10 miles a month in 4X4

Manual is referring to driving around city streets on dry pavement as that will cause binding. Making minor turns on dry pavement will not harm the system at all.

 

Wait until it's raining and flip it into 4wd on a city street and keep it straight. I'd think it would be better not to put it in 4x4 at all, than to run it up to 70-80mph in 4x4 on the highway. You could go by your local Toyota dealership and take a few laps in their grass. I'm sure they won't mind.

 

I drive in 4WD on Alaska roads frequently in the winter, from stop-and-go traffic to 65/70mph highway traffic. For me, it's because they won't sand or gravel roads around here unless people are literally dying on their way to work. 2WD once I get to the parking lot if I want a turning radius better than a 1950s school bus. I did the same thing in my '99 F150 for 10 years, 5+ months of the year - that thing still goes from 2WD/4WD no problems and has never had drive train issues.

You just don't want to go slow on dry pavement in 4WD for the same reason you don't want to lock your rear diff; in that scenario you will be able to feel your own vehicle fighting itself if you're turning too tightly. If you get that feeling, you should have been in 2WD.

 

If you're not happy driving a straight line on pavement, there's always the grass easement on roads without curbs.

 

just throw it in 4 on a section of straight road every once in a while, let it engage
and disengage it before the next corner, 1/2 mile is ok

do it at 60mph or do it at 1mph doesn't matter much

but....do not do it dry
if you don't rotate your tires... or if there is a significant mismatch in front
vs rear tire circumference

then it is a lot harder on the tcase to put it in 4hi at 60mph
it won't bust anything right away, but know that 4wd in dry without a center diff
requires all 4 tires to be extremely close or exact match to prevent excessive strain
on the open diffs and tcase.

[if you had a center diff (awd) it doesn't matter nearly as much]

 

As you said with your experience, most of us are just over thinking it unnecessarily .

 

Once a month or so I go to a dirt area and activate my rear locker....people look at me like Im weird driving over ruts and going around in circles but I dont care. Im badass because I have a rear locker and they dont.

 

I concur with this. The majority of taco owners, or 4x4 vehicles in general only use 4x4 in the winter if at all and they all still work just fine.

 

Why dry pavement? They don't have medians where you're from?

 

It's generally illegal to drive on medians

 

Yup. That.

 

There's no issue with using 4H on pavement as long as the road is straight. Sharp Turns are where it will bind

 

The only reason it even says to drive in 4wd at least once a month is to prevent a few things-your u-joints from drying, and the output seal on the transfer case and pinion seal on the diff from drying.

 

2nd gen here, but still relevant as the same instructions exist in our owner's manuals . . . I have had my truck for over five years and ~90,000 miles now and only engage 4WD once a month going up my 350 ft gravel driveway. I have never had any issues going in or out of 4WD. No leaks either.

 

Surprised to be the first to post this. Straight from the manual. I interpret this as saying you should be below 62mph to transition into 4wd but it doesn't say how fast you can go once in 4wd

 

you can go as fast as you want in 4wd. 105, 110 whatever the limit of horsepower and aerodynamics dictate

is it kinda dangerous ? yep...will the tcase get boiling hot ? you betcha

computer won't let you change modes unless speed is 62 or lower

 

agreed. never had an issue with mine and I only dropped it into 4x4 mode
a few times a year, will most likely do the same with this one. Just look for a straight
road for about 1/2 mile when I think of it and be done with it.

 

I have been driving 4x4s for a long time, driving on dry pavement is not recommended by the manufactors because it is about lialibilty. They are afraid someone will forget and leave it engaged, it is also about slippage. I agree 100% with the others driving straight on dry pavement in 4high will not hurt. However even though it can be done, I would stop first then engage the 4high stay under 55 mph while on dry pavement drive it for 2-5 miles then pull over when you can, stop and disengage the 4x4. If you are on anyother type surface then give it hell. Some may disagree but this has worked for me for years.

 

No need to stop with modern shift on the fly 4x4.

 

So, I've been thinking about this, and watching 4 wheeling videos and am confused. The point of a locker (front or rear) is to sync the wheels on that drivetrain (front or rear) so that for each degree of turn on the left wheel the right wheel also turn that many degrees, right? 4H doesn't engage a front/rear locker, just links in the front drivetrain. If the locker is not engaged, wheelspin / wheel bind can happen, resulting in one wheel rotating more degrees than the other, and that's normal (non-damaging) behavior, right?

How is that different than wheels rotating different degrees during turns? Is it due to the fact that both wheels are turning, but at different rates, whereas with wheelspin / bind only one wheel is rotating and the other does not move?