bonehead mistake with 4X4

i engaged my 4 high yesterday to un-launch my boat after fishing...after packing up i headed for home and forgot to switch back to 2 wheel drive. I was on the hwy doing 60mph when I noticed...switched it back into 2 wheel drive, and I heard/felt a small clunk...truck seems fine now, but I was wondering if I might have done any harm?

 

Id be worried if it was in 4L doing HW speeds.

 

How much turning did you do before you turned it off? The clunk was a bit of tension on the drive train. If it switched off fine, I doubt you did any lasting damage. Maybe weakened the parts a little, but I bet you won't make that mistake again.

Here's some incentive to double check it from now on.

 

Check for damage, because driveline binding can be very detrimental (see above picture). If you somehow never turned at all while in 4x4 on dry pavement, you should have done little to no damage. But if turns were involved, hopefully you didn't damage anything too bad.

 

turned left twice, then a right hand on-ramp...can't believe I did this!
Probably should have slowed down to disengage, but when I noticed the dash light in 4 wheel, I panicked and switched it by reflex.
I think I need to do the "illuminate 4 wheel drive switch" mod...sigh

 

If he's done a few turns there'll probably still be some tension on there drive line and a thunk, but in general I grudgingly agree with the dirty Tundra owner.

 

yeah...I took my foot off the gas first, but there was still a small clunk

 

Mines clunks on the highway lots when taking it out of 4wd during winter, even with my foot off the gas. Not to worry.

 

Since you didn't hear a clunk or bang when driving [prior to the 2wd switch back], you should be OK.

 

Clunk is okay. That's pretty normal. BANG is bad.

 

Usually when u take a tight turn in 4hi on dry pavement u will feel enough drivetrain binding to remind u to shift out.*

 

Honestly, I think you guys are way over reacting about the 4x4 on dry pavement thing.

Sure it can and will cause problems down the road. But it only does that to idiots that leave the 4x4 engaged constantly. This one time driving down the highway in 4x4 and even taking turns is not going to cause any noticable problems. Nothing to get all bent out of shape about.

And if your drive train splits in two (like the pic that was posted) within the next 30 days, I will eat my hat.

 

Wear on parts is cumulative. It's not a percentage you have to hit for it to break and it resets every morning.

 

I don't know why that picture keeps showing up that's not even a Toyota transfer case and driving in 4 wheel drive on the pavement did not kill that case. That's a New Process used on every US made 4X4 what do you think the chances of some one in a Chevy, Dodge, Ford, Jeep driving around in 4 wheel drive are? If it was such a problem there would be parts of transfer cases all over the interstates.

 

Yes it did. Where the fuck are you getting your information from? The guy who that Transfer case belongs to is actually a member on here. It's a Jeep Transfer case, but all the rest is still correct.

 

I have to ask if you really needed 4WD to pull out a boat. I don't even engage the rear locker and many vehicles here dropping and pulling their boats in the waterway don't have 4WD....many are cars as well.

 

I'll tell you what I bet I have overhauled 200 or more of those cases and if there was some thing to do with 4 wheel drive there is a lot more to the story then "just driving down the road".

 

I'm sure you'll be fine. If nothing broke prior to you switching to 2wd, then your fine. All my 4wd`s will clunk a bit when switching out, espicially at highway speeds.

I`ve been driving 4wd`s for 20 years, sure I`m careful about not binding up the drivetrain, but I`m also not so afraid of some dry spots on the road when it is mostly snow covered in the winter.

Having said that, my dad did the same thing as you with his Chevy ZR2 when pulling out his boat. He said he had sun glasses on and didn`t notice the small LED indicator for 4wd.
He got about 45 minutes down the highway and took out his transfer case.

Lot`s of factors can play roll (i.e. number of turns, uneven tire wear front to back etc.)

For me, to make sure I don`t forget when launching boats, and pulling out snowed in trailers is I try and use 4Lo.
I figure I want to go slow anyways, and that way I will definently notice before going too far.

Shawn