Does 4wd on Pavement hurt my 4Runner?

S

Saintnick

New member
Many old jeeps and older 4wd cars have a system where the front wheels spin around 15% faster than the rear. Now I'm definitely not an expert on this by any means, so I don't know if it will harm my 4Runner.

I have a 2002 Sr5 with 142k miles. The 4wd has been used around 3 times by the previous owner because he was afraid of this.

Thanks Guys!

Nick
 
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Well good news for you, Is your have a 2002. Which means you have all wheel drive.

That button that you see on the small shifter is AWD not 4WD(its the first step getting to 4wd) and is made for driving on the street or any condition. When you push that button you will see on the dash the 4 wheels turn green.

You can click this on at any time under like 65mph or something.


To get true 4wheel drive you need to push that button to the left of the steering wheel (button shows the 4 wheels and an X in the middle). This is pushed after you have push the button on the shift and wheels have turned green.

letting of the gas then getting on it should engage it. Now the orange light will light up on the dash, in the middle the 4 green wheel lights.

That will lock your center diff and put you into TRUE 4wd( 50% power to the front and 50% power to the rear)

TRUE 4WD SHOULD NOT BE USED ON THE ROAD OR ANY SUPER GRIPPY/STICKY DRIVING SURFACE. but can be used in the snow.


I think the AWD feature is one of the best features of the 3rd gen 4runner. It gives me a good feeling when driving on any condition when 4wd cant be used. It will slightly effect gas mileage but I recommend using it every so often even if you just driving around town to make sure everything is getting use and will still working when you need it.
 
Last edited:
calimobber said:
Well good news for you, Is your have a 2002. Which means you have all wheel drive.

That button that you see on the small shifter is AWD not 4WD(its the first step getting to 4wd) and is made for driving on the street or any condition. When you push that button you will see on the dash the 4 wheels turn green.

You can click this on at any time under like 65mph or something.


To get true 4wheel drive you need to push that button to the left of the steering wheel (button shows the 4 wheels and an X in the middle). This is pushed after you have push the button on the shift and wheels have turned green.

letting of the gas then getting on it should engage it. Now the orange light will light up on the dash, in the middle the 4 green wheel lights.

That will lock your center diff and put you into TRUE 4wd( 50% power to the front and 50% power to the rear)

TRUE 4WD SHOULD NOT BE USED ON THE ROAD OR ANY SUPER GRIPPY/STICKY DRIVING SURFACE. but can be used in the snow.
Click to expand...

This.

/endthread
 
calimobber said:
Well good news for you, Is your have a 2002. Which means you have all wheel drive.

That button that you see on the small shifter is AWD not 4WD(its the first step getting to 4wd) and is made for driving on the street or any condition. When you push that button you will see on the dash the 4 wheels turn green.

You can click this on at any time under like 65mph or something.


To get true 4wheel drive you need to push that button to the left of the steering wheel (button shows the 4 wheels and an X in the middle). This is pushed after you have push the button on the shift and wheels have turned green.

letting of the gas then getting on it should engage it. Now the orange light will light up on the dash, in the middle the 4 green wheel lights.

That will lock your center diff and put you into TRUE 4wd( 50% power to the front and 50% power to the rear)

TRUE 4WD SHOULD NOT BE USED ON THE ROAD OR ANY SUPER GRIPPY/STICKY DRIVING SURFACE. but can be used in the snow.
Click to expand...

Thats fantastic! So that means I take take this bundle of power to a drag strip and let it rip in AWD instead of ruining my car with 4wd? NICE
 
Damn OP is making too much power for RWD to handle it at the track and just spins. Looks like he needs to be using AWD!!
 
Saintnick said:
Thats fantastic! So that means I take take this bundle of power to a drag strip and let it rip in AWD instead of ruining my car with 4wd? NICE
Click to expand...

I'm sitting here in the Pit at Heartland Park Raceway, in Topeka, Kansas. I have yet to see any 4Runner's making their way to the staging lanes...

:laugh:
 
He is right though about AWD at the track. Its just amazing. 2.0L, big turbo, AWD, auto trans, and 50 shot nitrous for launch. Nothing can touch it!
 
Of course, if all you are doing is a straightaway drag race, you might as well lock your center diff or use a true 4wd only 4Runner. It's only a problem if you have turns. In fact, go with front and rear lockers and get all that power to right to the road.
 
JayRolla said:
He is right though about AWD at the track. Its just amazing. 2.0L, big turbo, AWD, auto trans, and 50 shot nitrous for launch. Nothing can touch it!
Click to expand...

Rolling up to the staging lanes for the 2nd round of TF qualifying right now.

As far as nothing touching it, I guess that depends on your perspective..

:)
 
It was a joke guys..... But wow it really did stir up quite a few members! I went off roading with it for the first time today. I don't think I'll ever need more power for trails!
 
Saintnick said:
It was a joke guys..... But wow it really did stir up quite a few members! I went off roading with it for the first time today. I don't think I'll ever need more power for trails!
Click to expand...

LOL.

I live near Maple Grove PA and I've seen a few SUV's drag racing. Plenty of big diesel pickups as well.

I really like the AWD/4WD system on the 3rd gens, it's a nice blend of features. What you've got is limited slip differentials all around, which sounds like it would suck. But, the button on the dash can lock the center diff. And there's the ATRAC system that simulates a locked diff on the front and rear axles. If you get wheelspin on one side in either 2WD or 4WD mode ATRAC will slow down the spinning wheel(s) by a good bit, which with a LSD has the effect of sending power back to the side with traction. It's not quite as good as a fully locked diff, but it's a lot better than a plain old LSD.

You've also got stability control which is not great for off road, but there's a mod to disable that whenever you want (andymod I believe is the name). It will be disabled when you lock the center diff, but you need the mod if you want to disable it in AWD mode. ATRAC is always on in any mode.
 
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