noob at 4wd

what is the proper steps to go from 2wheel drive to 4wd and visa versa? my is a 6speed manual.

what speed, do you have to be stopped?...etc...

also heard that you should be in 4wd in a year to proper lube the truck? true?

thanks

 

Just let off the gas and switch it to 4. Let it engage and your good to go. Same goes for taking it out. If your 4wd doesn't go in throw it in nutreul and it should go in.

 

Can engage and disengage at 55 mph and below anytime needed. Good to engage once in a while to check and ensure 4wd is working.

 

toyota says go in 4wd at least driving for 10miles per month for proper maint...really?...i live in the city...where do i drive for this?...thought its bad to turn 4wd with dry pavement?

 

Hummm Ive never heard that. From what I understand on are trucks you are always turning the front diff components. 4wd just transfers power to those components.

 

No, you have an ADD (which like automatic locking hubs) frees up wear and drag of the front drive parts when you are in 2WD.

It is not good to use 4WD on dry pavement if you turn... since the front and back tires need to rotate differently and in 4WD they cannot... if the ground is slippery than they can without binding.

If you must, only go into 4WD on pavement during rain... and if it never rains, make sure you do so only when driving straight (to lube the parts).

 

You should have a card in you sun visor with the details... and you should order a manual... it is a crime to sell a Taco without the book included, I think!

HERE IS THE CARD:

 

i have heard that you should not engage 4WD at speed while your wheels are sharply turned. i could be wrong, though.

 

is it necessary to drive in 4wd for 10miles per month as the manual suggests?

 

1) You need to ask yourself why Toyota says to do it. Obviously it is good for the truck to.

2) Bummer to have 4WD and not go places where you can use it at least once a month.

3) Does everyone drive 10 mi./ mo. in 4WD as a maintenance habit? Probably not... I am sure I may have gone over a month or have driven less than 10 miles a month in 4WD... The truck still shifts fine, but why not try and do what Toyota recommends?

 

Hi Joe... when you engage 4WD (H4), the trasfer case 'locks' the front and rear driveshafts together. In a turn, they must rotate at different speeds (the front tires rotate more than the back in a turn). Just like using a clutch when shifting gears, you want the transfer case shifter to pop in and not 'bind' or grind (like if you shift without using the clutch.

On dirt or slippery surfaces (icy pavement, etc.) there is enough slippage to turn in 4WD so there is little to no binding between the front and rear dirveshafts at the transfer case.

Having your tires pointed straight when you engage 4WD will have the least amount of bind between the two driveshafts. If you are in a turn when you shift into 4WD, it probably won't go in until you straighten your tires anyway... so it can 'pop in'.

The difference between 4WD (part time 4WD) and AWD (full time 4WD) is that there is a third or center differential at the transfer case that allows the two drive shafts to rotate at different speeds... so you can drive on dry pavement without any binding what-so-ever.

 

Great info, David. Thanks. Repp'd

 

http://www.howstuffworks.com/four-wheel-drive.htm

 

I remember reading in the manual to drive 4wd 10 mi per month to keep every thing lubed up in the transfer case and all that..

 

Binding only occurs in sharp (~ 90 deg) turns. Sweepers and lane changes are fine. So you can get on the highway, engage 4H, drive normally, get off the highway, and go back to 2H. Do it during your daily commute and you don't have to spend extra time on it.

 

i'm asking this 10mi/month on 4wd because was told from people around me that you should use 4wd on office roads, bad conditions only...dry pavement should not be turned on.

i live in the city and most of the time its dry here...only the winter is crazy which have no probs with the 10mi thing...but not the rest of the year

 

christian, can you use the HAC mode ie. with a tacoma manual transmission to prevent rolling backwards in a steep hill for normal driving?

thanks for the vid..that helps!

 

Still haven't bought into the 10 mi every month in 4wd to keep things 'lubed'. I'm not going to tell you not to do what your manal says, but personally I think Toyota put that in their manual as a cover your a$$ measure, knowing 99% of people won't do it. I use 4wd when I need it and only when I need it. Sometimes I go months without touching that 4wd switch. Just my $0.02.

 

I have manual hubs and once a month I will lock them and drive the 10 miles to and from work. With it I have some uneven terrain, dirt, gravel, etc where I will engage the 4H and 4L for a few minutes. I don't get the 10 miles out of doing the 4x4 system but I get some just to keep things lubed.

 

I don't always have a month with ten 4WD miles included, and there may be months with less than a mile in 4WD... but, it has never failed me in any of the three Tacomas I have had.