How often to engage 4WD to keep it lubricated?

Curious how often folks are doing this and how many miles each time? Can this be done on pavement? Thanks

 

I engage the 4 wheel drive once a month. I usually go for around 10-20 miles and if the pavement is dry I only run it on straight sections. Never make tight turns in 4 wheel drive on dry pavement.

 

I try and remember once a month, but often forget for a couple. You can do this on pavement as long as you're going in a straight line, or at least relatively straight. I'm coming from a 2nd gen, so it could be a little different for you, but I will often do it on the freeway. I can shift under like 60, so I'll drive a half mile or so, and just shift it back out. Might do that twice in a row and call it good. It's not about distance, just about the actuator moving.

My Locker actuator I totally forgot to exercise, and it's froze up. no issue with the 4wd though.

 

I do what the manual says

 

The manual says 10 miles per month -- it is more important than it gets engaged frequently than the actual miles.

Conservative driving on pavement is OK for short straight sections.

I use a stretch of 40 mph paved road that is 3 miles long and almost as straight as a runway to exercise mine.

 

Every now and then.

 

4WD tries to push all tires at same speed. Curves on dry roads makes the "distribution" difficult. Straight sections of road in rain makes enough low-traction conditions, like gravel or dirt roads. 10 miles a month split into "straight roads, during the rain" works.

 

I do the once a month +/- thing in summer driving up a short dirt road and gravel driveway on a hill.

Here’s a dumb question. In winter my 4wd is often left on for days. I assume it’s fine to leave it on as truck sits overnight? If you are letting the truck sit longer than that, is it better to not let it sit with 4wd engaged?

 

They say once a month to work the actuators, move some lube around, keep the seals from drying out.

But something I was told years ago was you want to warm up the front diff fluid enough to work out any water that's condensed inside. I dunno honestly the validity of that but I still try to drive it long enough for the diff to get warm.

So it's my feeling that it's more important to engage and use it for a while than just to tick a box. IOW, if you only use it every 2 or 3 months but it's for 20 miles of gravel roads that's better than for just a quick 2 minutes once a month.

It's fine to leave it engaged. It's not hurting anything.

I've had situations where I had something freeze up so 4WD would not engage or vice versa where it would not disengage. But that's from ice on the outside and back when it was linkages.

But actually the worst thing that ever happened to me was the shoes froze to the drums real hard and I couldn't do anything to get them to release. So ever since in the winter I might *not* set the parking brake in some situations.

 

I just leave it in 4wd all the time. Set it and forget it.

 

Every time I go offroading, or when the road is covered in snow. During the summer months, maybe once a month. During winter, once a week.

I had no idea that it was a good idea to engage it once a month.

 

About 10 miles/month is recommended. Nothing says it has to be all at once, a mile or 2 at a time is fine. The shooting club that I belong to is about a mile down a gravel drive. I get in about 2 miles in 4X4 every time I go shoot. Some months may only see 2-3 miles in 4X4, occasionally none, but during the Fall hunting seasons I may get in 200-300 miles some months. I've never had issues doing this. I did have issues with a 4X4 my wife drove when it wasn't used for many months.

Technically pavement is OK in a straight line, but as someone who has destroyed a transfer case I strongly advise against it. It's too easy to get distracted, forget you're in 4X4 and make a sharp turn. And even mild turns is causing binding. Even at that the damage is rarely catastrophic. The damage is cumulative. Any time you put the 4X4 system in a bind, even when driving off road, you cause wear on components. Eventually parts are going to fail. They'll last longer if you avoid putting them in a bind as much as possible.

Wet pavement is still pavement. Plus 4X4 is not helping anything on wet pavement, in fact it is a disadvantage. AWD is different and is a help on wet pavement.

It is also good to be in low range and to lock the rear diff on a regular basis too. I do that less often and for a lot less than 10 miles at a time.

 

I am not being snarky at all, but the PDF version of the manual is available online and very helpful

 

Depends if you’re married or not…

 

I go into 4H almost every other week since I got a long straight road to get home. 4L/Rear locker once a month.

 

Once a month on the freeway for minimum of 10 miles.

 

About once a week. I have to use some dirt road to get to the trailhead to bike. It doesn't require 4WD to get to the trailhead but I click it on just to make sure it still works.

 

did you read the owners manual?