Ok, here is how the story goes:
My hunting partner and I are trudging up a beat up tote road to get up to a spot on a small mountain we want to hunt in my 98 Ford RangerXLT. It was heavily washed out with big ruts and softball sized rocks. We got almost all the way to the top after going at a slow pace. But it was the last hill we were having problems. I hit the rut (just wasnt any way to avoid it cuz the road was so narrow and the rut so big. So my buddy says to throw it in $ wheel LOW while he threw rocks and a stump under my rear tire (the one that was stuck in the rut.) Long story short we finaly made it out of the rut after a little tire smoke from the rear. The problem comes here. My buddy told me that while in 4 wheel low my front tire did not spin at all. Now, not really knowing anything about cars very well he tells me that it should have. He asked if I had ever had the Transmission and Differential fluids changed in the 7 years Ive owned the truck, which was NO. He says he really isnt too up on the more modern 4 wheel systems, but he says maybe the computer sensed a low fluid level and did not engage the system. There did not seem to be any othe strane indications. No unusal sounds or odd movemnts......just the front tires did not spin.
Im calling Ford Monday to make an appointment to have those fluids changed and have them once over the 4 wheel system. Can anyone else add any insight as to what the hey is going on? My buddy and a guy at work who also owns a Ford Ranger close to my year model spent a half hour jabbering about this type of 4 wheel system and that type of rear system but in the end they both seemed to agree the tires should have spun. So any advice is welcomed.
Brian M.
