Can the 4Runner be shifted on the fly???

SUVTOYOTA

New member
Hi everyone,

I am new to 4Runner, as I tried to do some research before buying the 4Runner, I just came across one of the post in Edmunds about shifting the 4Runner that made me confused, my question is can the 4runner be shifted on the fly??? Thanks for any input and clarification. Here is the the post:

"If it was 4WD high then there should not be a difference. If it is 4WD low then the center diffential will lock in that case you should not have the truck on paved streets. Because the center diffential locked will make all the tires turn at the same speed causing excessive wear on the tires on pavement, but on gravle and ice and mud off road, it will gain tons of traction. If the car has a lever to shift from 4wd Hi and Lov and 2WD then it is not shift on the fly, that is the way most of the toyotas are set up, It is more reliable than pushing a button. Part time usualy runs a 4WD system with a rear or front wheel bais of power. In the tacoma case I would bet a rear wheel. when these wheels start to slip it will engade and send more power to the front wheels. Torsen differntials do this. Locked center differential will elminate this and send 50 fron and 50 rear power. 2WD is 100% rear. 4WD high means that all four have power however, if one wheel looses traction with all the differntials open then all of the power and torque will go to that wheel. I am not sure about the systems that the Tacoma has on it but the Land Cruiser has electronicly activated brakes that will aply the brakes to this wheel and thus reroute the power to other wheels. It will also de-throttle the engine."
 
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The 4Runner can be shifted from 2WD to 4HI or Lock the Center Differential on the fly (while moving).

You HAVE to be stopped to shift into 4LO.
 
"If the car has a lever to shift from 4wd Hi and Lov and 2WD then it is not shift on the fly."

This is where it got me confused!!!???

Thanks for your respond.
 
thats what its called, it is a mis-leading sounding term. but i dont think it would even let you shift from 4hi to 4lo without stopping and putting it in neutral, but i sure as hell wouldnt want to find out.
 
Re: Re: Can the 4Runner be shifted on the fly???

SUVTOYOTA said:
"If the car has a lever to shift from 4wd Hi and Lov and 2WD then it is not shift on the fly."

This is where it got me confused!!!???

Thanks for your respond.

Oh its definitely shift on the fly. I've gone from 2wd/4wd and then locking the center differential all while moving.

If you're in a situation where you need to go into 4LO, you're probably already stopped anyways.
 
I have found that the T4R will not shift from 2WD to 4WD above about 45mph. I have tried this on the highway, where for example it starts to snow....and you have to slow down to get it into 4WD. It will shift from 4WD to 2WD at any speed, but you must lift off the gas.
 
On your sunvisor it says not to shift above 62MPH. I've done it at 50-55 and its shifted from 2wd to 4wd before.
 
On the fly

For models 2003 - on, yes, it's on the fly, in fact you must be moving at least a little for it to activate. And it can be used on any surface (2WD or 4WD).

I am not familiar with previous 4runner versions. The 4WD V8 4runner has Full-Time 4WD system, no switching back and forth. You either buy a V8 with rear wheel drive only, or Full time 4WD only. The 4WD V6 version is selectable for RWD or 4WD. Both 4wd systems for both engines function the same.

Open differentials front and rear axles with traction control, and a Torsen3 lockable center differential. The center differential can move power between the front and rear axles depending on surface traction. It is normally biased 60/40 rear/front I think. It can go up to 70/30 and 47/53 . Locking it with the dash button makes it 50/50 split back/front.

But as stated here, to get into the 4LO range, you must stop, put it in neutral, and then switch the knob to 4LO. Otherwise it will just beep constantly and not go into 4LO. Going from 4LO and back to 4HI requires the same procedure of stopping and being in neutral.

In the past I have gone from 2WD to 4WD at 50ish MPH no problem, sometimes you do have to stay off the gas slightly to make it shift into the mode, but it's very quick (less than 4 seconds). I have gotten in the habit of putting it into 4WD whenever the roads aren't dry. Better safe than sorry.

I haven't bothered to use the locking center differential yet, I do not go off road.
 

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