Feels like handbrake engaging when turning full lock in 4H

I towed my boat up to the servo the other day to get fuel in it, and when I got back home I selected 4H to reverse it into the driveway. As I turned the steering wheel closer to the full lock position, the movement of the vehicle became very restricted as if the handbrake was being applied.
After selecting 2WD I got the boat parked with no restriction.
I tried this again today without towing anything. My D40 parked on a flat concrete driveway, select 4H, reverse out and turn steering near full lock. Vehicle wants to lock up and not move, until I return the steering to a less of a turn position. It will do this in forward or reverse. My D40 is a 2013 ST with an Auto gearbox.
I have used the vehicle on a 4wd track in 4H before and not noticed this.
Is this something that is common and I just don't know about it?

4x4 hi or low is only for unsealed roads..when its in 4x4 all 4 wheels are essentually locked together.unlike a all wheel drive...they have a center diff to allow the front and rear wheel to giv a little when turning.the navs however will just try and bind up which is a horrible thing for our type of 4x4..this bind up or your lock up of all the gearbox,front and rear diff internals can damage everything and its not reccomended.on sealed roads when turning at low speeds you need to be in 2wd...but that said if your say pulling your boat out of the water and ONLY driving in a straight line 4x4 hi/lo can be used...but no one will ever reccomend it.
Hope that made sense as ive had a beer.

exactly what camo said^^^^ these are 4wd not all wheel drive
you WILL break something if you keep doing what you have described
your steer wheels must be able to slip when in 4wd, what you are feeling is massive pressure on your drivetrain
cheers

^ As above.

When you engage 4LO/4HI you're engaging a very heavy chain that links the drive shafts heading to the front and rear axles. This fixes the rotation of the drive shafts so that they rotate in unison - and can't slip. "All Wheel Drive" vehicles have something like a limited slip diff in the centre to allow the front and rear diffs to rotate at slightly different rates - and that's also why cars like the Subaru Outback need 3 lockers, not just 2.

Imagine in a tight right-hand turn (like a U-turn) what distance your front left wheel is travelling compared to the rear right wheel. In order to travel that distance, the front left wheel has to rotate a lot more than the rear right - and if your transmission is connected, it won't happen easily. Something has to give - on a loose surface, it's the traction between the tyre and the surface, and that's fine. On a firm surface, it could be anything from the tread on your tyres, to the transfer chain, and even the gears in the diff or the spider gears in your CVs, although these latter ones don't give often - it's usually the chain that lets go.

So yep, it'll feel like the handbrake is on, using 4WD on a firm surface is generally NOT recommended BUT if you have to haul a heavy weight up a slope in a straight line (eg boat on a ramp) then 4LO is quite acceptable as long as you keep the car straight.

Mudguard said:

I towed my boat up to the servo the other day to get fuel in it, and when I got back home I selected 4H to reverse it into the driveway. As I turned the steering wheel closer to the full lock position, the movement of the vehicle became very restricted as if the handbrake was being applied.
After selecting 2WD I got the boat parked with no restriction.
I tried this again today without towing anything. My D40 parked on a flat concrete driveway, select 4H, reverse out and turn steering near full lock. Vehicle wants to lock up and not move, until I return the steering to a less of a turn position. It will do this in forward or reverse. My D40 is a 2013 ST with an Auto gearbox.
I have used the vehicle on a 4wd track in 4H before and not noticed this.
Is this something that is common and I just don't know about it?

Click to expand...

Very common & otherwise known as Axel bind.

As the others have said ... not recommended to use genuine 4wd on sealed surfaces.

You will be lucky if you haven't stretched the transfer chain doing that...That's normally the first casualty. Might pay to read your hand book on operation of 4wd system..

Thanks for the info. As I mentioned I only tried it with the boat attached once, to back it up into my driveway from the street, and then without it attached just reversed then forward. When I felt the bind up I straightened the steering and selected 2WD. Will not try this again. Thanks again for explaining how this system works and the issues that can arise.

It's ok if you drive dead straight, just don't turn corners or it will bind as said and do damage to either transfer or axles. One advantage of front locking hubs. I know what you mean though, I use low rang to back my camper up my driveway so you can just use idle and not ride the clutch.
Cheers.