4X4 Performance

Recently purchased 2009 Tacoma here in Colorado. Had wet snow this morning so tried out the 4 wheel drive on my way to work. Not sure it's functioning correctly. My 2002 4 Runner never had any issues and worked great on slick surface. The Tacoma seems to easily lose traction for one. If I accelerate from a stop it doesn't seem to grab as it should. If I accelerate and turn I lose the rear end. Is this normal. Maybe I am not used to a trucks performance on the slick roads. Also When I disengage 4h to 2h I get a loud clunk. Any suggestions?
Thanks

 

What tires does it have and how much tread left. Trucks handle differently than SUBs since there's much less weight over the rear axle.

 

Goodrich Rugged Terrains. Not the best snow tires but lots of tread left. This was more of a fresh snow surface, not hard pack/icy. Just felt really squirrely to me. Like I wasn't getting full traction. The indicator light came on solid. Also, when accelerating from a stop drive felt bound up.

 

Put weight in the bed.....An empty pick up truck is an empty pick up truck 2wd OR 4wd.....

And tires.....Some tires are worthless in snow/ice

 

True, just seemed to under perform my expectation. I expected it to grab better going straight ahead from dead stop on fresh snow. Did not feel like 4 wheel drive. The 4 Runner would hardly slip unless I was super aggressive. Is the loud clunk when disengaging normal?

 

Mine makes a "clunk", but I wouldn't call it loud....

 

The clunk from 4 hi to 2 hi isn't unusual unless it's harsh. I usually don't notice it if I'm truly on a slick surface. If I'm in a situation where there could be a little torque bind, though, it's very noticeable.

For instance, if I am turning on a hard surface and think "oops, it's still in 4 Hi" and straighten the wheels then disengage it, it's usually pretty harsh because there is strain on the drivetrain.

 

I will experiment some more. The clunk seems pretty loud and harsh. Also the taking off from a stop, everything seems bound up. Is that normal? I averaged 45 to 50 on the way to work. At those speeds it seems to run normal. Just not confident I am experiencing 4 wheel properly working based on the performance at the slower conditions in town.

 

Did your 4Runner have part-time or full-time 4WD?

 

Part time

 

It's your tires

 

They go by the name "rugged fails" for a reason. Weight in the bed will help with starting from a stop but then you have more weight to stop once moving so don't get too carried away with adding extra weight.

 

I occasionally 'clunk' too. Sometimes louder than others.

 

He has the Rugged Terrain, Not Rugged Trails. Different tire.

 

Good point about putting weight in the bed.
I worked with someone who would toss a few 50 pound bags of sand in the bed for that reason.

 

Woops, my bad. I also get a clunk, varies in loudness. Sometimes nothing, sometimes loud.

 

Roger That. Will add some weight ASAP and tires next winter. I'm just being paranoid thinking something is broken. Been awhile since owning a pickup. Last one, 1974 Datsun, my first vehicle.

 

Try putting weight in the bed like Bluegrass said. Compared to SUVs like the 4Runner, trucks are more difficult to drive slick conditions.

You might want to swap out your tires. BFG Rugged Terrains came on my truck when I bought it used and they were awful. I switched to Goodyear Duratracs and it made a world of difference.

The clunk: I've experienced it to varying degrees. Sometimes I hardly notice it, sometimes it sounds like my transfer case dropped out. The more load you have on the driveline when 4x4 disengages, the louder the clunk. I found that slowly rolling in neutral is the best way to disengage.

 

My bet is it came with Rugged Trails, not Rugged Terrains. The Rugged Terrains are actually pretty well rated: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=Rugged+Terrain+T/A

 

i also had this learning class 101, i beleive you have to come to a stop to engage 4wd, on the 4 runner it was shift on the fly