New to 4WD, give me the basics please

Have owned several 4WD trucks over the past 18 years through snow and some moderate towing.
I have never had to use 4LO.
4HI has always been sufficient.

 

I do remember that they really were not trusted back then. I had several people tell me that auto locking hubs were not good. I never had any issues with mine.

 

I've used 4 lo for a couple reasons, when I had my 4runner, it was a 4 cylinder so it had no power. I used 4 lo to pull our waverunners out at the ramp just to have the lower gearing. I also used it while off roading in my Tacoma to help with the engine braking. I agree, for the most part, 90% of 4wd owners will never need 4 low.

 

Does the 10 miles per month recommendation apply mainly to 4H then? Is it good to drive a little bit in 4L every month too?

 

They're really not a great idea because they have to be able to move to engage 4WD, so if you're stuck, you ain't engaging 4WD. What's funny is that they went from manual locking hubs to these auto locking hubs. Then when everyone realized the autos were kind of a dumb idea, they went to permanently locked hubs -- which you could have had all along with the manual lockers if you were just lazy enough to just keep them locked all the time. One giant leap for mankind.

 

They do and refer to it as "Lexus".

 

Or a 4Runner or a Sequoia.
Those each have a full time or AWD mode. My old school 2002 4Runner had a lock/unlock-able center diff. Why doesn't a "modern" Tundra?

 

To save us from ourselves? Just kidding and agree with the sentiment. Traded GX460 in on the Tundra and still have a 98 4Runner in garage.

 

Not in the off road trims.... Those are still manually engaged 4wd.

 

Back in years past with locking hubs was to actually unlock the axles. Auto and full locks , axles continually turned and added wear and tear to transfer case, and robbed gas mileage. Used to remove full or auto hubs for manual locking hubs for this reason. When hubs were unlocked it released axles from transfer case, so when you shifted into 4wd , you had to lock hubs in to engage axles. Also you can snap a spindle on dry surfaces , in 4wd. As far as lubrication during summer months , not really needed on newer vehicles , most internal parts are rotating inside of transfer case when driving, only difference is axles not locked up until switched to 4wd.

 

On my '02 4Runner I had:
- 2WD
- AWD with the push of a button (open diff in the transfer case)
- Center diff lock (making it 4WD like we have in our Tundras)

The transfer case in my Gen-1 is physically identical to the transfer case in my old 4Runner. Toyota made conscious decision not to offer the AWD option... just saying.

 

There’s actually a mod to add in a center differential from a similar year Sequoia on the 1st gens. I remember someone from TS did that.

 

Yeah 4H is fine. Just to lubricate the system