Engaging 4x4 once a month

No, you hear people terrified of doing it, not nightmares about people doing it.

 

i mean 10 miles is probably excessive

 

You'll be okay.
Happy friday everyone!

 

It does seem very excessive. Like if my motor and all other drive line components can lubricate themselves in a mile or less, I hope my 4wd can too

 

If I don't use 4wd for a while, there is a couple of seconds of delay before it engages. If I then drive 100 feet, disengage, and re-engage, it engages instantly. I think that simply engaging it once a month is more important than driving 10 miles.

 

Now you have excuse go off-road once month.

 

Here in Southern California the traffic is relentless on the freeways. There are times when you go 5 mph for a half an hour at a time. Guess when I exercise mine whilst not south of the border?

 

Once traffic was so bad, and I was so tired of clutch in, clutch out, clutch in, clutch out, that I used low range on the freeway. Don't recommend it though because if traffic picks up it can be hard to get back into high range.

 

These nightmare statements are from the misinformed.

 

Maybe @jkish17 can chime in

 

The OM recommends:

Four-wheel drive usage frequency
"You should drive in four-wheel drive for at least 10 miles (16 km) each month.
This will assure that the front drive components are lubricated”

It clearly says at least 10 miles. This is also because during periods of non use, condensation forms in the case and driving it at least 10 miles allows for this condensation to burn off and lubricate all parts.
How to put on at least 10 miles a month gives many TW engineers here a fit because the OM does not recommend putting those miles on a straight dry surface.

OM:
“For normal driving on dry and hard surface roads, use “2WD” position.
Driving on dry and hard surface roads in “4H” or “4L” position may cause
drive component oil leakage, seizure, or other problems resulting in an
accident. Further, it may cause tire wear and increased fuel consumption”

I As for me, I’m following what the TOYOTA engineers recommend, because I have seen the $$ damage on old G.I. trucks left to go unused many years ago.

Now they (TOYOTA engineers) maybe wrong and the TW engineers maybe be right in your opinion, but just make sure to use good judgment on choosing whose advice to take.

And as always, choose wisely.

Cheers!

 

There are no nightmare statements - just ignorant statements.

No one has had an issue responsibly engaging in 4hi on dry pavement. All of the relevant formation is in the threads you referenced...buried under a mountain of musings and opinions.

 

I feel like this topic has been covered many, many times before

 

Agree. I've had several 4WD RIGS and I didn't even know this was a thing until I read it in my owners manual. Just using engaging it once every so often seems to do enough.

 

No horror stories yet? Let me help



Story Time
"I will let you in on my own story of what not to do when driving a four-wheel drive. It is a little embarrassing. But it’s something I will never forget.

It all started when I let a friend borrow my 1996 Ford F350. It was returned in one piece, safe and sound. I hopped in it to run around chasing parts.

I thought I felt it pushing slightly on the pavement. But when I looked down on the floorboard I saw that the 4×4 was not engaged.

Knowing that she’s got 35-inch tires and is an old truck, I didn’t think much more about it so, I drove on.

I drove onto the freeway and after running about 20 miles in the fast lane, BOOOOM!!!!! I heard the loudest, exploding noise ever while driving a vehicle . It sounded like the engine blew up.

Diving over to the breakdown lane in a panic to pull over, I jumped out of the truck faster than my heart was pounding. Which was pretty fast!

There, I find my front drive shaft laying partially attached to the front diff with the rest of it gnarled up in a steel ball.

My hubs were still locked. NO!!! How could I have not checked?! Every curse word in the book came out of my mouth. I had to lay under the truck and, thankfully with the only tie-down in the bed, ratchet my driveshaft to the frame so that I could make it home.

The only thing holding me back was that the mangled drive shaft hit the shift linkage on the transmission. It was bent to the extent the transmission would not go into drive.

I was able to pry it out with a flat head screwdriver and felt lucky to be able to drive it back.

I was angry with myself for not checking the hubs before I drove the truck but also thankful for my many years of learning how to fix stuff and being somewhat mechanically inclined.

The Moral of the Story
Don’t be like me, remember to disengage every component of your four-wheel drive before pulling onto dry pavement. That was a brief synopsis of a longer tale. It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears for me to get off the side of the road that day.

As crazy as it may sound, traction is not a friend to four-wheel drive. At least not while on pavement. You need the tires to be able to slip slightly when turning to take the stress off of the drive train component"

https://offroadrecoveryguide.com/is-it-ok-to-drive-in-four-wheel-drive-on-dry-pavement/

 

I love Fridays.

Have a great weekend in 4WD everyone!

 

I mean, it all still rotates...thus the MPG penalty for 4x4.

 

Fun fact

The less you use 4WD the longer it lasts

 

Where you gonna find 10 miles of straight road?

You must not read the posts here very often. Lots of people complaining about issues with 4X4 not working properly and many of them can be traced back to not properly engaging 4X4. I see post here on a regular basis like this.

Technically for short distances you'll be OK. But the reward isn't worth the risk to get your 10 miles/month. The damage is cumulative. It would be extremely rare for a catastrophic failure to happen while driving in 4X4 on pavement. The damage shows up months, or years later when parts fail to work properly because they were stressed beyond what they were designed for.

And yes I have a nightmare story. An 1970's era Jeep truck I had used vacuum lines to engage 4X4. Prior to me buying the truck the lines had somehow gotten reversed and I was in 4X4 when the switch was set for 4X2. I was smart enough to know not to be in 4X4 on pavement, but not experienced enough to recognize the problem. I had to have the transfer case rebuilt twice in a few months. Nothing broke, but the drive chain that transfers power to the front drive shaft stretched and started slipping on the gears.



And I've also had a 4X4 that wasn't engaged in 4X4 for several months fail to engage when needed. No damage, just take the hubs apart, clean the hardened grease, re lube and reassemble. I've also pulled 4-5 others out of jams over the last 40 years who had vehicles that would not engage 4X4 due to lack of use.

I almost always get in at least a couple of miles each month in 4X4. I might skip a month occasionally, but never 2 months. Some months only 2-3 miles some months 200-300 miles. But I do it on a dirt or gravel road.