When and when not to engage 4x4

Nailed it.

 

When engaging not when engaged

 

My 4Runner limited is AWD with 4 lo
So was my jeep hemi commander limited.
...but that one started to fall apart

 

my bad

sure you can engage 4wd while going 50mph, but why?

^^^rhetorical question

 

* below 50 mph

 

That's interesting. Thanks.

 

While pretty awesome, that's the last reason I bought a Tacoma for.

 

so stupid question here:
I thought the manual said you need to be in neutral to shift it into 4wd.. From what I'm reading here that's not the case? you can switch in and out of 4x4 on the fly as long as the wheels are straight and you aren't going too fast or have wheels slipping at the time?

 

Shift on the fly from 2WD to 4HI and back

 

2WD to 4Hi = under 50mph
4Hi to 4Lo = Neutral
4Lo to 4Hi = Neutral
4Hi to 2WD = under 50mph

4Lo Locker = Neutral

 

I shift mine in and out of 4wd at speed a lot. If I'm losing traction and spinning under acceleration at 70mph, I shift into 4wd (I converted to a manual shift T-case). If there is a corner coming up or I want to get a little sideways, I shift into 2wd. It snowed about 4" here yesterday. Most of the roads are bare pavement, but I was in and out of 4wd at highway speeds all day due to the patchy traction. It's ok if you know how to drive...

 

I like your style

 

Where's everyone getting "shift to 4 HI only under 50 MPH" from?

My visor says 60 MPH.

 

Check out Offroad Toy's SIG Links ... explains it pretty well. I just grabbed his latest post, but I read them shortly after buying my truck almost 5 yrs ago.

 

In Japan, they use the metric system (well, heck... they use it everywhere except the United States and Tibet, right?)... and 100 KPH is a nice round number (= 62 MPH) as a guide to the upper limit of where there could be issues after... So at 63 mph, you probably wont break something... but at 73 maybe!?

The 4WD is for traction off road or off dry paved roads... because IF you need 4WD on dry paved roads then ALL cars would need to have 4WD, right? Get an AWD car if you want to drive fast on dry pavement with two drive shafts powered.

Should you be driving 62 MPH off road or on slippery pavement? Perhaps not unless you are a professional driver.

I get the driving a hard pack then hitting sand at speed part... you don't want to come to a stop in sand to shift into 4WD, but you don't need to be going over 62 mph to avoid getting stuck either. (Don't forget that letting 50% of the air out of your tires will get you out of the sand in most cases)

So, Toyota says you can shift on-the-fly into H4 while driving up to 62 MPH (100 KPH). Once you are in 4WD HIGH, there is no limit on the speed other than common sense.

 

FWIW, out of curiosity I engaged 4 HI at 64-65 once to see if it let me, figuring a couple MPH over wouldn't hurt anything. I sort of expected a buzzer like I get if I try to go into 4LO without being in neutral. It didn't buzz, it just went into 4 HI. I wondered if, at some point, it stops you so you can't try to engage it at a really absurd speed.

Of course, I can't think of a situation where I was using 4WD over about 35 MPH, and that's only because I'll kick it into 4 wheel on dirt roads just so I don't go months without using it.

 

This exactly, way I see it if you are in a situation where you need 4wd bad enough, you shouldn't probably be going faster than 55. I sure as heck don't anyway, the roads here turn to solid ice in the winter, going fast is just stupid and asking for a accident. I've pulled a lot of people out of ditches over the years who thought they could haul ass on the ice in 4wd and be ok. Lots of people don't seem to understand that 4wd doesn't defy the laws of physics.

 

QFT ... I've been doing a 42 mile (each way) commute for 12 Winters now. About 30 miles of it highway. I've run out of fingers and toes to count the number of 4WD trucks and SUVs I've seen pass me doing an excessive rate of speed in poor road conditions only to pass them up minutes later in the ditch or median.

 

I agree and same goes for the awd drivers. They tend to think since they have awd their vehicles won't slide if they brake on poor condition roads

 

Drive to your road conditions , it's pretty simple