How often has this happened to you? As you turn out of a drive way, you hear thump-thump as a rear wheel jumps the curb. Intuitively, you know what happened. But do you fully understand the chain of events?
Now you’re in a parking lot. You spot an open stall up ahead. You begin your turn but then…scrunch! One side of your vehicle made contact with the back end of the vehicle in the next stall.
These types of incidents are urban examples of the phenomenon we call wheel cheat. It’s not a sophisticated matter, but a refresher course can be useful to understand how it applies when driving off-road.
What is wheel cheat?
Picture what’s happening with the wheels as a vehicle turns. Every wheel takes a different line. The back wheels do not follow the same path as the front wheels. In fact, the rear wheels move right if turning right and left when turning left.
I address this in my Rule 3 of four-wheeling:
Drive to your back wheel when you have to make a turn.
Keep in mind that the issue is magnified the longer the vehicle footprint is. Pay particular attention when pulling an off-road trailer.
Dealing with obstacles while four-wheeling
Now let’s go off-road. Up ahead is a big, jagged boulder. Your goal is to pick a line that will take you cleanly around that boulder. Turn too soon, and wheel cheat will cause you to scrape the rock.
Whether turning left or right, always account for the rear inside wheel. If you don’t, wheel cheat will pull your vehicle into the boulder.
Even smaller rocks deserve consideration. Turn too soon, and the rear wheel jumps the rock. That’s the equivalent of jumping a curb in the urban environment.
How to handle wheel cheat on a shelf road
Navigating a curve on a narrow shelf road can be tricky. Proceeding into the turn, it’s instinctual to hug the side of the hill to avoid the steep edge. Doing so will cause the inside rear wheel to climb up the bank. That’s the wheel cheat effect.
If you find yourself on an exceptionally narrow shelf road, use a spotter. It is the safest options.
The solution is to keep the inside front wheel six to 12 inches from the hillside with the plan for the back wheel to just skim the side of the hill. Wheel cheat still occurs, but the rear wheel won’t climb, and the vehicle is unlikely to tip toward the edge you’re trying to avoid. Don’t worry about driving closer to the edge to avoid wheel cheat. The view could be scary – you might not see the edge for a period – but most shelf roads are wide enough to accommodate the turn.
How to drive around a ditch
Up ahead is a big ditch you’d like to drive around. You didn’t plan for wheel cheat, so as you make the turn, the inside rear wheel drops into the ditch. This could even raise a front wheel into the air. Impatience could play a part. Some drivers are in a hurry and simply don’t visualize the path of the rear wheel.
The solution is to drive to the back wheel while going around the ditch. Give that inside wheel – whether left or right – enough room to clear the edge of the ditch.
How to handle wind up in the drivetrain
One potential consequence of wheel cheat is a wound-up drivetrain. Wind up is when there is too much tension built up in the components of the drivetrain. If not addressed properly, severe damage can result.
First, it’s important to review how the wheels operate during a turn. In a normal situation, the differential allows the wheels to turn independently. This is necessary because the outside wheels must go faster than the inside wheels, and the front wheels must spin faster than the rear wheels to cover the same distance.
When you engage 4WD in a part time drive train, the driveshafts are mechanically connected together via the transfer case, with the rear differential controlling the front differential.
If you start a turn, the solid connection to the rear differentials prevent the front wheels from spinning as fast as they would like to. Their speed is limited by the back wheels. On mud, dirt, sand, snow, gravel, etc. the affected wheel just slips incrementally. In most cases you don’t even notice the small slips. But on pavement there is no ability to slide. This causes wind up in the drivetrain.
Initially it feels like the steering wheel is fighting you and will not allow you to turn. Once you get the front wheels to start turning, the front outside wheel starts jumping to keep up with the turn – it’s being pushed ahead. If you keep going, the front outside wheel stops jumping and will roll up the axle, taking up any slack in the differential and the transfer case.
Very quickly the drivetrain runs out of slack and everything comes to a screeching stop. If you still have the throttle on, you’ll snap parts.
Even if you didn’t break anything, you won’t be able to get out of it by shifting the transfer case or by shifting the transmission. The drivetrain is wound up so bad.
The solution is to jack up the front axle –preferably the outside axle – and let it unwind. If nothing’s broken, you’ll be OK.
Full-time and all-wheel-drive vehicles solve the wind up problem by allowing the front and rear drive shafts some ability to turn at different speeds relative to each other. This causes other issues off road.
This is why you should not use part time 4WD while on pavement. Windup can result. However, if you just need to cross a paved road to the other side without making any turns, you will not experience wind up.
Wheel cheat is possible anytime a vehicle makes a turn. The rear wheels don’t track perfectly to the front ones. Going a little wide into a turn will keep your vehicle from encountering another object, whether on the trail or in the city. Always be mindful of wheel cheat when making a turn.
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73 KI6FHA
I hope to see you on the trails!
Tom Severin, President Badlands Off Road Adventures, Inc.
4-Wheel Drive School
310-613-5473
www.4x4training.com
Make it Fun. Keep it Safe.
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