Thom's Four Wheel Drive

Some people love 4x4 vehicles, the true 4-wheel drive works of engineering like Jeeps and 4x4 pickups that allow you to seemingly go anywhere on the planet. You can climb up a 40-degree rock trail with some planning and skill (always careful to protect the environment, of course), or you can get through the deepest snow. But with that added capability comes additional complexity, drive-train components and other systems that less capable vehicles don't have.  And that is why when it comes to 4x4s, you have to maintain them a little differently from those vehicles that spend their lives on pavement.  Here are some of the key things to keep an eye on: Transfer case—This transfers power from the engine to the wheels.  A transfer case has fluid in it that needs to be changed at intervals recommended by the manufacturer.  Your service advisor will let you know how often that is and will keep track of your service dates.  You will need to make sure the transfe ... read more

Here at AutoNetTV, we have national viewers, like your neighbors in CHICAGO, who write to us with questions or feedback. One common question we're asked is: "What is a differential and what does it do?" You may have been told by your Thom's Four Wheel Drive service advisor that your differential needs serviced, or it's seen it as an option up on the service menu. Differential service at Thom's Four Wheel Drive covers a lot of things, so let's first talk about what a differential does.As you drive through a turn, your outside wheels and inside wheels turn at different speeds. Kind of like the cars going around a race track - the ones driving in the outside lanes have a greater distance to travel than the cars in the inside lanes. The differential is what allows the outside and inside drive wheels to rotate at slightly different speeds so that the tires don't hop or skip while taking corners, or lose traction in dirt or snow on ... read more

With front-wheel drive being so common these days in CHICAGO, Illinois, the differential is just taken care of during a transmission service, so most CHICAGO drivers don't even have to think about it. And rear-wheel drive differentials don't need to be serviced for years, so it's understandable that it's not something on the top of CHICAGO customers' minds. It's not uncommon for drivers to not know they have a differential let alone know that it needs service. Call Thom's Four Wheel Drive in CHICAGO at 7735775701 for information about differential service, or stop by our CHICAGO, Illinois, auto center at 4118 N PULASKI RD, 60641. To better understand what a differential does, think about our local CHICAGO high school track. There are lanes marked off on the track. For the longer distance races, the starting lines are staggered. The starting lines for the outside lanes are ahead of the starting lines for the inside lanes. That's to ... read more

The drive train in your vehicle includes all the components that transfer power from the transmission to the wheels. Those components differ depending on what type of vehicle you drive, namely, front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The preventive maintenance your driveshaft needs will also differ by what type of vehicle you drive.Let's start with front-wheel drive. In this vehicle, the transmission and the differential are combined in one component, known as the transaxle. The transaxle is connected to two half-shafts (axles), which are then connected to the wheels with a constant velocity (or CV) joint, which is protected by an airtight rubber boot.Thom's Four Wheel Drive service for this type of driveline includes servicing the transaxle and inspecting the CV boot. If the boot is damaged, the CV joint will need to be inspected, and the boot will need to be replaced. If you hear a clicking ... read more

There are a lot of drivers in CHICAGO who are due for a differential service, but had never heard of a differential before.With front-wheel drive being so common in Illinois these days, the differential is just taken care of during a transmission service, so most CHICAGO folks don't even have to think about it. And rear-wheel drive differentials don't need to be serviced for years, so it's understandable that it's not something on the top of your mind. It's not uncommon for people in CHICAGO to not know they have a differential, let alone know that it needs service.To better understand what a differential does, think about a track at any Illinois high school. There are lanes marked off on the track. For the longer distance races, the starting lines are staggered. The starting lines for the outside lanes are ahead of the starting lines for the inside lanes. That's to compensate for the longer length of the outside lanes. Staggering the starting lines means that each ru ... read more