transfer box / gear box / diff
 

hi everyone. as you may guess i am new to this site and i thank you all in advance for any help you give. i was towing my very heavy road trailer with a mazda B2500 2005 on friday in 4wd high at 50-60 mph maximum and i started to smell burning rubber and when i stopped there was oil all around my front diff. i changed to 2wd and all was well dropped off trailer. when i got home i thought i would jet wash diff area and take a look no sign of any damage. my guess is it came out of the breather. i drained the oil and put in new. when i put it in 4wd high its like the hand break is on let off throtel and it stops like the breaks are on. so my question is it ok to use in 2wd as it seems fine and what could cause this problem. thanks once again for any help. regards shaun :(

it sounds like you screwed up ur front diff, bad, in general 4x4 is only for offroad use, or icy, turning on dry pavement is really bad for your entire frontend
there is no need for 4x4 on dry pavement, even with a trailer,

a new diff is around $250, plus alot of labor $$