Hello T4R Forum. I have searched this forum and online for this answer to my question. My question is; what is max top speed if you are in 4-high?

Please forgive my ignorance, my 19' SR5 Premium is my very first four wheel drive vehicle I have ever owned in my life. The salesman that sold me my 4Runner said top speed when in 4-high should only be 45(mph) tops. He said anything over that you are risking damage. Just wanted to get some other opinions from members. Thanks.

You can go as fast as you like. Toyota wants you to keep it under a certain speed when shifting. I think it's 50 but it's listed in the manual.

Remember that 4wd is not AWD though.

I believe my manual read you can "shift on the fly" between 2hi and 4hi below 63 mph. Not on dry pavement.

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How fast are you trying to drive? I don't think exceeding 55-60 mph is wise nor would 4WD be needed if its safe to exceed these speeds.

Recently drove across I-80 in WY for about 3 hours in extreme ice /blizzard where I ran 4WD on and off at about 55mph with no issues.

what's the speed limiter set at? Still 107MPH? As long as you aren't taking any sharp turns on dry pavement you'll be fine. But why would you want to?

I have yet to meet a car salesman who knew much about cars.

See pages 235-237 of the 2019 manual which can be found off this link:

2019 Toyota 4Runner Owners Manual and Warranty - Toyota Owners


As others have stated, it varies between 50-62 mph depending on the type of 4WD system you have in your 4R.

If you have a lever it's 55mph I believe, if you have the knob it's 63mph

That's about shifting (not that a stock suspension or a vehicle in Michigan could use 4H at higher speeds).

Agreed. If you can do over 45-50 or so, safely, you should not be in need of 4wd. That said I am sure it would do 70 in 4wd just fine - but bear in mind the surface should be slippery to use 4wd. You don't want to be going 70 anyway if it's slippery out.

Not on purpose, but several times, I have aired up and then gotten on the highway and gone speeds of 70-80 in 4hi before realizing and dropping back into 2wd

Never have I tried to shift on the fly at speeds over 40

I only use 4-Hi past 70mph and in Icy, curving conditions.

You can hit the lever/button at any speed, it won't engage until you reduce speed to the programmed threshold.

I knew I was going to need it for an impending emergency, I saw an oncoming pickup crossing median at me in the snow. Even though I was running 65mph in the mostly clear tracks, any maneuver to avoid the collision was going to put me in a bad situation. I expected to spin out and roll over going down the opposite shoulder trying dodge him rather than take the head on. Knowing anything more than light braking in slick conditions was only going to make things worse, I did what I could. I yanked the lever to 4Hi, let off the throttle, steered over as far as I could and started fishtailing. The 4WD icon stayed flashing until the truck was below 50mph, then went solid and became more stable while still decelerating. The oncoming truck regained control on the left shoulder of my recently vacated lane, throwing a roostertail of snow at me. I recovered the fishtailing with some gentle counter-steering and slight throttle (only enough to maintain speed). Once the adrenaline rush was over, I decided to leave it in 4WD and hold less speed, as this was only the first of 3 cars I saw spin out in the same 1mi stretch.
This story comes with dashcam footage.

On my old 3rd gen, you were supposed to be below 50 mph when shifting from 2wd to 4wd. Once in 4wd, there was no speed limiter other than the standard one which on a 3rd gen was 106 mph. Although that was about the limit of the available power to push the 'Runner through the air.

I used to drive my old 3rd gen to it's maximum speed on the Salt flats in 4wd, every year while out there helping various racing efforts. The maximum speed it would achieve in 4wd (power limited) was just about 100 mph.

Now the 5th gen TRD ORP I have, I have not experimented with. I assume it probably has a similar limited top speed in 2wd. Likely also due to tire integrity concerns like the 3rd gen.

Whether there is a lower limited speed when in 4wd, (with the part-time 4wd system) I do not know.

I was thinking about this today as I was driving home. I did take a look at the manual and I couldn’t see a top/recommended speed while in 4WD. Only thing it said was be under 50MPH in manual version and 62 in auto. Looking forward to seeing what is passed on here.


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Shifting into 4wd and driving in it are two diff things. Shift into it below 40 just to be safe then it’s a free for all. I routinely drive 65/70 on the freeway in heavy rain (Seattle) with no issues. Wish they were all like land cruisers or limited awd all the time.