4wd

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hi all can anyone clarify if ive got this right if im in 4wd and have 1 front wheel of the ground thats the only 1 that should spin as thats the one with least traction cheers

Not really. That would be

Not really. That would be what happens with a full time 4x4 (Landrover Defender for instance) with the centre diff unlocked. part time 4x4 (or a full time with the centre diff locked) should keep going if only one wheel is off the ground.
What you are doing (when you engage 4x4) is send 50% of your drive to each axle. The axle diffs then split what they get between the two wheels. If one front wheel AND one rear wheel lose traction (usually on opposit corners due to 'cross axeling', or both on one side (due to driving across a steep slop) then wheels will spin and you may lose forward motion. However if one wheel on the front losses traction the rear axle will still be getting 50% of the drive, and push the car onward. Conversly if it's a wheel on the rear that tries to spin out, the front axle will keep pulling. That said, if you have one wheel right off the ground, then the opposit corner wheel will probably have little to no traction, as there is no waight on it, and will spin with the airborn one (cross axled).
On an off road only trials car you can weld the axle diffs solid (some companies used to do an expensive air locker kit to do the same for road legal cars). This means that each wheel gets 25% of the drive no matter what happens. So if only one wheel has traction the car will keep driving. However it tends to kill your turning circle, as the front wheels both keep turning at the same speed when you are trying to corner.

Any veiws expresed in this thread by me are purely from my own experience, and (sometimes) falible memory. Hope my comments help, but please don't take them as gospel.

4wd

thanks for the info nev cheers