Full Time Diff Lock in 4H?

Greetings,

First time poster. Our 2011 4X4 Tacoma always goes into full rear lock when 4H is engaged, and the rear diff button does not disengage it or provide any "additonal lock". Symptoms are chirping tires when making sharp turns in either forward or reverse directions. Toyota Service Manager drove it during last service and said it wasn't right. Dropped it off today to fix this issue and he now claims it's normal - no repair required.

So what's the comon experience on this? Is this true, or are they dodging the issue?

Thanks!

Bob

 

4x4 alone will be enough to bind and cause tire chirp. Are you doing this on hard pavement? If so you should stop...

 

Unless the locker light is lite up on the dash it's more than likely not operating. Those symptoms are exactly what happens when making sharp turns with 4wd engaged. Never engage 4wd on dry pavement and try not to make sharp turns in 4wd even when offroading. The part-time 4wd system needs to be used only when slippage can occur other wise binding will happen followed by damage to your vehical. Read the links below in my signature...

 

Thanks for the quick replies!

Truck was bought new.

Manual says to drive in 4H every 1000 miles (or something. sorry, not sure of exact number), and not sure if manual prohibits hard pavement use in 4H.

Definitely locked in 4H (acts just like our racecar with locked diff)

 

As Whipper said, if it's locked when you put it in 4Hi, then something is wrong. Unless you modified your wiring, from the factory the rear diff will not lock unless you're in 4lo.

As far as the driving in 4wd every so often because your manual says so, there have been a lot of threads on that topic and each one turns into a crapstorm. If you feel you must use 4wd monthly, find a loose gravel road or grass field to do so, something where the tires can slip if they need to. You can try to keep it in a nice straight line on pavement but I firmly feel driving in 4wd on dry pavement is a horrible idea under any circumstances.

 

The manual says not to drive in 4wd on high traction surfaces. It's common knowlege that you would never need to or want to use a part time 4wd system on dry pavement.
Was the locker light lite up? Unless there was a modification made you can only engage the rear locker while in 4LO.

 

Locker only works in 4L in stock form.

Engage 4WD for 10 miles every month and you should be fine (unless things have changed since I owned my 2007). Only do so off-pavement; if necessary, you can engage it on a very straight, paved road but do not make any turns.

Welcome to TW!

Fink

 

Welcome to TW from Sparks, NV
Find some dirt or gravel.