4WD in rain OK?!?

Only time the pavement is slippery around here is when it's covered in snow and ice...rain though...never had an issue with fish-tailing even with an empty bed.

As far as driving the 10 miles per month to lube things up, I generally will toss it in 4HI about every now and then to make sure it's working properly on roads straight enough for Ray Charles to drive on.

 

I will use on wet strait-a-ways mostly to exercise and lube the parts, to use for 10 miles a month. No turns and you should be fine (turn in road seems to be fine, but turning 90 degrees is too much. Be easy on your parts.




My sister lives on Long Island and runs her Jeep Cherokee on the beach.

 

Well I drive on wet roads in 4wd on a monthly basis. That's how I drive the 10 miles a month in 4wd. I find a relatively straight road and cruise in the rain. When I come to a sharp turn I flip it out of 4wd. The more you use it the quicker it engages. How I long for the older 4wd stick. This turn the dial thing sucks.

 

x2... well, it doesn't rain here for 6 months straight but I have yet to use 4wd on wet pavement. The only times I've unintentionally fishtailed on wet pavement was because my tires were damn near bald. Like OZ said, you don't need 4wd in the rain, if you feel like you do then slow down for everyone's sake.

 

what about cat and dog rain

 

Depends... if you're talking like ankle biter dog rain, you're good to go, if you're talking Great Dane rain better armor up!

 

This is pretty much exactly the point of my OP. I dont need to use the 4wd in the rain, but I wanted to do so to lube things up and not have to worry about binding.

 

yep and you can, just dont try to make U-turn in 4x4. Straight with slight turns will not hurt you. Plus as I said before its more important to turn On/OFF system and not necessary to just drive it. TC has oil pump which always works 2wd + 4wd. So oil gets dropped on the main gears all the time. The only things that do not get oil when in 2wd are forks and pins that slide to different positions when in 4wd. Also part of the chain is not lubricated. As soon as you turn 4x4 ON all that gets coat of oil and thats all you need.

 

I got my 2011 4x4 last week and messed around with the 4x4 system without really understanding the dos and donts.

I was in 4H a couple of times while parking in a dry paved lot and I definitely felt things starting to bind a little bit - even got a little wheel chirp.

How do I know if I've damaged anything?

When coming out of 4H to 2H, I do hear a clunk but I think that is the same sound it made since the first time I ame out of 4 wheel drive mode ao I assume that's normal? Right?

 

YES, normal... and you will be fine... Tacomas are tough. Just never force anything... like really crank the steering wheel when there is resisitance. Even in dirt in 4WD, if you try and turn real sharp without moving much, there is a lot of resistance. I just pop it into 2WD if that happens.