Hey guys, im a newbie here, but not new to Toyota's. I used to have a 1982 Toyota 4x4 that was a crawler, and i used to have a 1997 Tacoma 4x4 that was my daily wheeler. But i came back to my roots, and picked up a 2001 4Runner SR5 4x4 3 days ago. I got it from a Toyota dealer, Certifed truck and all that good stuff, and i love this truck.

But here is my questions, there is a button on the left side of the dash, behind the turn signal control, it has the icon of the 4 wheel drive, (4 wheels, axle, and drive line) but it has an X where the transfer case would be. What is this for? Thanks in advance guys.

It locks the transfer case.

When you push the 4wd button on the T-case shifter, it just puts the vehicle into full-time 4wheel drive, which can be used anywhere, on any surface, because there is no solid connection between the front and rear driveshafts.

If you push the button in question, after engaging the full-time 4wd, it locks the T-case solid.

Which, as I'm sure you know, means you should only drive with the T-case locked, on slippery surfaces.

So let me get this straight, if im off road, or in some nasty snow, and use the 4WD, it has to have the transfer case shifter in the HIGH position or low depending on my speed and how much traction i need, and the 4WD button pushed, and then press the button i asked about on the dash? Dam these new trucks, i used to get out and lock the hubs, and slam the t-case shifter into either 2high, 4 high, or 4low and off i went, lol.

Yep, that's pretty much it.

Having the vehicle in either high range, or low range, doesn't affect how much traction you have.

Shifting into low-range just gives the engine a much greater gearing advantage to move the vehicle, and allows you to crawl at low speed, which makes it less likely that you'll spin your tires.

But it's really not so bad, the 4wd system in the '01 and newer 4Runners, is more versatile than the old part-time system you had in your older trucks. Which could only be used on slippery surfaces.

Having the full-time 4wheel drive option, is great for on-road driving, in inclement weather conditions.

Then when you go wheeling, just push the button on the dash, after pushing the button on the shifter, and it's just like the part-time system in your old trucks.

Great, thanks for the info. I have to take it to the dealer today, 1 of the fog lights has a melted housing, maybe i'll mess with it on the way up there, plenty of trails on my way there.

regardless, youre gonna find you hate the 01-02 4wd system due to VSC.



this image courtesy of 'andreas' at yotatech who figured it out will show you what to unplug in your engine bay to disable vsc and trac. this also disables abs, which you dont need on the trails.

i do this everytime i wheel, its SO awesome. all you do is unplug, you get the "VSC OFF TRAC OFF" lights to illuminate. then when youre done wheeling, plug it back in and restart the truck. lights are off, all returns to normal.