My wife told me that she would have had no issues switching back and forth between 4wd and 2wd when needed. 2 Days later I got in the Armada and it had the 4wd set when there was no snow on the road she took to get to the house and it has a sharp turn into our garage..... Yeah we got the Limited 4Runner......
Is it okay to use 4WD Hi on dry pavement?
- Thread starter adoihcj
- Start date
My wife told me that she would have had no issues switching back and forth between 4wd and 2wd when needed. 2 Days later I got in the Armada and it had the 4wd set when there was no snow on the road she took to get to the house and it has a sharp turn into our garage..... Yeah we got the Limited 4Runner......
Is the manual different for Limited (probably not) what type 4runner was the VIN number from?
adoihcj
New member
This is why I started this thread. That's exactly what I read in the manual so I assumed you could go in 4WD Hi anytime you want. Didn't believe it though because my '03 Explorer was in Full-time 4WD (I believe it was something like 70/30) and the manual mentioned to not go into 4WD Hi on dry pavement.
The physics of a 4WD vehicle with no center diff is no different if it comes from Ford or Toyota. When you go around a corner, the rear diff takes a shorter path than the front diff. As a result, the rear driveshaft needs to turn slower than the front driveshaft. Offroad this is achieved by the tires slipping. On dry pavement, the tires can't slip as easily, thus loading up the drivetrain with stress. You don't want to drive a part-time 4WD vehicle in 4WD on dry pavement.
Toyota has been mightily confused about the 4WD system on the 5th gen, with more than a few statements implying that all trim lines had a center diff, when, in fact, they don't. So it wouldn't surprise me if Toyota screwed up the manual.
harper7
Senior Member
Very well said M1911!
The new 4runner manual is sketchy at best and seems to be talking like all the 4runners have the center diiferential like last year.Maybe they forgot to tell the tech writers who wrote the manual that the Torsen center diffs were cut from the budget in the TE.'s and SR5's.
Here is a good read on part time 4x4 and why it should not be driven on pavement. http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/def_turnpart.html
The new 4runner manual is sketchy at best and seems to be talking like all the 4runners have the center diiferential like last year.Maybe they forgot to tell the tech writers who wrote the manual that the Torsen center diffs were cut from the budget in the TE.'s and SR5's.
Here is a good read on part time 4x4 and why it should not be driven on pavement. http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/def_turnpart.html
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adoihcj
New member
This is a great article, thanks for sharing!
It is a good article, but I think nothing more than common sense is needed. Maybe Toyota relies on most 4runner folks being somewhat savvy on using 4wheel drive, after all this forum is filled with us folks that seem somewhat smart on the vehicle, its systems and how to use it on and off road. 
Dry hard pavement, tight turns, no no.
wet, dirt, slippery, moderate turns, ok.
torsen, yummy! but unless you got big buck Limited "thanks Toyota", you just need to use common sense, not use it at all if you are pavement only folk, or only use it in snow/mud etc...
It sure does work slick and smooth like a turd cut with a baseball bat, it glides right in and out of 4high. I thought I would hate it from my 4th Gens, I guess I dont. I would prefer the Torsen, but can live with this.
Dry hard pavement, tight turns, no no.
wet, dirt, slippery, moderate turns, ok.
torsen, yummy! but unless you got big buck Limited "thanks Toyota", you just need to use common sense, not use it at all if you are pavement only folk, or only use it in snow/mud etc...
It sure does work slick and smooth like a turd cut with a baseball bat, it glides right in and out of 4high. I thought I would hate it from my 4th Gens, I guess I dont. I would prefer the Torsen, but can live with this.
JB.
