82 pickup hard to turn in 4 wheel drive

[OneSpaztick]

I have a 82 Toyota pickup. I love the truck. I just rebuilt the engine. It's got 35s on it. I like doing a little off roading but if I put it in 4 wheel drive it doesn't want to turn. I have to put all my weight into it just to turn. It just wants to go straight. It is not fun after about 2 minutes. To my knowledge it doesn't have a locker in the front. Why would this be happening?

 

[rickc5]

That's called "binding" and it's considered normal unless you are on a surface that allows the wheels to slip--like snow, ice, dirt. Not good to try 4-wheel drive on any pavement. Of course, having 35" tires makes the problem much worse. You can also try to find all the parts needed to add power steering, which will help.

 

[69FJ-2.4LTRTDIESEL]

Is your front & rear axels lockers? Is the front axel an IFS or solid axel? The locker locks the two tires together, and they both want to pull straight ahead. When the suspension oscillates, the tie rods toe in or out, which now is making two spinning tires either pull towards, or away from, each other, wanting to rip the front end in half. There is a problem with clutch-driven limited-slip differentials in IFS though, where the clutch-driven limited slip will constantly want to pull forward, more so even than an automatic locker that would disengage around a corner. This will make steering input difficult to say the least. The best alternative you have for an IFS front would be a helical-gear-type limited-slip differential that will free up and allow you to carve a steering wheel back and forth. If you have a locker in the front you should consider the helical gear limited slip. They recommend nothing more than 35" tires if you go that way. Hope this feeds the thought process. (Info taken from another tech post in the past)