Loud clunk when the 4WD disengages

Bought a 2006 used and this is what is starting to freak me out. They replaced the transfer case on the truck @ the Toyota dealer before I bought the truck. It would not engage into four wheel drive so they fixed it, all fine and well. It's starting to snow around here and when I disengaged the 4WD yesterday it made a loud ass clunk and I think my truck even slid on the ice a little bit. I had someone tell me the clunk was normal on the newer trucks but I wanted to get the forums opinion.
Thanks!

 

Yeah...If you are driving and click outta 4WD the gears must disengage and can make a bit of noise.

Sliding will happen if you are trying to make major adjustments to the suspension/driveline on ice.

 

^^^^ a bit of noise,yes.NEVER had any loud noises for me when entering or exiting 4x4.make sure your not giving it gas when u dis engauge it.

 

My 2010 makes lil click noise when I engage 4H which is not laud but not audible. Dealer told me its normal. This is my first truck so I dont know any better.

 

mine is silent when I disengage the 4wd to 2wd

 

i have had some bad sounds come from mine but it never fails me always goes in and comes out

 

Thanks,
I don't give the truck any gas when I'm disengaging the 4WD. It makes a very insignificat click when the 4WD engages and that's fine. Problem is, when the 4WD disengages it makes a loud clunking noise and you can feel it disengage throughout the truck and seems a little bit to noisy. The only thing I can think is that it's getting to much traction and won't do it on ice. I just don't want to damage anything!

 

I bought my truck new in '07 and it's done the same thing since day 1. I've gone through 2 full winters and done some summer 4 wheeling and it still works like a champ.

 

OK, I'm done worrying about it! Funny Story: Yesterday I drove 2 hours to wait 4 hours at Sam's Club to figure out that BFG AT's 265 70 R17 won't quite fit on a stock Tacoma. I thought they'd make it but I was dead wrong! Too bad, the 265 65 17 are kind of hard to find.
THANKS AGAIN!

 

From what I've read the noise is normal and will get smoother the more you use the 4WD system. So far the best way I've found with my automatic is to switch back while coasting in reverse with my foot off the gas...I tried this last time out and it went back in with no noise whatsoever.

 

Sometimes mine clunks sometimes it doesn't. Pretty sure it's normal.

 

Uh, why not? It's shift on the fly. Probably not the best idea, but doubt it'd hurt anything.


Edit: Also, FWIW mine clunks when disengaging too.

 

mine clunks sometimes too. ive found the best way to engage and disengage is just to let the truck coast slower than 5 mph in neutral and wait for the light to stop flashing

 

I find with my 2006 that the more forward or reverse torque on the drivetrain while engaging/disengaging the transfer case (ie in/out of 4wd on the fly) the louder the "clunk". I can get a silent, or almost silent, shift in/out of 4WD if I'm "drifting" with a light throttle on the move. If there's a hill up or down, rough or soft mud or snow, turning, or the drivetrain is relatively cold, a smooth shift becomes alot trickier and a clunk oftens accompanies the shift.

 

could you explain what you mean by "drifting".

 

No net torque on the drivetrain. Easier on dry level straight road than in mud/deep snow/upor downhill. If soft ground is resisting travel I find sometimes quickly removing foot from throttle relaxes the drivetrain and helps disengage or engage 4WD. On straight level pavement gently releasing throttle to where I'm "drifting" (no net push/pull on the wheels - this is different than just removing all throttle where engine compression acts to actively slow the vehicle) can assist in a smooth xfer case shift.

 

You will get the "clunk" if you shift out or into 4wd when there is load or torque on the drive line. When I shift in and out of 4wd I give it a bit of gas then shift in or out once I take my foot OFF the gas.

Try shifting a manual tranny without the clutch, same thing. You can do it easily when there is no load on the tranny, not so easy when it is under load.

 

Mine does the same thing. Some times its smooth sometimes its a clunk. It annoys the hell out of me tho. All the time thinking I screwed up the transfer case

 

Try not to disengage under load if you do it will "clunk" flat road no hills.

 

I ran General Grabber AT2 265/65R17 on my 06 sport and I'll tell you what they are way better then the BFG'S IMO.