4wd on dry pavement

So this was my own stupid fault, but I just drove my truck up my hill in 4w high, I haven't used it since I got the truck and figured I should see if it works even( dumb I know, I'm new at this )
I drove it about maybe a quarter of a mile around 15-20mph up hill and turned into my drive way which is at a 90° angle. Put it in park onna slight decline , and turning back to 2w high , I heard a sort of pop like stuck brakes coming lose. Truck rolled forward a little.
Drove it up and down the road after that in 2w and nothing sounds or seems obviously wrong ,
How F'd am i?

 

Possible gear damage.

 

Any idea how I could test or check for that ?

 

You’ll be fine, definitely not the first guy to do this. Also people use 4wd all the time when it’s dry out on steep stuff, rock. I’m sure your drive is easier than moab.

 

bruh; your truck is probably just fine.

 

It's fine.

 

You’re fine next time leave it in gear or neutral when switching to or from 2wd/4wd
Let it roll

 

You're good. We've all made that mistake before.

 

Thanks everyone, I googled what I just done after I heard that noise and got a bunch of results saying "broken transfer case" gave me a little panic haha

 

Most likely nothing wrong with your truck. The sound you heard was 4wd actuator disengaging. That sound you heard is not uncommon. The only thing you shouldn’t have done is make a turn on dry pavement while in 4wd. It does not harm your truck to drive in 4wd on dry pavement as long as you go mostly straight. If you turn it binds. In fact per your owners manual you are supposed to drive at least 10 miles a month in 4wd. And driving that 10 miles on dry pavement is just fine.
Go out and put your truck in 4wd and drive a short distance. If 4wd engages and you hear no strange sounds while driving your 4wd is good to go.

 

Part out is only option

Try a gravel road to engage and disengage the 4x4 and see if anything acts up. Most likely ok though

 

Thanks for the info, I probably had them cut about 30 degrees? (not cut all the way over for sure )for a moment when I turned in and felt them bind up a bit, I had thought that feeling was just the tires grabbing since there's a little hump at the top of the drive

 

part out.

 

You're fine. The tires did all the slipping.

Get used to the "clunk" when going from 4hi to 2hi even on a dirt road in a straight line.

 

The only weird part of this is the rolling forward in park. The 4wd loves to make a scary clunk when you disengage it while parked, doesn't do it as noticeably at slow speeds. Normal, drive that thing.

 

I strongly advise folks to not use 4X4 on pavement, but for such a short distance you're probably fine. It is extremely rare for total parts failure to happen from 1, or even a few such incidents. The damage is cumulative. You cause excessive wear to parts which will lead to parts failure earlier than they should. Repeatedly doing this just speeds up the failure.

This is the type of bad advice I see on the internet a lot. I know for a fact, from 1st hand experience and an empty bank account from paying for the repairs that it only takes a few hundred miles in 4X4 on pavement to tear up a transfer case. 10 miles/month is 120 miles/ year. Guys who do this will be on here in 3-5 years wondering why their 4X4 system no longer works properly.

Find a dirt or gravel road for that 10 miles/month. And if you make a mistake once or twice don't lose any sleep over it. Just last week I engaged 4X4 while on a forest service gravel road for 4-5 miles in order work out the 4X4 system. I forgot to disengage when I got back to pavement and drove 4-5 miles before realizing the problem. Not something I want to do on a regular basis, but it happens to everyone.

 

I also made a dumb mistake….my driveway is part gravel and part concrete and is on a fairly steep hill. The parking pad is concrete and L shaped. i made the mistake of forgetting to disengage the 4wd while backing and turning while parking on the concrete pad. I noticed today my steering wheel clicks while turning (in 2WD), especially when making turns onto streets - each rotation of the steering wheel results in a click. It also clicks when making less than 90* turns. What is most likely the issue, bad CV joints or transfer case or both?

 

Your steering wheel clicks?
Are you sure it’s the steering wheel?

Stick your head out the window and see where the sound is coming from.

 

A clicking while your vehicle is moving, with the steering wheel turned to one side or the other, is commonly associated with a failing CV joint. A common reason for CV joint failure is that the boot gets torn, so all the grease gets flung out, although they can also wear out with the boot still intact. The hubs in these trucks don't disconnect, so the CV shafts turn all the time, and you would hear a bad CV joint whether in 2 or 4WD. (The ADD system disconnects the right shaft from the front diff in 2WD, and the transfer case isolates the front driveshaft, so the shafts should only transmit torque in 4WD.) It is possible that a bad CV joint might click when turning the steering wheel only, but I've only ever heard them click while the shaft is turning, i.e. when the vehicle is rolling, typically on tight turns.

It would be helpful if you could isolate it to turning the steering vs. vehicle motion vs. suspension articulation. I don't have any specific insights if it clicks while stationary, but will second @TnShooter's suggestion to see if the steering wheel itself is clicking, then suggest checking the rack and the tie rods. Does it click if you jack the front end up in the air, then cycle the steering, or turn the tires at either steering limit? (Also, I highly doubt it's your transfer case.)

In any case: while driving in 4WD on pavement should be avoided, and wears out the components faster... isolated instances like maneuvering around a driveway in 4x4, or forgetting to switch back to 2WD for a few miles of pavement, aren't going to instantly destroy the system. I bind up the drivetrain all the time driving on rocky terrain, for example, and have inadvertently driven many miles of highway in 4hi. If maneuvering your truck around your driveway in 4WD managed to break a CV shaft or steering component, then they were likely on their last legs anyway. Don't feel too bad about an isolated brainfart like this one... in the worst case, something worn-out finally broke, and I'd call it a lucky break for that to occur at home.

 

yes, there’s definitely a clicking sound inside the cabin while making right of left turns, and it is coming from the steering wheel area. The sound is not a constant clicking sound, only a couple clicks at a time, and every 1/2 rotation of the steering wheel. I have not ruled out that somehow the steering column cover is coming in contact with the steering wheel; but, based on what I’ve read, I’ll roll my window down today and listen for it. Thanks for your response.