I am looking at buying an xterra and was curious about whether or not these things are true 4wd vehicles. I had a 1985 Blazer 4x4 and when in 4wd the tire that was loose would spin. Another words say one tire was on ice and the other was on pavement, the tire on the ice would spin and the tire on pavement wouldn't do jack. The dumbest thing I have ever seen. However, my brother had a 1984 F150 4x4 and it would spin all 4 tires regardless of terrian with any equal amount of tire rpm. I would like to know if the xterra will perform like the F150 or like the Blazer when put in 4wd.

Thank you,
Zazoos

The xterra will perform like Blazer when put in 4wd.

This is called an open differential. Most vehicles on the road will do this.

The only REAL way to keep both wheels spinning at the same RPM is to get a LOCKING differential.

zazoos,

the spinning blazer vs the non spinning ford is most likely due to differnt style differentials. like dssherrod said, your blazer probably had an open diff. the ford probably had what is called a limited slip diff. the easiest way to explain the difference is that on an open diff, if one tire loses traction, it is going to spin. period. and no power will be sent to the other wheel. a limited slip prevents that and tries to send power to the opposing wheel. limited slips are not perfect and the only way to ensure 100% that you are going to get even power to both wheels on an axle at all times is with a locking differential. like the name implies it locks the differential so that both wheels get power. limited slips are not bad and are much much better then open diffs. one of the options on the x is a limited slip diff. it isnt the greatest one ever made but it does the trick in most situations. hope this helps (but knowing me i probably made it worse).

get the X ... it rocks!

A limited-slip diff will do the same thing, it really only works when both tires have somewhat similar traction. If one has much less than the other, it will get away and spin just like the diff were open.

Any 4WD without lockers or some sort of torque management system is at best a 2WD when traction is scarce. One front and one rear wheel will spin while the other two do nothing. It's not at all "dumb" it's the way it works.

Brent

Checkout my FAQ on my website. It's for 4runners but the 4wd section is for any 4wd.

Steve

My old 93 Toyota 4X4 had open diffs. I never had a problem in 18 inches of snow. I believe my X is much better for traction. Gator