This is my first post ! And first of all i want to say HI and Merry Christmas to all the members from this forum !!!
i personally really love road travel and offroad , i don't do much really off roading , most of time is traveling on HWY and LOGGING back country road ! But i do wish and like to learn more advanced offroad skills ! i have couple questions about the 4runner , hope all the great ppl on this site and help me about my confusion about the the hi-tech stuff on the trail edition ! or more advice about the All Wheel Drive Limited !
question:

1 how much offroad performance difference between trail 4x4 VS AWD or 4WD Limited when the limited version uses same wheel and tire as trail ?

2 i really don't know much about shift on fly 4x4 , when is the best time to engage 4wd on paved road condition ? i do travel mostly on HWY but in my opinion all wheel drive on wet (raining ) or packed snow condition is much safer then 4x4 when only on two wheels, i also know if engage 4 wheel HI all the time( DRY ROAD ) it will damage the shaft and eventually the suv will just dead ! my question for this part is :
when the paved road is very wet or just wet ( not raining ) CAN I SHIFT TO 4 HI when driving long distance on high speed (50-80mph )?
when the paved road is packed with hard snow CAN I SHIFT TO 4HI when driving long distance on high speed (50-80MPH)?
Also the same what if the road is raining wet and covered with fresh deep snow ?
THANK YOU VERY MUCH , I HOPE PROFESSIONALS ON THE FORUM CAN HELP ME STRAIGHT MY MIND OUT !

not certain if your intention here is to say "if you switch out the Limited's 20-inch wheels for the Trail's 17-inch"... if that's not your intent, well, then now you know. beyond that, the Trail has better approach/departure angles, rear locker, multi-terrain & crawl modes, and KDSS option. Limited has highly flexible and forgiving Torsen center diff.

i hate to be the one to do it, but you really need to use the search function. this information has been discussed ad nauseam and is readily available in a number of other threads. i realize this is your first post, and i'm not trying to be a tool, but a modest amount of homework will provide you with the answers you're looking for. good luck with your purchase decision.