sure.
(For those wondering I broke my front diff a couple weeks ago and got a take-out from Broncbuster).

 

[jrollo7]

Did not know he did not have the advanced transfer case.

He provided an update that he doesn’t have 4A

 

[UncleBrad]

4A is the option you want....

EXCEPT: Not all of us have it. And don't forget those of us with manual transmissions, where any kind of torque vectoring or wheel braking magic isn't applicable.

 

[AZ_Craig]

Honestly, I drive in eco mode most of the time. If I don’t have a reason to accelerate quickly, I figure every little bit of gas mileage helps.

 

[AZ_Craig]

Im also not understanding what makes water more slick in one state vs another state. Why is rain slicker in a place ot rains twice a year vs Seattle?

Accumulation of oil, particles and other general crap on the road which could have been building up for months. Once it's rained a bit it's not as big an issue, but put a light sprinkling of water on top of this stuff and it can be way slicker than it would be if it was just simply "wet."

Arizona and California both experience this, along with a lot of the West where we may go several months without a drop of rain.

 

[Fordified1]

Accumulation of oil, particles and other general crap on the road which could have been building up for months. Once it's rained a bit it's not as big an issue, but put a light sprinkling of water on top of this stuff and it can be way slicker than it would be if it was just simply "wet."

Arizona and California both experience this, along with a lot of the West where we may go several months without a drop of rain.

And it may depend if you live in town or not. I don’t experience the same slickness with sprinkles in Austin or San Antonio or on the interstates that I do out in the country where I live.
I’m not kidding when I say the guard rail down the road from me has been replaced dozens of times since I’ve lived out there. this slickness right after a light rain surprises people. My wife absolutely hates when it feels like she’s slipping around. Me I don’t mind it. I kinda like to drift lol. Sometimes I will test to see how slick it is by being a little heavy on the throttle and when it gets tail happy, my wife punches me in arm. Lol.

 

[AZ_Craig]

And it may depend if you live in town or not. I don’t experience the same slickness with sprinkles in Austin or San Antonio or on the interstates that I do out in the country where I live.
I’m not kidding when I say the guard rail down the road from me has been replaced dozens of times since I’ve lived out there. this slickness right after a light rain surprises people. My wife absolutely hates when it feels like she’s slipping around. Me I don’t mind it. I kinda like to drift lol. Sometimes I will test to see how slick it is by being a little heavy on the throttle and when it gets tail happy, my wife punches me in arm. Lol.

Yeah, suburban here, but I remember one time I watched this S10 make a left turn across 3 lanes of traffic when it had first started raining starting from a stop.

The guy clearly got on it just a bit too hard and he ended up spinning a 360 and going up over the median. Fortunately didn't hit anyone else and seemed like his truck was alright (especially given it was clearly a beater work truck already), but it looked like something you'd expect from an ice storm, not a hundredth of an inch of rain .

 

[crenca]

....

All-wheel drive vehicles have a middle differential which resolves this issue, allowing all four wheels to move at different angular velocities while under power.

EXCEPT: Not all of us have it. And don't forget those of us with manual transmissions, where any kind of torque vectoring or wheel braking magic isn't applicable.

Just for general knowledge:

The 4A system in the Bronco is not a center differential as in some AWD vehicles, it is a clutch pack that engages the front axle at a variable rate (depending upon speed, steering angle, gear, etc.), though how much it actually varies is debated around here. By the way it is the same clutch pack that fully engages ("locks") when the driver engages 4H or 4L (i.e. in the "Advanced Transfer Case").

However this clutch pack and it's associated computer control in 4A performs the same function as a differential - it mechanically enables differentiation between the front and rear axles (i.e. it enables different 'angular velocities').

In other words, the Bronco is an AWD vehicle when in 4A.

Also, neither the 4A system nor any other 2/4 wheel mode of the Bronco has "torque vectoring" (i.e. variable torque distribution between the two wheels on the same axle) mechanically. There might be some brake based torque vectoring, perhaps in 'sport' mode, but I do not believe so (based on using it on and off road regularly). The Ford's traction/stability control software is fairly basic compared to many other modern vehicals - probably one reason why Ford disables it in 4Lo mode automatically.

