1st Gen 4x4 Problem—Stumped!

I am reaching out for help with my 2005 Tundra 4x4. Too much BS from too many shops to not trust any of them I have talked with.

When disengaging from 4hi to 2hi, there is a strong slam/thud/bang as it reengages 2hi. It feels almost as if being rear-ended. (This does not happen when disengaging from 4lo.)

The truck only has 74k miles, off-road only a few times a year, meticulously maintained. No specific event prompted this.

This happens whether shifting on the fly at 10 mph or shifting out of 4hi while stopped and in neutral.

The best differential shop in the area would love to take my money, but they say it is not a front diff problem, rather it is in the transfer case or transmission.

Has anybody ever experienced this problem? Solution?

Thanks for your help.

 

The thud and bang is kinda normal if you are doing this on pavement.

 

Mines has always done it, 4x4 still works

 

Read the manual, it tells you the best way to shift in and out of 4x4. I always have the wheels straight and shift with no throttle. If there is any binding it will bang when disengaging. I had a 2020 F150 that would bang harder than the Tundra ever would.

 

Yeah. I hear a thud and click/dull pop when going in and out of 4hi, but she’ll only engage/disengage in Drive with Rolling Wheels. If stopped and trying to engage the 4hi button light blinks signaling non-engagement. I’ve never experienced the Rear Ended Collision thing.

4lo is a different thud sound but basically the same. Needs to be done with 4hi engaged, truck stopped in Neutral, and then button pushed.

 

I drove an '06 Tundra 4x4 for 7-years and never had this problem. And now this 2005 4x4 for three years, and this problem is fairly recent.

Shifting as you guys mentioned and according to the owner's manual, at 10 mph or less (owner's manual says up to 62 mph) while rolling and wheels straight, the thud is JARRING. Not a click or pop, but it slams. It feels as if one took a full swing at the engine with a 10lb sledgehammer.

Like I said, stumped.

 

Hmmm strange. Never heard of this... Well a good start is to check your transmission, transfer case, and differential fluids. There is a similar thud many have experienced due to slightly low tranny fluid.

 

Is this on dirt or pavement? On dry pavement the engagement and disengagement can be violent due to the nature of the 50/50 split and differences in rotation of the tires. Also, are all the tires matching with the same tread depth? This can also cause it to be violent as well since a more worn tire will be spinning faster than a fuller tread tire.

 

Have your drive shafts been greased lately?

 

Dry pavement.

The tires are the same size and category (A/T) and roughly same amount of miles on them (15k), but fronts are a different brand than the rears. Is this enough to cause the problem?

 

Good idea, but up to date here.

 

It could if the overall diameter is different enough

 

Will have a chance to put it on a rack on Thursday and see if it slams in the air. If not, maybe the tires.

I will update. Thanks for the input.

 

I was thinking the fluid may be low. My trans does this when I shift to D if the juice is low.

 

I will check the tranny fluid this week. Thanks.

 

I’ll warn you that they slam like no other up in the air when I test them lol

 

Proper fluid is key. Toyota WS in the transmission for the 05 is Spec?

Hope its as simple as a top off.

 

Nothing our transfer cases and their respective solenoid/actuator hate more then not being used. This goes for everyone on all forums. At least once a month activate your 4H and 4LO just to keep everything smooth. If you haven't used it in awhile you will notice in having a harder and longer activation but will go away in just a couple of uses. For this post I would change the fluid since its so easy but then shift many, many times in using neutral as the place where the shifting happens. Have truck in drive when engaging to 4HI, then go immediately to neutral. Go back to drive and and travel a slow and short distance and repeat over and over. Do the same with 4LO but do everything in neutral. Our solenoid/actuators have a bad habit of sticking and then shifting harder when not used. Good luck.

 

Yeah. This is good advice. I remember a time when I didn’t use my 4wd for a couple years and she wouldn’t engage when needed. It took a few times trying but never would stop blinking a non engage signal. A few days later I tried again a few times and she engaged with a heavy clunk. Thought she was toast, but she recovered. Shifting to work the cob webs out about once a week for a few years now and she has smooovvv engagement.

 

What about u-joints? Any squealing when backing up in reverse?

 

I know what you're talking about, OP. When my truck was new, it shifted fine without the jerk/bang coming out of 4wd, even with low speed on pavement. 200k+ miles later, I have the same issue with the jerk/bang but it's minimal or non-existent on snow and dirt. Let us know what you find out.

 

Good idea! Just spent 30 minutes driving around a large, empty parking lot doing this. No luck yet.

 

Their seemingly in good condition, at least no squeaks or knocking.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I take it to my friend's shop on Thursday and will top it off then. No noticeable problems with it shifting.

 

Thursday going to test it on the rack at a friend's shop to see if it slams in the air. This should test the different tire tread hypothesis.

The front tires are DIFFERENT from the rear tires, but all are the same size. The fronts are Michelin; the rears are Toyo. Here are the different tire treads between the front and rear tires. Hard to imagine that this would cause such a violent disengagement from 4HI, but trying to test the ideas here. Thanks!

 

Yeah. I’ve read this Phenomena is real. Two different Orbital Mojos not blending with each other.