4wd exercising

Coming up to 3 months of ownership and while I understand the value in periodically exercising the 4H and 4L, I'm at a loss as to where to find unpaved roads nearby. I will visit the industrial parks on weekends and exercise on straight paved roads but agree that unpaved would be preferable.

Anyone else here from the Vancouver/Lower Mainland in BC, Canada that can advise me of some suitable roads? Not looking to crawl over boulders as mine is all stock Limited, but just some gravel ( or snow, but that is pretty rare even in winter now ).
 
rblt said:
Coming up to 3 months of ownership and while I understand the value in periodically exercising the 4H and 4L, I'm at a loss as to where to find unpaved roads nearby. I will visit the industrial parks on weekends and exercise on straight paved roads but agree that unpaved would be preferable.

Anyone else here from the Vancouver/Lower Mainland in BC, Canada that can advise me of some suitable roads? Not looking to crawl over boulders as mine is all stock Limited, but just some gravel ( or snow, but that is pretty rare even in winter now ).
Click to expand...

Go here and read the first post

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/225872-did-you-break-4wd.html
 
I was about to start a new thread but decided to do the right thing and search. Low and behold, there was a thread on the topic so I am resurrecting this old thread about 4wd exercising.

I have read some threads where T4R owners are experiencing weird problems with their 4wd system as they have never engaged 4-Lo. So in effort to not have that happen to me, I decided to do some 4wd exercising on my very own 4runner.

I am a city slicker and live in the greater Boston area. Anybody from here knows there isn't much around that is not paved. On a whim, I went to Prospect Hill in Waltham and found a really small trail I could get my system a little work out. It looks like the trail was opened up to cut some downed trees from a recent storm. I came to a stop, threw her in Neutral and proceed to engage 4-Lo.

No weird clicks, no flashing, she just engaged immediately and hummed along beautifully. I found some deep ruts, mud, a big downed tree to navigate around. Some of the ruts are mud were 6-8 inches deep and my baby performed remarkably. I put her in manual shift mode but never got above 2nd gear as the trail was pretty beaten up. She never broke a sweat, never lost traction, and remained poised an in control the whole time.

I drove a Nissan pathfinder XE-V6 for 13 years, never did my pathfinder have such confidence. The 4runner was amazing. The only other car I have taken off road was my Dad's 88 Range Rover. That car was even better off-road, but in a totally different league, but not too far off from the 4runner.

I am delighted with my 4Runner and cannot wait to get some more 4wd exercise in. It was a blast. Where do you exercise you 4wd? Share some pics and lets bring back this thread from the dead. :peace:

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Everyone has a gravel road somewhere. If not, someplace is being developed. Personally I go through every option while wheeling. Locker, CRAWL, A-TRAC and the multi terrain option. I do the multi terrain in both 4 low and 4 high too.
No point in wondering when I can exercise all options while out without penalty.
 
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What we're really talking about here is lubricating the gears in the front differential, in the transfer case and in the E Locker housing. If you do not engage 4 wheel drive or lock the rear differential on a regular basis the gearing can become corroded and not work when you eventually do need it.

It is best to go someplace local and practice using the different aspects of these components individually and together. It is better to know how these components work before you are in a sticky situation and you need to know how to use them quickly. For example it is too late when you're in the middle of a mud hole to stop the truck to put it into neutral so you can engage 4 lo. It is also too late to have to pause in the middle of a rock ledge on a steep pitch to try to get your rear locker to engage.

As has been stated in many previous threads: RTFM - Read The Freaking Manual !

Despite having owned 4 x 4 vehicles in the past and having done quite a bit of off-roading, I still read the 4 x 4 section of the manual to learn how all these electronic gizmos work and when they can and cannot be used together. It's pretty impressive what all of it can do.

Besides what better an excuse to go out once a month to find some dirt or gravel to play in?
 

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I apologize in advance for my ignorance....

I’m new to 4 wheel drive ownership, I read the manual and I’m exercising my 4wd and lockers regularly.

While I have found an unpaved area to work these out, I don’t really understand why exercising these on paved roads can be damaging, it’s not mentioned in the manual to not use 4wd on dry pavement.

Could someone who is smarter than I, about 4wd, help me wrap my struggling brain around this?


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poof1887 said:
I apologize in advance for my ignorance....

I’m new to 4 wheel drive ownership, I read the manual and I’m exercising my 4wd and lockers regularly.

While I have found an unpaved area to work these out, I don’t really understand why exercising these on paved roads can be damaging, it’s not mentioned in the manual to not use 4wd on dry pavement.

Could someone who is smarter than I, about 4wd, help me wrap my struggling brain around this?
Click to expand...


The OP of this thread seems to fit that bill.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/133871-using-part-time-4wd-dry-pavement-te-sr5.html

P.S. I never apologize for my ignorance. I find it to be one of my most beneficial qualities. lol
 
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ADK Explorer said:
What we're really talking about here is lubricating the gears in the front differential, in the transfer case and in the E Locker housing. If you do not engage 4 wheel drive or lock the rear differential on a regular basis the gearing can become corroded and not work when you eventually do need it.

It is best to go someplace local and practice using the different aspects of these components individually and together. It is better to know how these components work before you are in a sticky situation and you need to know how to use them quickly. For example it is too late when you're in the middle of a mud hole to stop the truck to put it into neutral so you can engage 4 lo. It is also too late to have to pause in the middle of a rock ledge on a steep pitch to try to get your rear locker to engage.

As has been stated in many previous threads: RTFM - Read The Freaking Manual !

Despite having owned 4 x 4 vehicles in the past and having done quite a bit of off-roading, I still read the 4 x 4 section of the manual to learn how all these electronic gizmos work and when they can and cannot be used together. It's pretty impressive what all of it can do.

Besides what better an excuse to go out once a month to find some dirt or gravel to play in?
Click to expand...

Really, I just wanted to play in the dirt. But yes, i am doing my do diligence and properly maintaining my vehicle at the same time. GO 4WD, your vehicle is depending on you!!! :thumb:
 
Reading this today made me take the 4runner to its gym. Went and exercised the gears in the riverbed after work. Even got stuck in some soft sand and used the crawl control to get out! /flex

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After carefully reading the manual, it appears that the need to exercise 4wd monthly is only mentioned in the part time 4wd section. Does it mean there is no need to regularly switch to H4L or L4L on a Limited?

I was also surprised to see that H4L can be engaged at any speed.
 
Not trying to annoy anybody here, but this thread is a great reminder to other city slickers that Toyota does offer a 2 wheel drive 4Runner. I've bought several, but even in my fairly large city, they are special order items because "it is silly to buy a 4Runner with only 2 wheel drive." They are great vehicles even for "just" driving around town.
 
I throw it in 4H on the same stretch of road on my way home from work. Only about 1/8 of a mile or a bit more (depends on how long I leave it in 4H) but it's straight, slow speed limit and very little traffic.
 
fazer8 said:
I just upgraded from a 3rd gen to a 5th gen......this feature is a great improvement. I hated slowing down to engage 4WD.
Click to expand...

The first gen you needed to get out of the car and lock the front wheels manually. PITA. Oh the good old days.
 
Thanks

Thanks to ALL, for the information about periodic 4x4 engage for any preventive non-use failures. The twist a knob is different from my last (1990 SR5), with a stick transfer system.
 
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