New TEP Owner Part-Time 4WD Question

Erkelbot

Erkelbot

New member
Hi guys. I just bought a 2015 TEP and I love it so far. But, this is also my first PT 4wd setup, despite having owned 2 T4Rs in the past. Given the system isn't designed to be driven on pavement in 4wd hi (or lo), I'm struggling with when to engage the system when conditions are less than ideal.

I live in MN and road conditions vary a lot in the winter. For instance there was a dusting of snow today on top of some slushy garbage, which made for some really slick driving. Not 100% consistently though...just at times on the highway. Again, knowing you can't drive on pavement where there is no ability for the wheels to slip I had natural trepidation engaging the system and just leaving it for the ride despite snow and slip being present...

My question is what is the gospel of driving PT 4wd? When is it okay to engage? Is it just on dry pavement where I should avoid using it? Meaning, if there's snow present on the roads, is it okay on the highway? I guess I'm having a hard time knowing when it's okay and when it's not.

It's also bothering me because driving on these roads today was awful. That back end on the stock tires was super squirrelly. Not great to the point where I came super close to losing the back end under really (really) light acceleration.

I never had to worry about this issue before with my other FT 4wd systems. If I could set it and sort of forget it that would help. I'm not talking about using it in the summer or in the rain, but also not needing to worry about using it for a commute in the winter where slippery conditions are present...

Any loose guidance would be helpful. Thanks.
 
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Driving on dry pavement in 4hi won't immediately blow anything up. You just want to avoid it on low speed, sharp corners (e.g. 90 degrees). If you think you might need 4wd, then chances are you won't have any trouble.

Disclaimer: I don't own one, but you will probably feel it through the wheel if the wheels are fighting each other, and at worse case you might hear some chirping from the tires as they bind.
 
You should have bought a Limited with full time 4x4. I am going to get in a lot of trouble for this but here goes. Toyota cheaped out by not leaving the torsen center diff in all model like the 4th gen so that you could run 4x4 on dry pavement with the center dif unlocked.
 
Get good winter tires and it'll be a lot less of a worry. The only time I use 4Hi in the winter is when there's fresh snow dumping pretty good and the plows can't keep up. Otherwise I only really use it to get started at icy intersections.
 
Erkelbot said:
Hi guys. I just bought a 2015 TEP and I love it so far. But, this is also my first PT 4wd setup, despite having owned 2 T4Rs in the past. Given the system isn't designed to be driven on pavement in 4wd hi (or lo), I'm struggling with when to engage the system when conditions are less than ideal.

I live in MN and road conditions vary a lot in the winter. For instance there was a dusting of snow today on top of some slushy garbage, which made for some really slick driving. Not 100% consistently though...just at times on the highway. Again, knowing you can't drive on pavement where there is no ability for the wheels to slip I had natural trepidation engaging the system and just leaving it for the ride despite snow and slip being present...

My question is what is the gospel of driving PT 4wd? When is it okay to engage? Is it just on dry pavement where I should avoid using it? Meaning, if there's snow present on the roads, is it okay on the highway? I guess I'm having a hard time knowing when it's okay and when it's not.

It's also bothering me because driving on these roads today was awful. That back end on the stock tires was super squirrelly. Not great to the point where I came super close to losing the back end under really (really) light acceleration.

I never had to worry about this issue before with my other FT 4wd systems. If I could set it and sort of forget it that would help. I'm not talking about using it in the summer or in the rain, but also not needing to worry about using it for a commute in the winter where slippery conditions are present...

Any loose guidance would be helpful. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Jeez man did you turn VSC off or something? I live in snow country and the back end, even in 2WD, does not get squirrely. VSC steps in at the slightest slip. As a matter of fact I keep mine in 2WD a lot unless it is bad because VSC works so well.
 
03_4x4Runner said:
You should have bought a Limited with full time 4x4. I am going to get in a lot of trouble for this but here goes. Toyota cheaped out by not leaving the torsen center diff in all model like the 4th gen so that you could run 4x4 on dry pavement with the center dif unlocked.
Click to expand...

I've probably driven in more snow and ice than you have and I've never once wished for full-time 4wd. Tons of people drive fwd and rwd cars in it with no issues when they have proper winter tires, adjust their driving to the conditions, and have all the other bells and whistles like traction control and abs. Last winter I passed a Subaru Outback that was struggling up a hill because of his all season tires. I was still in 2Hi.
 
Nope, I didn't turn anything off. There was ice under the coating of snow. It just drifted under even the slightest acceleration -- and the other cars/trucks/minivans having met the median and ditch themselves would agree.

Not ideal.
 
03_4x4Runner said:
You should have bought a Limited with full time 4x4. I am going to get in a lot of trouble for this but here goes. Toyota cheaped out by not leaving the torsen center diff in all model like the 4th gen so that you could run 4x4 on dry pavement with the center dif unlocked.
Click to expand...

