I have a '01 Rancher 4x4ES. Today I got stuck in a mud hole. I thought that both front tires were supposed to spin. Or at least the one with traction. My experience was this.....when high centered with equal load on both front tires, both wheels turned as advertised.....But, when I would rock it from side to side so that one wheel would get a grip on the bottom, it would stop turning and the one in the air would spin.....correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this new "Sure-trac" front differential supposed to take care of this and send power to the wheel with traction??????

Has anyone else had this problem on the Rancher or Rubicon? The way I understand it, they both have basically the same type of front end.

I don't know if my Rancher works like everyone elses, and Honda's design doesn't work as advertised.......or do I just have one with problems.


A little dissappointed but still happy with the Rancher,

Rick

 

I think it is just the nature of the beast. I was snow running with a neighbor who has a Foreman (I had my Xplorer)and he had a similar problem. We would be plowing through drifts, I would get 1 front wheel through to traction, and by shifting my weight over the wheel with traction, it would pull me through. When he faced the same situation, shifting his weight to the wheel with traction just made the one on the ice spin more.
From what I understand, the Ranchers are supposed to be better than the Foremans in this respect, but still will spin only one wheel in some conditions. I have been told putting a little pressure on the front brake will help lock up the front end, but don't have enough experience to verify it.

 

Hit the front brake, it will lock in.