Potential 4wd issue, need advice!!

I'm going to start this off by saying, I'm a super dumbass for letting this happen. Today on the way into work, I totally forgot to turn off my 4WD. Most of the trip was on snowy backroads (roughly 6 miles) under or around 30 mph which shouldn't be an issue, the bad part is the 5 mile trek on the highway going 65 mph (cruise set). I didn't even notice the light was on, until I got off the highway and something clicked in my head....OH SHIT!!

There doesn't seem to be any issues, no gridning, heavy clunking when shifting in and out (tried that in the parking lot when I got to work), and no fluids leaking from the diff. Even found a really snowy hill at work to try it out and seems to work fine. I know that having that in for long periods of time on dry surfaces is not a good thing or at high speeds on the highway.

Any advice on things to check, or is this not as bad as I'm thinking??

 

Dry surfaces wouldnt be too bad if you were not doing any tight turns. The speed shouldnt be an issue either I wouldnt think. Does the system not turn off 4wd if you go over 50 or 55? I'm pretty sure it wont even let you engage it if you are faster than that. I dont think I have tried on my 1st gen, but I swear that is what my 2nd gen did. Could be totally wrong though. Either way I think you have nothing to worry about.

 

You're fine, I know of 2 different people whom drove 600+ miles in 4WD because the rear diff popped, and yeah it was all on dry pavement. It's not a good idea to do so unless it's absolutely necessary really but you shouldn't have any problems.

 

If it isn't engaged it won't let me higher than 50 mph I think, I've hit it with my knee before and heard all kinds of beeping. It was already engaged though so it didn't take it out, that I know of.

Everything seems OK though, so hopefully. Figured I'd see what TW thought...

 

Ah, yeah that seems how it would work. Thanks. You should be good. Just keep an eye/nose out for any weird sounds or smells.

 

I hope they removed the rear driveshaft! I drove around for almost a month in "FWD" while my double-cardan was being serviced. It was interesting

 

If you didn't feel it in the wheel then you are probably fine (i.e. not tight turns). I regularly drive 50 MPH on snow packed roads will no ill effects.

And I'm pretty sure you can engage 4WD above 55 MPH. Usually I would already have 4WD engage way lower than that, and seriously, if you need 4WD at 65 MPH then you probably are driving too fast for the conditions.

 

You got no worries. I routinely ran my '98 on the xway for extended distances. Straight line running is not hurting anything. 300k and no issues.

 

If your in 4H at those speeds it shouldn't be a problem. IIRC, the owners manual mentions that you can drive 60-65mph in 4H. Now if your in 4L and driving that fast, you better be wearing a ballistic vest or have a AAA card handy cause you're gonna need it.

 

Should be fine. The issue is when you put it in tight turns. You'd feel and know something is wrong if you did this.

 

After the weekend, no issues after driving around. Thanks for the piece of mind!

 

Yeah OP, you should be all good. Not something to worry about. Other than binding, 4WD is ok to use IMO. I'm not a fan of dry pavement driving, but people do it all the time with no.issues. I've seen videos of people taking their Tacoma down the 1/4 mile and its in 4HI. From what I understand, 4HI is fine at any speed. Engaging it in too fast of a speed is what wouldn't be good.

 

Ran my manual hub "86" in 4 high for about 2 weeks once, back and fourth to work in the intermittent snow. I was second owner and when it broke It already had 295K on it, took out the shortie axle shaft side of the front diff. Got the carrier, axle and bearing. Had a full rebuild done on it with all new parts minus the housing. $375 at that time (1994-ish). I doubt running it in high for 2 weeks did it, I am pretty sure it was already on it's way out.

The shortie side of my 99 front diff is starting to show some play,,still good to go but just have to keep a eye on it and keep the fluid fresh an try not to bind it so much. Keep the shock loading to a minimum.

 

Did that with my f250 plow truck last week... Was going on the highway when OH NO! As long as nothing's leaking/ making evil noises it's fine like everyone said