4 W D

They say you should engage your 4 WD once a month. But what are they talking about? Do they mean just turn the 4wd switch to hi and low and back to 2wd without driving. Is that ok or do you have to drive it? It’s. Not good to drive it on a hard surface. Please let me know.

 

Just pick a road you are going straight on, switch it into 4hi while cruising along, wait for the light to stop blinking, flip it back into 2wd. You can be doing 5mph or 40mph, doesn't really matter. The entire point is just get the actuator (small electric motor) for front axle disconnect and the transfercase moving. There is only 1 actuator in the TC (someone can correct me if i'm wrong), so putting it in 4hi is fine. You can stop and move it in and out of 4lo too if you'd like.

As long as you are on a fairly straight road, you can do it while it's dry or raining out.

 

if i'm not mistaken, read your visor as well. they have the instructions on how to engage them embedded on the driver side visor (mine did and my sequoia does now). check it out to make sure you know when it's engaged and all. if possible, look over your manual (you can access them digitally as well if you don't have yours) and read that part. helps clear up some stuff and get the right info.
i engage my 4H on the highway on the way home when i'm doing around 50 or less. drive it straight and no turning while engaged unless i'm on a dirt road or field road. like said, it's to help keep your actuator from seizing up. i've heard of a few out there that needed it but never engaged it, then it wouldn't engage because of the actuator.

 

Drive it in 4WD every month to keep all of the shafts, bearings hubs nice and lubricated as well as to test out to make sure the actuator works. I just throw it into 4WD on a straight road at about 45 mph for a mile or two every month. Just flipping the switch every month will just make sure the actuator is working but you need to drive it to make sure the lubricants get moved around.

 

What lubricants? the front diff is flinging oil around all the time with the spiders spinning. Transfer case is always spinning too.

 

I believe there is supposed to be a difference with spinning under load vs just spinning. Haven't done any research on my own about it. Just what I have been told.

 

My manual does say to drive it X number of miles/month in 4WD, I forget the #, I think it's like 10 or something.

I go down to Fiesta Island on Mission Bay (San Diego) It's like 10 minutes from my house and you can actually drive on the beach there, so I'll run it around in the sand for awhile in 4R and 4L.

I practice getting it "stuck", intentionally dig in in 2WD and then engage 4WD and drive out of it. Kinda' fun actually.

If it's not too crowded sometimes I let 'er eat and sling some sand or put it back in 2WD and hang the ass end out a lil' bit.

 

I once took my Tacoma on Fiesta Island and someone had dug a hole that I didn't see. Put a nice big dent in the skid plate. Fun spot though.

 

Ooof... Yeah I don't get too crazy down there for just that reason.

Last time I was down there (filling sandbags before a deluge) there was a section of telephone pole half buried in the sand. I just used it as obstacle training but it would suck to hit it as speed if you didn't see it.

 

I would say at a minimum cycle the switch from 2WD, 4HI and 4LO. You can drive it a few feet on 4HI and 4LO. That way the actuator doesn't get stuck. If you can find a place to actually drive it in 4HI like the manual recommended, the better. I don't drive the truck that much. But once in a while I would run the engine, ac, heat, cycle the 4HI, forward then reverse, 4lo forward then reverse. Back to 2WD. When I used to work, I would put it in 4HI on the freeway because the traffic is slow.