You asked for it: You posted one hundred times how the 4th gen was superior to the 5th. Now you own a 5th are you going to post one hundred times how the LE is superior to the TE or SR5? Is everything you own automatically better than anything else?
 
Erkelbot said:
Nope, I didn't turn anything off. There was ice under the coating of snow. It just drifted under even the slightest acceleration -- and the other cars/trucks/minivans having met the median and ditch themselves would agree.

Not ideal.
Click to expand...

Then you had better take it to the shop then because your VSC is broken. Glare ice maybe. Anything else? Not a chance. Your conditions have changed since your original post BTW.
 
perhaps it is. The traction didn't beep, buzz, or pump ABS once...

And, nothing changed since my original post. Slippery snow on top of slush/ice. I'm happy to forward you the weather conditions here if that helps. Weather.com can corroborate my story, though I'm not sure why you would question it...
 
Erkelbot said:
Nope, I didn't turn anything off. There was ice under the coating of snow. It just drifted under even the slightest acceleration -- and the other cars/trucks/minivans having met the median and ditch themselves would agree.

Not ideal.
Click to expand...

If this was the situation then you should be in 4wd. What's the question again?
 
If the roads are bad or even partly bad, I would just leave the darn thing in 4h.

I am not an expert on the 4r, but I have driven 4x4's my whole driving life, it was not even a thought to just leave those things in 4h when the roads have a few of those patches of bad parts. As another poster stated, just watch the turning, but I really never even worried about it.

I have only had one full-time 4wd type setup, an Explorer, but I did not think it was anything special with this set up.

I am glad I live in Miami and not even have to put up with this stuff!:whoo:
 
The question is when can I engage the 4wd system and not worry about doing damage to the 4wd system. I know I could have had the 4wd syst engaged for this --and likely avoided it -- but these conditions were patchy. Therefore I would have been driving in much less slippery conditions.

Would it be best to flip into and out of 4wd in this type of situation? Or, since the conditions were not dry, would it be okay to leave it in 4wd for the entire commute? I don't want to damage anything, and also want to get the most out of my truck's capabilities... Thanks.
 
1. If it's slippery, engage 4wd.
2. When roads become dry, disengage 4wd.
3. Stock tires suck, get winter tires and be happy in the worst of driving conditions.
4. Repeat 1 and 2 for the lifetime of the vehicle.
 
It's interestimg how many lectures are dealt out in this forum. The lectures to advice ratio is almost an even split on most threads.
 
Erkelbot said:
perhaps it is. The traction didn't beep, buzz, or pump ABS once...

And, nothing changed since my original post. Slippery snow on top of slush/ice. I'm happy to forward you the weather conditions here if that helps. Weather.com can corroborate my story, though I'm not sure why you would question it...
Click to expand...

This is not good. I turned off my traction control today for a bit and was able to have a little fun. As soon as i turned it back on, fun time was over. It will come on nearly instantly if the rear wheels start slipping. You will know because you can hear and feel the brakes being pumped. I would head on over to your dealership immediately (while the roads are still slick!!! -- if they drive on dry roads you are gonna get the runaround) so they can take a look at it.
 
Now that I'm thinking about it again, this makes sense. I mean, it's certainly not normal to have the VSC system fail, but the back end sliding out from under me also isn't normal. These systems are pretty damned smart -- even when you're trying to be dumb.
 
Erkelbot said:
The question is when can I engage the 4wd system and not worry about doing damage to the 4wd system. I know I could have had the 4wd syst engaged for this --and likely avoided it -- but these conditions were patchy. Therefore I would have been driving in much less slippery conditions.

Would it be best to flip into and out of 4wd in this type of situation? Or, since the conditions were not dry, would it be okay to leave it in 4wd for the entire commute? I don't want to damage anything, and also want to get the most out of my truck's capabilities... Thanks.
Click to expand...

What kind of driving? Highway, city streets, and how fast? How long? Are their hills? Lots of stop and go?(maybe I missed this in the first post).

This is one of those things that is hard to advise, because "patchy" and your commute is something that only you are experiencing, so only general advice can be given. Really, experience with 4wd's goes a long way.

In 2wd, with all of these traction gimmicks the 4r has, you should be just fine on patchy roads. If you have to stop on some slippery stuff, and you start to go and get some slipping, then just throw in 4h and go, then jsut throw it back in 2wd.

If the road has a lot of patchy parts, like 3/4 or so, then you probably be fine in 4h. Again, it is hard for someone to specifically advise without actually seeing what you are talking about, and actually being there to get the "feel" of the road.

Your tires are your best friend, get a set of snow tires for your 4r. Usually though, people get the "feel" for their car after a while, and know what needs to be done, whether it is throttle response, braking, 4h, 2wd, etc.
 
I live in the same area and used 4x4 extensively today and yesterday. Weather such as that is a fine time to use the system, sure you don't have to use it and I wouldn't drive any more aggressively with it on vs. off but it certainly is a good excuse to exercise the system. I do take it out pulling to the parking garage as its dry, other then that, no worries.

Safe driving
 
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