Rear differential lock...

what will happen is it won't bind.

 

And I'll feel like a dog dragging its rear-end around the carpet?

 

That is my whole point. There are tons of threads that pop up on this site all the time asking about 4wd and diff lock operation. Don't assume people reading this know not to do it on dry pavement. My original comment was to tell him not to lock his truck out and run sharp s turns assuming he tries it out in Walmart parking lot and drives a few laps around the poles that way

 

Well sir I apologize for the misunderstanding and i do admit that i was wrong about not having any binding in the t-case. I still don't think it hurts anything to go a short distance but like you say if he is out there running around for a while then it will eventually tear something up. And now we have a thread that gets down to the specifics of why it can be bad to do it on dry pavement.

 

The best thing to do is try stuff in a gentle manner and feel out how the drivetrain wants to work.

I've driven in 4WD on dry pavement for good stretches with nothing 'sploding. I've put it into loose enough turns that things went ok. I've put it into tight enough turns where badness felt emminent and I backed off. 117k miles on my truck and I haven't had any drivetrain issues.

It all comes down to how badly you want to abuse it. No matter what, it is a mechanical device that will eventually wear out.

PS: Throw some mud on your tires and drive around in an empty parking lot. Take a couple turns and measure out how much the front tires travel versus the rears by tracing the mud on the ground. Another way to do the experiment, rotate your tires so the lettering is all aligned the same then drive thru a turn and see how much rotational difference is between the front and rear on the same sides.

 

Yeah, I remember well my first experience with the transfer bind in my old 93. When up to a ski resort in a cold blizzard, 4 hi, parked it, went skiing.

Came back, it was warmer, I went to pull out of my spot in the cramped parking lot. Turned hard, and after about 10 feet it stopped suddenly. I was like, WTF? Looked around, then I noticed by 4wd light on. I had forgotten to disengage it when I parked, and now the ice and snow in the lot had melted and the pavement was exposed. I had to work it back into the spot and straighten it out to basically rotate the front and back wheels into synch where they were before I started, and then I could shift the transfer out of 4 high.

 

exactly. When i was wheeling in moab for the first time with my locker i would switch it off and still hear the tires chirping. for a while i was like wtf...why isn't it disengaging. then i face palmed and realized that because slick rock has the same traction as asphalt the front and rear were still binding with each other, i was just getting all nervous my locker was being a bitch again. Without the rear trying to turn at the same speed as the front there would be no tire chirp. however i bet if you took off the rear drive shaft and drove in 4wd you would still feel a bind in the steering if you cranked it all the way. I am curious if you do, so please try it and tell us haha. I want to know if im crazy or not.

 

Oh I've put mine in 4wd on pavement but I obviously don't remember anything binding. I must have not went all the way to full lock. And I definitely believe that the front and rear wheels take different paths, I just never thought of it that way.

I've never noticed my rear wheels fighting the front in gravel or anything until I lock the rear diff. But I'm going home this evening and trying it in the driveway to see. I'm willing to bet that if you pull the rear driveshaft you won't have enough binding to feel. The outside wheel should be the one pulling in a turn and the outside wheel shouldn't turn as much as the inside wheel because of the ackerman. So the pulling wheel shouldn't have a bad angle on the cv. But I may be wrong again lol.

 

My wife. I have a roll of duct tape in my glove compartment that I use that covers the 4wd/locker e-buttons when I hand her over the keys. No joke.

 

Lol. That's funny. She is one of those people that just like to push buttons to find out what happens?

 

I wheel my 4runner in awd and 4wd and I can say without any doubt
that in awd mode, I can steer lock-lock on dry pavement and zero binding whatsoever

the cv's do not bind at all. they can work fine under power
well beyond the limits of the steering

all binding in a toyota 4wd is from a locked center diff, or no center diff
where the front shaft and rear shaft fight for torque control. if you feel
the front bind in 4wd it is because torque is forcing one front wheel to start
to skid, and it -feels- like binding but it is not the cv whatsoever. cv's are
pretty tough little units (*if you run large tires or are lifted, cv's will be under
undue stress, they still won't bind but you can bust them in severe offroad bashing)

and if you lock the rear diff lock, any binding is both back tires fighting each other,
and possibly one front wheel too....

 

You sir, have inspired me to create this thread.

