Toyota recommended 10 mile per month drive for 4X4’s

In the summer I usually get to exercise the 4wd when I get to the dirt and gravel roads near where I go camping, if not I just do it on a mostly straight road when it rains. In the winter it usually gets exercised when it snows.

I just realized I've never even put this thing in 4 low. Suppose I should do that next time I'm on dirt or snow and check it out.

 

If you drive in freeway traffic jams pop it in 4hi for a couple miles on the straights every few days.

 

Lucky for me, my driveway to my house needs 4wd more often than not.

 

You can also put it in 4x4 on rainy days....

 

Only on dry hard surface

That's because engineers don't trust consumers to remember not to turn the wheel on dry hard surface and go on their merry way in 4wd when they get distracted.

 

Jump it!

 

I have a 2 mile stretch of farm roads I take to get to the highway so I throw it in 4 hi for that portion of my drive to work and back usually.

 

The “old saying...Use it or lose it” ...the 4x4 has many moving parts...it can freeze up..if not use often..

My camper pop out side windows ..I haven’t open them for a few months...I was surprised how struck they became...now I lube the rubber parts, lube the key locks, hinges ..and making a routine to open and close them..
Same with my “shovel “ ...um?
Aloha,

 

I am dumb so this is a win win

 

Like others have said turn it on a couple times a month on a straight road, don’t over think it, you can make slight turns even on dry roads just don’t want any tight turns

 

They may need to dumb the user manual down

 

Toyota ain't the only one. I got f**ked pretty hard on a Yamaha quad few years back.

 

[QUOTE="2000prerunner23, post: 24977996, member: 274262"
With this knowledge , you can now understand why the old school toyota pickups (pre 1995) we so sweet. All of that shit was manually actuated (locking hubs, and manual T-case shift leaver). Way less chance of not being able to shift in/out of 4wd or disengage both (or even one) of the front drive wheels. [/QUOTE]
You wanna hear something funny/old school ... I had a 79' Dodge Powerwagon for a long time. It was full-time 4WD. You had no choice.
Good thing was, you didn't have to get outside and turn the hub locks on/off or any of that. Front axle (some gigantic Dana something).. Was lubed/used all the time. As well as the TC.
Bad news was ... To get it into 'Low' or 'Low LOC' ... You damn near needed a college degree and hoped you remembered the exact procedure to get it in either, otherwise you were going to grind the teeth off of gears. (Especially 'Low LOC') ..
And worse was, especially having a 360 V-8 in it (5.9L for the younger viewing audience) and a 3-speed tranny, I was lucky to get 8-9 mpg out of it...
On a good day, going downhill with the wind to my back.
But OTOH, it would climb up the side of a phone pole if you wanted..

 

Okay so I’ve never had 4am before and I’ve had my 2017 a year and never taken it off road. Heck it’s sat most of this year.

I want to do the 4wd like manual says. All I have around is paved roads. I see folks say when it’s raining do it on a straight stretch. Um 4h or 4l? Or both?

 

I would cycle it through 2WD-4hi-4low.

 

I tend to flip it into 4H on a straight stretch of road, then back to 2 wheel drive before any (even slight) turns.