I recently did a gear swap on my 06 Tahoe 4x4. I went from 3.42 to 4.30. After I did the front diff, I put it in 4wd and moved slowly to make sure it felt ok. It felt fine except when turning hard. Even on dirt it really feels bound up when I'm turning hard. Before I did the gears I drove around in Auto 4X4 all the time but now I'm afraid 4wd might kick in during a turn on dry pavement and something might break. I did put it in 4wd at speed while going straight and it felt fine. Is this normal or is there something I may have done wrong?

 

did you just swap gears? or the carrier too?

 

Just the gears. the carrier is the stock open in front and the stock G80 in rear.

 

It seems normal with the wheels off the ground and driveshaft disconnected, i.e. when one wheel is spun, the other spins the other way. Of course thats only when its put in 4wd so that the passenger axle is engaged. Otherwise the wheels spin freely independently of one another. Seems totally normal.

 

Did u put the GM additive in? It prevents the locker from "sticking"...same thing happened to me and discovered the guy who did the gears didnt put the juice in. R/

 

No. in the rear or front?

 

I used Royal Purple in rear and Lucas up front. Didn't know about any additive. It would be cool if it were that simple.

Also, I had picked up one court of the heavy stuff by accident but I went ahead and put it in the front. So its like half 70-90 and half 85-140. Should I replace it with lighter fluid?

 

Mine does this in Auto 4WD also. I thought it was because the axles are at the wrong angle after i dropped it. I'm not sure though.

but its normal to crow hop and bind in 4WD low on dry pavement though.

 

Yeah, it did start making more noise when turning after I lowered it but before I did the gears. I probably just noticed the binding because I was testing it after the gear swap. I will definitely be trying that GM additive.

 

You dont have to have any additive in the front diff. It is only gears, no clutches like the rear. Are you saying that it does in auto 4x4 or just hi 4x4?