 

Wait, so do you have one of those special 3rd gen 4Runners with multi-mode (special transfer case) that's designed to be able to use 4WD on dry pavement, but that is not true AWD? If so, I could be wrong but our tacos don't have that feature.

 

Haha

 

damn right I have a 1999 4runner limited
with rr diff lock, awd mode, part-time 4wd, and 4lo.

I can leave it in awd forever if I want, which I often do

it's true awd, why you think it isn't ?
in a straight line with equal traction I can light up all 4 tires
(well, in rain and dirt I can )

it is an AWD system, that can also do part-time, not a part-time that can do awd...


tacomas do not have a center diff

FJ's do

 

Haha my buddy's kid pushed just about every button in his truck right before his wife got in it. She called him from down the street and said it was making a weird noise and was driving weird and there were a lot of lights on the dash. It was in 4hi and locked among other things.

 

...and damn right I used to own a 2000 limited, multimode, locker, the works, and wish I never sold that fkr but still was worth trading it in for my taco, so no regrets, ok maybe a little bit

To humbly answer your "it's true awd, why you think it isn't ?" question:

I'm no gear head/nut and don't know all the technical details/jargon but I doubt you could even compare or say that a 3rd gen 4Runner multimode system is a true AWD system. A symmetrical AWD system such as a Subaru that evenly distributes power for maximum traction is what I would call a true AWD system.

But hey, call it what you want but Toyota's "multimode" is not a true AWD system to me.

 

it has a center diff...its true awd lol. that's all it means, that power can go from the front to back freely without binding or breaking shit

 

this ^^^

And...when various auto magazines reviewed the 4runner limited, they
all discussed the system as 'an AWD that can also do part-time', not
the other way around. not that it matters now, but back in 1999 it mattered a
shit-ton to Pathfinder, Jeep, and Xterra owners hahahaha

1999 4runner limited
- has the highest stock clearance of any 4runner prior, or after,
1998 was lower and 2000 lower 99 still the tallest ever...and I use that

- I have owned mine since Oct 1998, one owner bashing it to shit

- Still registered and stickered today, and it is my dedicated woods buggy,
or the GF uses it for grocery runs (likes the rear window up/down)

- I have not washed or waxed it, ever. only some garden hose washes
for mud

- skid plates, pumpkin, control arms, all scraped up reallllly nice because
I ain't skeered no rocks. exhaust also is no longer O shaped....rocks again...
once drove up onto a rock wall and high-centered it longitudinally on the gas
tank skid plate...a little gas and rocking I drove off that wall... and then had
to unbend the gas tank skid plate with a prybar

- running boards were thrown in trash on week 2, stock otherwise

- it has heated mirrors. nuff said

 

Good god, you're defending the 3rd gen 4runners like a bear protecting her cubs..but you're just preaching to the choir here lol. I have a huge heart for 3rd gen 4Runners and I can tell you have really good taste in rigs as I expected! It's just that I have a bigger heart for the 1st gen tacoma ..so your detailed bragging list about a 99 limited I can only answer with "ok...?"

I dont know what the big deal was about the "I have a '99 so my rig is special because it came with taller springs" crap. Toyota nerfed the springs in '00 cause of all the roll over scares that's all. Any year you can easily swap short factory springs for slightly taller '99 factory springs but everyone ends up going aftermarket or retrofitting LCs so why is it a big deal? Also for the record not all '99 limiteds came with the taller springs, some of these limiteds ended up with shorter springs.

Now if I were to do the whole 3rd gen 4runner all over again and the focus of the build was rock crawling, it would start with the following:
A rare, like fine wine, 1999 4Runner Highlander SR5 (green or black) with a manual trans and manual J shifter + factory locker. None of this bloated limited trim stuff that includes electronics for convenience (the auto climate hvac has so much fail), chunky side cladding, woodgrain plastic and leather, an awd electronic push button that has the potential to fail over time, just a simple J shifter, simple hvac unit that you control and doesn't control you, sporty seats, and you still get your limited sunroof, so much win! Now that would make for the beginnings of an awesome 3rd gen 4Runner that an auto magazine can write about! Oh and almost forgot, the sweet hood scoop, non functional but cool as hell!

Sorry OP for going way off topic but I really like chatting with others about the 3rd gen 4Runners