Finally it does not matter if you have a manual or a auto transmission, you get the same AWD 4A capability. The programming is tweaked of course for each application...

 

[Brian_B]

Also, neither the 4A system nor any other 2/4 wheel mode of the Bronco has "torque vectoring" (i.e. variable torque distribution between the two wheels on the same axle) mechanically. There might be some brake based torque vectoring, perhaps in 'sport' mode, but I do not believe so (based on using it on and off road regularly). The Ford's traction/stability control software is fairly basic compared to many other modern vehicals - probably one reason why Ford disables it in 4Lo mode automatically.

Trail Control / 1 Pedal drive I have heard will do per-wheel to some extent using the ABS as a brake control, but I don't think there is any brake vectoring other than that (other than very course when ABS/Traction control kicks in), and those have some pretty severe speed restrictions . 4A, apart from that, is exactly as you mention it - it can vary the percentage torque going to the front, but it will not do per-wheel.

The Bronco Sport, however, has excellent per-wheel vector control. But there's a lot less horsepower going through that drive train.

 

[Gbauer]

I was just thinking , "Wasn't 4A a stand alone option for BD and OBX in the first couple years?"
IE .. full squatch not required.

Mine isnt a sasquatch

EXCEPT: Not all of us have it. And don't forget those of us with manual transmissions, where any kind of torque vectoring or wheel braking magic isn't applicable.

When I posted that it wasn't apparent that he didnt have it

 

[crenca]

Trail Control / 1 Pedal drive I have heard will do per-wheel to some extent using the ABS as a brake control, but I don't think there is any brake vectoring other than that (other than very course when ABS/Traction control kicks in)

Interesting, so you believe it might brake an individual wheel while otherwise under positive torque, and not merely as a traction control (i.e. brake an individual wheel under neutral/negative torque distribution from drive-train)?

That said, part of the problem are these terms. The SAE actually does not officially define words like "AWD" & "Torque Vectoring", they are in reality squishy marketing terms. Still, in usual usage 'Torque Vectoring' refers to a system (either mechanically or brake based) that attemps to distribute torque "better" (again, variably defined) along the same axle under positive torque (i.e. under engine load in an accelerating situation), whereas as 'stability control' and its various sub species such as hill decent usually refers to a system that brakes an individual wheels under neutral/negative torque (i.e. not accelerating, putting power down, rather trying to control slippage and vehicle yaw).

In the end the modern software/computer controlled car is in a sense bleeding all this together, particuarly the modern EV as they can easily be designed/manufactured without the usual mechanical bits and pieces such as differentials, transfer cases, etc.

 

[CitrusBronco]

Im also not understanding what makes water more slick in one state vs another state. Why is rain slicker in a place ot rains twice a year vs Seattle?

Your broncos, enjoy em.

Just addressing this portion, the base rock used in asphalt affects the slickness of the road surface. States using granite for example have more wet traction than a state using limestone or coral as the base aggregate.

I’m not going to venture into the 4hi vs 2wd portion of the debate.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Only on B6G will a topic about driving in the rain cause so much debate!!!!
Gotta love it!

 

[crenca]

Only on B6G will a topic about driving in the rain cause so much debate!!!!
Gotta love it!

My opinion:

There is no one right answer. Fact is, rain wet asphalt/concrete road is still a relatively high traction situation not well suited to a 4X4 in a locked transfer case mode - that is a 4 wheel drive system that is not capable of differentiating between the front and rear axles. Make just a few turns in such circumstances and you are going to bet some drive-line windup (aka "binding"). You can prove this to yourself by putting your Bronco in 4H on a dry or wet road, drive around your neighborhood making a few turns, and then notice how your suspension "settles" when you park and put it back in 4H (or 4A if you have it).

How important this binding is to you depends. It is a stress on your drive-line components and tires. Is it going to break? Nope, not until it does. Is it going to $cost$ you anything if you occasionaly do it for peace of mind? Not until it does, and even then said cost might very well be worth it for you and your loved ones.

Such circumstances are an excellent match to AWD systems however, and if regularly driving in the rain is normal for you an AWD vehicle is your better option.

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