New member
Nothing technically wrong with your description but the question is, what are the effects where the rubber meets the road -- literally? It's true, on dry pavement the tires don't slip as easily -- all else (steering angle, wheel speed) being equal -- but what's an acceptable range of resistance and how can it be measured? There are certainly running conditions on pavement that are less stressful than some off-road conditions. Fortunately, there's an easy, seat of the pants stress measurement that's very direct -- hard steering feedback. In an effort to establish for myself the workability of using the center lock as a VSC off switch, I did a fair amount of testing to that end. With center diff locked (or part-time) a typical surface street, perpendicular turn at residential or higher speed can be executed using about 1/2 or a little more steering wheel revolutions with a nearly imperceptible change in steering effort compared to full-time 4WD. The shallow steering angle results in a minimal front/rear total wheel path difference that the rotating tires seem to easily absorb via minute slipping, something tires are nearly always doing anyway. Just more so, in this case. The tight corner braking effect ramps up quickly past certain thresholds of steering angle and lack of speed, which can be stressful, in more ways than one, so I'd suggest anyone wanting to experiment with this do it in small steps. There's a big difference between a turn at 25mph with 1/2 a steering wheel revolution and starting from a dead stop with the same steering angle.
I've only mentioned this a couple of times on this site because there was obviously no agreement with it and 4th gen owners had almost no reason to ever lock the center on pavement anyway, but with most 5th gens being part-time 4WD, the occasions to run that way on pavement are going to present themselves with more frequency. I expect the nearly universal attitude here, about never locking on pavement, to splinter considerably over time as more and more 4Runner owners have reason to occasionally use their vehicles in a manner inconsistent with the blanket warning and so will be less willing to take it at face value and more willing to experiment for themselves. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.
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Uneek
Super Moderator
:iagree: publication error is nothing new to Toyota. The FSM shows the 4th gen with a double cardan joint for greasing. The 4th doesn't have a double cardan joint.
bpwilton
New member
fftopic: sort of....
So, in the 5th gen (non-Limited) when in 4hi is the VSC off or do you have to turn it off to kill the VSC/Trac?
IMHO the VSC is great when driving on slick surfaces as is 4wd. Do the 5th gen owners have to chose between the 2 on a snowy day?
From my reading of the SR5 2010 manual, in 4HI, the VSC and Trac stay on, but in 4LO, they automatically turn off. Once they are off in 4LO, you can push the A-TRAC button to turn traction control back on. If operating in 4HI, you can turn off VSC and/or Trac if you get stuck in snow or mud if you need to rock the vehicle to get out.
CJ3Flyr
Super Moderator
Cool, thanks...
I was in Dallas during an ice storm a number of years back. In ice storms, 2WD pickup trucks with summer tires gather at the bottom of the little hills in Las Colinas (aka Irving, TX) like moths to a flame.
Clemsonfan15
New member
I'm down in upstate SC and am hoping we good a decent amount of snow or ice.
It's a ton of fun to drive in, especially when nobody else is on the road.
gmillerok1
New member
I have a 2010 Trail Edition. There is no way to unlock the central differential. It has a rear locker, but that's it. The Limited, with full wheel drive, has a locking/unlocking central differential. But as the front and rear are always locked in the TE or SR5 if 4HI is engaged, I don't think it's a good idea to use 4Hi on dry pavement. The manual doesn't address it at all; although the Full time version does say not to drive on dry pavement with the central diff locked or damage could occur. You would think they would have made a similar warning for the part time system, but all you get from the manual is that it is for "slippery surfaces".
So, my take is that it's not a good thing to do for the TE/SR5 part time 4WD. Is that correct?
Mine was an early build in Oct 09 (Salsa Red), serial number under 2700, and luckily has the full skid plate for the fuel tank.
GM
So, my take is that it's not a good thing to do for the TE/SR5 part time 4WD. Is that correct?
Mine was an early build in Oct 09 (Salsa Red), serial number under 2700, and luckily has the full skid plate for the fuel tank.
GM
I believe that you are correct.
LOCKED&LIFTED
New member
Hi, new member here. Just bought a 2010 SR5 and the first thing I noticed is that the owner's manual is very vague about which road conditions you can use H4 on. I've always followed the generally accepted rule that you never use 4WD on dry pavement, and that seems to be the consensus in this thread.
So my question is, since the owner's manual says to drive in H4 at least 10 miles per month, is it safe to do so on a dirt road with mild curves? That seems like the only realistic option when it's not snowing or icy out.
So my question is, since the owner's manual says to drive in H4 at least 10 miles per month, is it safe to do so on a dirt road with mild curves? That seems like the only realistic option when it's not snowing or icy out.
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