Loud bang switching to 4 wheel drive

I recently used/switch on my 4wheel drive, and I heard a loud bang sound and my truck jerked. Is that normal?
I was on an uphill gravel road, going approximately 15mph, made a small turn before I switch onto 4wheel drive.

 

It happens from time to time, not a big deal, just make sure to use it while coasting in a straight line and it usually won't clunk.

Going uphill it had a lot of load on it and made it more difficult to engage.

 

I like to switch to 4HI with my foot off the throttle. Coasting along in a straight line makes for an easier switch.

 

Thanks folks!
Ahh, makes sense, the uphill made a difference, and I was also throttling while switching to 4wheel drive.

 

Sounds like you’ve got it. You also want to have the wheels straight and not be in the middle of a turn when engaging. With the conditions others have described already (slack in the drive line), the 3rd gens will engage 4wd almost silently

 

as others have already said- it's engaging with a load on the driveline.
When I am offroad, I generally drive with the mindset, that I want X (4W high, low, locker, etc) feature on before I need it. Not talking down to you, but try to keep this in mind, and it will help not only with the clunk, but will help you get through tough areas better.

 

I drive a manual taco, typically if I’m moving when I want to turn on/off (typically off as the road to my house needs 4x4, but once I get to the road I don’t need it) I will put it in neutral and rarely if ever hear the clunk. Now when putting it in 4Lo, I usually get an erection cause that clunk means is time to give something the business

 

My 2001 tundra did the same when pushing the 4wd button when the truck was under power. My 2020 tacoma 4wd system works slicker than goose poop on a wet lawn. No nothing. it just clicks in or out of 4wd flawlessly. Doesn't matter whether under power or not. I don't even know when it engages, or disengages except for the green 4wd display on the dash.

 

yeah, same here, I wasn’t aware if it was engaged or not. It was an expected off road, wasn’t planing to go that way, until I saw the steep gravel road. I’m just worried if anything is damaged. I tried to turn on and off while driving local, didn’t experience any issues. ‍♀️

 

It’s fine, just try to avoid doing that.
Now, sometimes we don’t always have a crystal ball and have to make the switch under power, just try to reduce it.

 

Put it in neutral, release the clutch, and let it glide before flipping into or out of 4High? Is there a speed limit to the procedure?

 

62mph is the limit to engage. Don't believe there's a limit to disengage.

 

Thank you. Is there a speed limit for 4High?

 

It’s before I give any gas, preferably before turning onto the main road (at a stop/rolling stop)

 

Sounds like you had a slight delta in the wheel speed between the front and rear axle...up hill on gravel there might have been a tiny bit of slip.

 

Max speed in 4HI same as 2WD.

 

Thank you. Helpful.