Had to use 4W low range the other day to back out of 50 yds of loose sand back onto pavement. As I started to straighten out the truck by pulling forward at slow speed, the front tires seem to be trying to grab at what seems like different speeds. This really becomes pronounced in a turn. Is this normal?

 

Ok, sounds like you backed out ok and onto pavement.

Yeah, it sounds like your gears were binding because you were in 4WD on pavement and something had to slip...... either your tires or by popping gear teeth. Hopefully, you only slipped your tires. Best thing to do in that situation is to pop it back into 2wd as you are rolling to the pavement, so you are in 2wd when you are on it.

The reason it doesn't seem to do this in the sand, is because you cannot feel the tires slipping in the sand as much as you can on the pavement. They still slip.

 

If you have limited slip or locking axles you should never try agresive turns on hard surfaces in 4wd especialy 4 low.

 

Yes, it is normal. It will also do this in 4 Hi.

Read your owners manual and it should say to not use 4 wheel drive when on solid surfaces. This means dry hard surfaced roads.

Per the owners manual: Driving in the 4H and 4L positions on dry hard surfaced roads may cause increased tire wear and damage to the driveline components.

This is what you were feeling once back on the pavement. As FMB says the tires were trying to slip and the but the natural tendancy to provide traction showed itself as what you felt in the steering. Needless to say running in a straight line you would not feel this but it makes turning very difficult and could produce damage to your transfer case. You were wise to shift back to 2 wheel drive quickly once on the pavement.

 

Remember to take it out of 4wd when you park it in the garage too. I drove home in 4wd in a snow storm once. The next day my wife took the truck to town and back on bare roads. When she got back she said something was wrong with the truck, it would act funny going around corners....

 

very normal, a friend of mine tried to turn his whel hard on pavement and the wheel turned back so fast it broke his finger